Caijia language
| Caijia | |
|---|---|
| Menni | |
| Native to | China |
| Region | Guizhou |
|
Native speakers
|
1,000 (2004) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 |
None (mis) |
| Glottolog | caij1234 |
Caijia (Chinese: 蔡家话) is an endangered Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Guizhou, China. It was discovered in the 2000s. It appears to be related to Bai. The autonym is men˧˩ni˧.
The Caijia people are ethnoculturally related to the Lu (卢) people (Luren 卢人), who are classified as Manchu by the Chinese government. It is possible that their language is closely related to Caijia. Caijia is also likely to be closely related to Longjia (龙家). Caijia, Longjia, and Lu are all spoken in western Guizhou.
Ethnic subdivisions of the Caijia people include the Black 黑, White 白, Qingshangshui 青上水, Xiashui 下水, Hanzhan 捍毡, Zhuazhua 抓抓, Datou 大头, Qianqiaoba 乾乔巴, Laohu 老虎, Luoluo 倮倮, Xuejiao 削角 (Xieguo 写果), and Jiandao 剪刀.
Historically recorded names for the Caijia include Caijiazi 蔡家子 and Gantan Caijia 擀毡蔡家. The Yi call the Caijia "Sha'awu 沙阿乌", the Miao call them "Sini 斯你", and other ethnic groups also call them "Xieguo 写果".
Caijia speakers are distributed in the following locations (Bo Wenze 2004).
Caijia people with the autonym "Menni" (门尼 or 门你) have also been reported in Puding County, Guizhou, where they were classified as ethnic Gelao during the 1980s (Zhou Guoyan 2004).
In Zhijin County, Guizhou, Caijia people are called Silie 斯列 by the local Miao and Awuna 阿乌纳 by the local Yi (Zhijin County Almanac 1997:166). Yinajia District 以那架区 has the most ethnic Caijia in Zhijin.
The Liupanshui City Ethnic Gazetteer 六盘水市志：民族志 (2003:182-183) lists ethnic Caijia populations for the following counties.
In Shuicheng County, the Caijia is still spoken in:
In Zhenxiong County, Yunnan, the Caijia are scattered in the village of Sumu 苏木, and in Chuanjiu 串九, Qinggang 青杠, Liangshui 凉水, Poji 泼机, Nantai 南台, Wugu 五谷 (Zhenxiong County Almanac 1986).
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