| Cai–Long | |
|---|---|
| Ta–Li | |
| (tentative) | |
| Geographic distribution | western Guizhou, China |
| Linguistic classification | Sino-Tibetan |
| Subdivisions | |
| Glottolog | tali1265 |
The Cai–Long (Chinese: 蔡龙语支) or Ta–Li languages are a group of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in western Guizhou, China. Only Caijia is still spoken, while Longjia and Luren are extinct.[1] The branch was first recognized by Chinese researchers in the 1980s, with the term Cai–Long (Chinese: 蔡龙语支) first mentioned in Guizhou (1982: 43).[2]
The languages are unclassified within Sino-Tibetan, and could be Sinitic[1]orMacro-Bai.[3]
The Cai–Long languages are:[1]
In addition, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, through their Glottolog database, proposes that Longjia and Luren form a Longjia–Luren branch within Cai–Long.[4]
Hölzl (2021) proposes the name Ta–Li as a portmanteau of the two lexical innovations ‘two’ and ‘pig’, respectively.
| Language | ‘two’ | ‘pig’ |
|---|---|---|
| Caijia (Hezhang) | ta55 | li21 |
| Luren (Qianxi) | ta31 | li31 |
| Longjia (Pojiao/Huaxi) | ta31 | lɛ55 |
|
Sino-Tibetan branches
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Himalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim) |
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| Eastern Himalayas (Tibet, Bhutan, Arunachal) |
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| Myanmar and Indo-Burmese border |
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| East and Southeast Asia |
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| Dubious (possible isolates) (Arunachal) |
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| Proposed groupings |
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| Proto-languages |
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Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches. | |||||
