Cun language

{{Short description|Kra–Dal language of Hainan Island, China}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Cun

| states = China

| region = western Hainan

| speakers = 80,000

| date = 1999

| ref = e18

| familycolor = Tai–Kadai

| fam2 = Hlai

| fam3 = Central

| fam4 = North

| dia1 = Nadou

| iso3 = cuq

| glotto = cunn1236

| glottorefname = Cun

| altname = 仡隆语
Gelong

}}

Cun ({{zh|s=村语}}; meaning "village language/speech"), also known as Gelong (仡隆语 / 哥隆语) or Ngan-Fon, is a Kra–Dai language spoken on Hainan Island.{{cite book |last=Ouyang |first=Jueya 欧阳觉亚 |date=1998 |title=Cunyu yanjiu 村语研究 |location=Shanghai |publisher=Shanghai Far East Publishing House 上海远东出版社}} It is a part of the Hlai languages branch and has a lexical similarity with standard Hlai at 40%. The language has approximately 80,000 speakers, 47,200 of which are monolingual. Cun is a tonal language with 10 tones, used depending on whether a syllable is checked or unchecked. The speakers of this language are classified by the Chinese government as ethnic Han; in Hainan, Nadou{{cite book |last=Fu |first=Changzhong 符昌忠 |date=2020 |title=Nadouyu yanjiu 那斗语研究 |location=Beijing |publisher=Minzu chubanshe 民族出版社 |oclc=1294545717}} and Lingao speakers are also classified as ethnic Han.{{Cite book |last=Liang |first=Min 梁敏 |title=Língāo yǔ yánjiū |date=1997 |publisher=Shanghai yuandong chubanshe 上海远东出版社 |location=Shanghai |language=zh |script-title=zh:临高语研究 |trans-title=A Study of Lingao}}

The Cun are descended from Han Chinese migrants to Hainan Island who intermarried with the local Li people. As a result, Cun has more Chinese loanwords than other Hlai languages.Norquest, Peter K. 2015. [https://brill.com/view/title/32092 A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Hlai]. Languages of Asia, Volume 13. Leiden: Brill. {{ISBN|978-90-04-30052-1}}

Nearby, the Fuma (Chinese: 付马话, 府玛话, or 富马话) dialect, a variety of Chinese similar to Gan-Hakka that has been strongly influenced by Cun, is spoken in Fuma Village 付马村, Sigeng Town 四更镇, Dongfang City.Wang, Xueyan 王雪燕. 2016. Hainan Fumahua diaocha baogao 海南付马话调查报告. Beijing: Capital Normal University, Literature Institute 首都师范大学文学院. It had about 800 speakers in 1994.{{Citation |title=Fuma |url=http://asiaharvest.org/wp-content/themes/asia/docs/people-groups/China/chinaPeoples/F/Fuma.pdf |via=asiaharvest.org |access-date=2012-10-16 |archive-date=2014-02-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202114507/http://asiaharvest.org/wp-content/themes/asia/docs/people-groups/China/chinaPeoples/F/Fuma.pdf |url-status=dead }}