Contents

Mulam language

Mulam
Native to	China
Region	Luocheng County, Hechi, Northern Guangxi
Ethnicity	210,000 (2000 census)[1]
Native speakers	86,000 (2005)[1] < 10,000 monolinguals
Language family	Kra–Dai Kam–Sui Mulam
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mlm
Glottolog	mula1253
ELP	Mulam
Mulam is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

The Mulam language (Chinese: 仫佬; pinyin: Mùlǎo) is a Kam–Sui language spoken mainly in Luocheng County, Hechi, Northern Guangxi by the Mulao people. The greatest concentrations are in Dongmen and Siba communes. Their autonymismu6 lam1.^[2] The Mulam also call themselves kjam1, which is probably cognate with lam1 and the Dong people's autonym "Kam" (Wang & Zheng 1980).

Phonology[edit]

The Mulam language, like Dong, does not have voiced stop, but does have a phonemic distinction between unvoiced and voiced nasals and laterals. It has a system of eleven distinct vowels. It is a tonal language with ten tones, and 65% of its vocabulary is shared with the Zhuang and Dong languages.^{[citation needed]}

Dialects[edit]

The following Mulam dialects are listed in Wang & Zheng (1980) (all of which are spoken in Luocheng Mulao Autonomous County).

• Dongmen 东门镇 (in Dayin 大银, Dafu 大福村, Le'e 勒俄村 etc.); documented in detail by Wang & Zheng (1980)
• Long'an 龙岸镇 (in Liangsi 良泗, etc.)
• Huangjin 黄金镇 (in Zhongjian 中间寨, etc.); documented in Qiu (2004)^[3]
• Qiaotou 桥头镇 (in Dongnong 洞弄屯, etc.)
• Siba 四把镇 (in Dawu 大梧, Miao'er 苗儿屯, Shuangzhai 双寨村, etc.); documented in Guangxi (2008)^[4]
• Xiali 下里乡 (in Xiecun 谢村, etc.)

The following comparison of Mulam dialects is from Ni Dabai (2010:221-222).^[2][5]

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Edmondson, Jerold A. and David B. Solnit, eds. Comparative Kadai: Linguistic studies beyond Tai. Summer Institute of Linguistics Publications in Linguistics, 86. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington, 1988.
• 王均, 郑国乔 / Wang Jun, Zheng Guoqiao. 仫佬语简志 / Mulao yu jian zhi (A Sketch of Mulao [Mulao]). Beijing: 民族出版社: 新華書店发行 / Min zu chu ban she: Xin hua shu dian fa xing, 1980.
• Zheng, G. 1988. The influences of Han on the Mulam language. In Edmondson, Jerold, A (ed). Comparative Kadai: Linguistic Studies Beyond Tai. SIL International Publications in Linguistics.
• Thurgood, G. Tai-Kadai and Austronesian: The Nature of the Historical Relationship University of Hawaiʼi Press. Oceanic Linguistics. 1962–2012.
• "The Mulam Ethnic Group." MSD China. Web. 1 May 2016.

External links[edit]

• Mulam (Dongmen) word list from the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database
• Mulam (Siba) word list from the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database
• The Endangered Languages Project
• An audio sample of the Mulam language can be listened through Global Recordings Network.
• Mulam Phonology
• Mulam Ethnic Group