| Mpi | |
|---|---|
| Kaw | |
| Native to | Thailand, perhapsChina |
| Ethnicity | 1,500 (2007)[1] |
Native speakers | 900 (2007)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mpz |
| Glottolog | mpii1239 |
| ELP | Mpi |
Mpi is aLoloish language ofThailand. The number of speakers is in decline. It is spoken in the following two villages in northernThailand.
Since theMpi of Thailand migrated fromMengla,Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China over 300 years ago, there could also possibly be Mpi speakers in China (Nahhas 2007).
Mpi has sixtones and twophonations in itsvowels,modal voice andstiff voice:
| Tone | Modal voice | Stiff voice |
|---|---|---|
| Low | sì 'blood' | sì̬ 'seven' |
| Low rising | si᷅ 'putrid' | si̬᷅ 'dried up' |
| Mid | sī (a color) | sī̬ (aclassifier) |
| Mid rising | sǐ 'to roll' | sǐ̬ 'to smoke' |
| High | sí 'four' | sí̬ (a name) |
| High rising | si᷄ 'to die' | si̬᷄ (a name) |
| Official language | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other Thais |
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| Minority by languages groups |
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| Non-Indigenous |
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| Sign languages | |||||||||
Sino-Tibetan branches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WesternHimalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand,Nepal,Sikkim) |
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| EasternHimalayas (Tibet,Bhutan,Arunachal) | |||||
| Myanmar and Indo- Burmese border |
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| East andSoutheast Asia |
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| Dubious (possible isolates) (Arunachal) |
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| Proposed groupings | |||||
| Proto-languages | |||||
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches. | |||||
