Cao Lan language
{{Short description|Tai language spoken in northern Vietnam}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Cao Lan
|nativename=Man Cao-Lan
|speakers=170,000
|date=2009 census
|ref=e18
|familycolor=Kradai
|fam2=Tai
|fam3=mixed Northern Tai–Central Tai
|iso3=mlc
|glotto=caol1238
|glottorefname=Cao Lan
}}
Cao Lan, sometimes Caolan or Man Cao-Lan, is a Tai language of northern Vietnam. It is spoken by the Cao Lan subgroup of the San Chay people. According to Pittayaporn (2009),{{incomplete citation|date=September 2021}} it is closest to the Chongzuo and Shangsi Zhuang across the border in China, both of which are lumped under the apparently polyphyletic Yongnan Zhuang by Ethnologue. Together, Cao Lan, Chongzuo, and Shangsi form a primary branch of the Tai languages (Pittayaporn 2009).
Demographics
Image:VietnameseProvincesMapTiengViet1.png]]
Cao Lan is spoken by the Cao Lan subgroup of the San Chay people of Tuyên Quang Province. According to the people, the Cao Lan and Sán Chay peoples had arrived from southern China 400 years ago together as one group, even though they spoke two different languages. Notably, they both use Chinese characters to record their languages. Smaller numbers are also found in Xichou County, Yunnan, China and in the following provinces.{{harvp|Gregerson|Edmondson|1998}}
Classification
The Sán Chay speak a form of Chinese, while the Cao Lan speak a Tai language. Gregerson & Edmondson (1998) considers Caolan to have a combination of both Northern Tai and Central Tai features. Like the E language of northern Guangxi, Cao Lan also displays influences form Pinghua, a Chinese vernacular spoken in Guangxi, China. Haudricourt (1973){{incomplete citation|date=September 2021}} believes that the Cao Lan may have adopted a form of Tai when they had stopped in Guangxi during their historical southward migration. The Chinese-speaking Sán Chay, on the other hand, might have been a Yao (or Mienic-speaking) group, as the Yao of Fangcheng, Guangxi call themselves {{IPA|san˧ tɕai˧}}. Today, the Chinese-speaking Sán Chay live mostly in Quảng Ninh, whereas the Cao Lan are mostly concentrated in Tuyên Quang, Thái Nguyên, and Bắc Giang.
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{Cite book |last=Gregerson |first=Kenneth J. |title=The International Conference on Tai Studies |last2=Edmondson |first2=Jerold A. |date=1998 |publisher=Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development, Mahidol University |editor-last=Somsonge |editor-first=Burusphat |location=Bangkok |pages=151–164 |language=en |chapter=Some Puzzles in Cao Lan |chapter-url=http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/gregerson1998puzzles.pdf}}
- {{Cite book |last=Nguyễn |first=Nam Tiến |title=Về vấn đề xác định thánh phần các dân tộc thiểu số ở miền bắc Việt Nam |date=1975 |publisher=Nhà xuất bản khoa học xã hội |editor-last=Ủy ban khoa học xã hội Việt Nam: Viện dân tộc học |location=Hà Nội |pages=274–286 |language=vi |chapter=Lại bàn về mối quan hệ giữa hai nhóm Cao Lan – Sán Chỉ}}
Further reading
{{refbegin}}
- {{Cite book |last=Strecker |first=David |title=Southeast Asian Linguistic Studies: Presented to André-G. Haudricourt |publisher=Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development, Mahidol University |date=1985 |editor-last=Suriyā Rattanakun |location=Bangkok |pages=479–492 |language=en |chapter=The Classification of the Caolan Languages |editor-last2=David D. Thomas |editor-last3=Suwilai Prēmsīrat |chapter-url=http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/strecker1985classification.pdf}}
{{refend}}
{{Languages of Vietnam}}
{{Tai-Kadai languages}}
{{Authority control}}