Bunu language explained

Bunu
Nativename:	Buod Nuox
Also Known As:	Pu Nu
States:	China
Region:	Guangxi and bordering regions
Ethnicity:	Yao
Speakers:	359,474
Date:	2001
Familycolor:	Hmong-Mien
Fam2:	Hmongic
Fam3:	West Hmongic
Fam4:	Bu–Nao
Dia1:	Dongnu
Dia2:	Nunu
Dia3:	Bunuo
Script:	Latin
Glotto:	buna1273
Glottorefname:	Bunu

Bunu is a Hmongic language of southern China. Bunu speakers are classified as Yao by the People's Republic of China.

Varieties

Meng (2001) lists the following language varieties for Bunu.^[1]

• Bunu 布努 (Pu Nu) - 359,474 speakers; representative dialect: Nongjing, Qibainong Township, Dahua County 大化七百弄乡弄京
  • Dongnu 东努 (Tung Nu, autonyms: pronounced as /no22, tuŋ11 no22/) - 293,489 speakers in Funing County, Yunnan (in Longshao 龙绍, etc.) and northern Guangxi: Du'an (in Meizhu 梅珠, etc.), Dahua, Bama, Pingguo, Tiandong, Mashan, Debao, Long'an, Baise, Tianyang, Donglan, Hechi, Shanglin, Xincheng, Yishan, Laibin. In Funing County, they are known as Buzha 布咋 (their autonym) or the Mountain Yao 山瑶.
  • Nunu 努努 (Nu Nu, autonyms: pronounced as /no22 no22, po33 no22/) - 53,870 speakers in northwestern Guangxi: Lingyun (in Taohua 陶化, etc.), Fengshan, Donglan, Bama (in Xishan 西山, etc.), Tianlin, Leye
  • Bunuo 布诺 (Pu No, autonym: pronounced as /pu33 no22/) - 12,115 speakers in Du'an (in Sanzhiyang 三只羊; Longma 龙麻 of Xia'ao 下坳乡,^[2] etc.), Guangxi

The Shaoyang Prefecture Gazetteer (1997:533) reports that the Miao of Xinning County, Hunan, speak a Bunu-branch language.

The Yunnan Province Gazetteer (1989) reports that a Bunu dialect known as pronounced as /pu55 ʐa11/ (布咋) is spoken by about 7,000 people in Guichao 归朝乡 and Dongbo 洞波瑶族乡 (including in Dadongzhai 大洞寨, Saxiangdong Village 三湘洞村^[3]) townships of Funing County, Yunnan.

Others

The following may be alternative names for speakers of Bunu languages.^[4]

• Beidalao 北大老: 15,000 (1990) in Rong'an County and Rongshui County, Guangxi; probably Bunu, though divergent^[5]
• Changpao 长袍: 5,000 (1999) in southern Guizhou; undetermined linguistic affiliation, but could possibly be Bunu.^[6] Identified as Dongmeng by Bradley (2007).^[7]
• Youmai 优迈: 2,000 (1999) in southwestern Guizhou; possibly a Bunu variety;^[8] classified as Pingtang Miao by Li Yunbing (2000)^[9]

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial		Dental/Alveolar			Retroflex	(Alveolo-) palatal	Velar			Glottal
		plain	pal.	plain	sib.	lat.			plain	lab.	pal.
Nasal	voiceless	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/				pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
	voiced	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/				pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Stop	voiceless	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/			pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
	aspirated	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/			pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
	prenasal	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/			pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
	prenasal asp.	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/			pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Affricate	voiceless					pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
	aspirated					pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
	prenasal			pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
	prenasal asp.			pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
Fricative	voiceless	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/				pronounced as /ink/
	aspirated			pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
	voiced	pronounced as /ink/					pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/			pronounced as /ink/
Approximant						pronounced as /ink/

Sounds /tɬ, tɬʰ, ⁿtɬ, ⁿtɬʰ/ may be pronounced as [pl, plʰ, ᵐpl, ᵐplʰ] in some areas.^[10]

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Close-mid	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Open-mid	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
Open		pronounced as /ink/

Notes and References

1. Book: Meng, Chaoji 蒙朝吉 . Yáozú Bùnǔyǔ fāngyán yánjiū . 2001 . Minzu chubanshe . Beijing . zh . zh:瑤族布努语方言研究 . A Study of the Bunu Dialects of the Yao People.
2. Meng . Youyi 蒙有义 . 2011 . Lóngmá Bùnǔyǔ yǔyīn xìtǒng . zh:龙麻布努语语音系统 . On Phonetic System of Bunu Language in Longma . live . Sānxiá lùntán (Sānxiá wénxué. Lǐlùn bǎn) . zh . 2011 . 5 . 61–65, 148 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210624205459/http://www.cnki.com.cn/Article/CJFDTotal-SXLW201105020.htm . 2021-06-24 . 2013-02-13 . zh:三峡论坛（三峡文学.理论版）.
3. Web site: Fùníng Xiàn Dòngbō Yáozú Xiāng Sānxiāngdòng Cūnwěihuì Shàngdàdòng . zh:富宁县洞波瑶族乡三湘洞村委会上大洞 . Shangdadong, Sanxiangdong Village Committee, Dongbo Yao Ethnic Township, Funing County . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170926235828/http://www.ynszxc.gov.cn/villagePage/vIndex.aspx?departmentid=46763 . 2017-09-26 . 2017-09-26 . ynszxc.gov.cn . zh.
4. Web site: China . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130801062653/http://asiaharvest.org/index.php/people-group-profiles/china/ . 2013-08-01 . 2013-07-19 . Asia Harvest . en.
5. Web site: Beidalao . en . Asia Harvest.
6. Web site: Changpao . en . Asia Harvest.
7. Book: Bradley, David . Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages . Routledge . 2007 . Moseley . Christopher . New York . en . East and Southeast Asia.
8. Web site: Youmai . en . Asia Harvest.
9. Book: Li, Yunbing 李云兵 . Miáoyǔ fāngyán huàfēn yíliú wèntí yánjiū . 2000 . Zhongyang minzu daxue chubanshe . Beijing . zh . zh:苗语方言划分遗留问题研究.
10. Book: Meng, Chaoji . 瑤汉词典 : (布努语) [Yao Han ci dian : (Bunu yu)] . 民族出版社 [Minzu chubanshe], Beijing Shi . 2008.