TheLachi language (Chinese:拉基;pinyin:lājī, Vietnamese:La Chí;autonym in China:li35pu44ljo44; autonym in Vietnam:qu32te453, wherequ32 means "person"[2]) is aKra language spoken inYunnan,China and in northern Vietnam. There were 9,500Lachi speakers in Vietnam in 1990. Edmondson (2008) reports another 2,500 inMaguan County, Yunnan, China for 1995, but Li Yunbing (2000) reports 60 speakers in Maguan out of an ethnic population of 1,600.
Weera Ostapirat[3] proposed three major subdivisions for the Lachi language.
Northern (Chinese or Flowery Lachi)
Central (White Lachi)
Southern (Long Haired and Black Lachi)
Jerold A. Edmondson notes that Vietnamese researchers recently have not been able to locate White (Central) Lachi speakers. It is also the least studied variety of Lachi.
TheMaguan County Gazetteer 马关县志 (1996) lists the following Lachi ethnic subdivisions.
Flowery Lachi 花拉基
White Lachi 白拉基
Black Lachi 黑拉基
Chinese Lachi 汉拉基
Manyou Lachi 曼忧拉基
Manpeng Lachi 曼棚拉基
TheMaguan County Gazetteer 马关县志 (1996) also lists the following autonyms for the Lachi.
She 舍
Laguo 拉果
Heitu 黑土
Gudai 古逮
Yibi 依比
Yimei 依梅
Yiduo 依多
Yibeng 依崩
The Republic of China-eraMaguan County Gazetteer 马关县志 gives the names Labo 剌僰 (with a dog radical 犭for La 剌) and Laji 拉鸡 (Li 2000: 5).
Kosaka (2000) reports 6,000–8,000 Lachi speakers in Vietnam, and 2,000 in China. The Lachi ofMaguan County, China are currently classified asZhuang (Li 2000), while the Lachi ofMalipo County, China, along with the Qabiao, are classified asYi. The Lachi of Vietnam have official status as a separate ethnic group.
The Lachi of China live in various locations inMaguan County (马关县),Yunnan, which is located inWenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (文山壮族苗族自治州) near the border withHà Giang Province, Vietnam. According to American linguist Jerold A. Edmondson, the Lachi of China are thought to have moved to their present location during theQing Dynasty from places in Vietnam called Maibu 麥布, Maidu 麥督, and Maiha 麥哈.[4] Other Lachis are also found scattered in Yanshan, Qiubei, Xichou, and Malipo counties.
The subdivisions, with their respective locations, are as follows:
The Lachi live mostly inXín Mần District andHoàng Su Phì District,Hà Giang Province,Vietnam. There are also many Lachi living inBắc Quang District in southernHà Giang Province, which is outside their home district ofHoàng Su Phì. Since the Lachi dialects of Vietnam have many Chinese loanwords, the Lachi of Vietnam must have migrated from areas to the north in China (Kosaka 2000). Similarly, the Lachi ofMaguan County, Yunnan, China just across the border believed that their ancestors had migrated from Ami Prefecture 阿迷州, which is nowKaiyuan, Yunnan.[2] In Vietnam,Jerold Edmondson notes that the most common autonym used by his Lachi informants isqu3˩te34˩, withqu3˩ meaning 'people' (fromProto-Kra *khraC1 'people').[2]
The Lachi people are an officially recognized ethnic group in Vietnam, and are divided as such (Kosaka 2000, Edmondson 2008):
White Lachi (autonym:li35pu44pu55; language possibly extinct)
Bản Pắng, Hoàng Su Phì District — speakers have shifted to theNùng language, the regional lingua franca
Bản Máy, Hoàng Su Phì District — speakers have shifted to theNùng language, the regional lingua franca
Lachi is also spoken in (Kosaka 2000):
Tân Lợi hamlet (Thôn Tân Lợi),Bắc Quang District,Hà Giang Province — formed through a secondary migration from Tân Lập village (Xã Tân Lập), which is now called Xã Tân Thành.
Kosaka (2000) describes the following migratory route that took the Lachi of Bản Phùng, Hoàng Su Phì District to other locations, all inBắc Quang District,Hà Giang Province.
Bản Phùng, Hoàng Su Phì District
Xã Tân Lập (now called Xã Tân Thành)
Xã Yên Bình
Xã Vĩ Thượng
Xã Xuân Giang (later divided into two parts, including Nà Khương, which has the higher concentration of Lachi people)
TheMaguan County Gazetteer 马关县志 (1996) lists the following locations in Vietnam with ethnic Lachi.
Standard vowel sounds[i] and[ɛ], only occur after palatal, velar, palatalized and labialized initials. After other initials elsewhere, they become velarized as[-ˠi],[-ˠɛ].
Nguyễn Văn Huy (1975). "Vài nét về người La Chí". In, Ủy ban khoa học xã hội Việt Nam: Viện dân tộc học.Về vấn đề xác định thánh phần các dân tộc thiểu số ở miền bắc Việt Nam, 389–414. Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản khoa học xã hội.
