Mpi language

Mpi
Kaw
Native to Thailand, perhaps China
Ethnicity 1,500 (2007)[1]
Native speakers
900 (2007)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 mpz
Glottolog mpii1239[2]

Mpi is a Loloish language of Thailand. The number of speakers is in decline. It is spoken in the following two villages in northern Thailand.

Since the Mpi of Thailand had migrated from Mengla, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China over 300 years ago, there could also possibly be Mpi speakers in China (Nahhas 2007). A related language called Muda is spoken in Nanlianshan District, Jinghong County.

Phonology

Mpi has six tones and two phonations in its vowels, modal voice and stiff voice:

ToneModal voiceStiff voice
Low sì 'blood' sì̬ 'seven'
Low rising si᷅ 'putrid' si̬᷅ 'dried up'
Mid sī (a color) sī̬ (a classifier)
Mid rising sǐ 'to roll' sǐ̬ 'to smoke'
High sí 'four' sí̬ (a name)
High rising si᷄ 'to die' si̬᷄ (a name)

Further Reading

References

  1. 1 2 Mpi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Mpi". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.

Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19814-8. 

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