| Pakanic | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Southern China |
| Linguistic classification | Austroasiatic
|
| Proto-language | Proto-Pakanic |
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | boly1240 |
ThePakanic languages constitute a branch of twoAustroasiatic languages,Bolyu andBugan. They are spoken inGuangxi andYunnan provinces of southern China.Mang was formerly included, but is now considered byPaul Sidwell to form its own separate branch within Austroasiatic.[1]
Jenny & Sidwell (2015) consider Pakanic to be an independent branch of Austroasiatic.[2]
Various classifications had previously been proposed for individual Pakanic languages. In 1990,Paul K. Benedict argued thatBolyu constitutes a separate Mon-Khmer branch.Edmondson & Gregerson (1996)[3] listed many phonological and lexical similarities shared byBolyu andVietic languages. However,Gérard Diffloth later suggested that Pakanic (i.e.,Bolyu andBugan) shares an affinity withPalaungic languages and was part of a wider Northern Mon-Khmer group.
Mangic, a proposed language grouping that includesMang as a sister to Pakanic within a unified subgroup of Austroasiatic, is recognized byIlia Peiros (2004) andSidwell's earlier classifications.Nguyen Van Loi also classifiedMang within the Samtau group of Waic withPalaungic, although he later classified Mang as a sister of Waic (Sidwell 2009:133).
Proto-Pakanic, theproto-language ancestral toBolyu andBugan but notMang, was reconstructed by Andrew Hsiu (2016).[4] Hsiu (2017),[5] citing Li Xulian (1999), notes that Pakanic languages were formerly spoken further up north inGuizhou and were in close contact withGelao. Hsiu (2017) also notes that Pakanic languages display loanword influence fromKra languages, and have also influenced Kra languages.