Zuojiang Zhuang languages

Zuojiang Zhuang
Tho
Native to	China, Vietnam
Region	Guangxi, Yunnan, Lạng Sơn
Native speakers	1.8 million (2000 censuses)[1]
Language family	Tai–Kadai Tai Zuojiang–Southwest Zuojiang Zhuang
Language codes
ISO 639-3	zzj
Glottolog	zuoj1238[2]

Zuojiang Zhuang (Chinese: 左江壮语; pinyin: Zuǒjiāng Zhuàngyǔ) is the various Zhuang languages spoken along the Zuo River, including the counties of Tiandeng, Daxin, Chongzuo, Ningming, Longzhou, and Pingxiang in Guangxi,^[3] some villages in Funing in Yunnan, and Vietnam, and is a putative branch of Tai languages of China and Vietnam. Also known as Tho (a name shared with Tày and Cuoi of Vietnam).

Languages

Zuojiang Zhuang is not a coherent group of languages. See Tai languages#Pittayaporn (2009) for a classified list.

Classification

In the 1950s as part of the classification of Zhuang languages, Zuojiang Zhuang was recognised as a dialect, or language, in Guangxi, China. In 2007, ISO 639-3 also included speakers Vietnam as the Zuojiang river goes into there. The classification of Phittiyaporn (2009) suggests Zuojiang is not a single language, but part of two main branches of the Tai language family (clades B, F, and H). See Tai languages for details.

References

1. Zuojiang Zhuang at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Zuojiang Zhuang". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
3. 张均如 / Zhang Junru, et al. 壮语方言研究 / Zhuang yu fang yan yan jiu [A Study of Zhuang dialects]. Chengdu: 四川民族出版社 / Sichuan min zu chu ban she, 1999. page 300

• Pittayaporn, Pittayawat. 2009. The Phonology of Proto-Tai. Ph.D. dissertation. Department of Linguistics, Cornell University.