Numao language explained

Numao
States:	China
Region:	Libo County, Guizhou
Ethnicity:	Yao
Speakers:	1,715
Date:	2001
Familycolor:	Hmong-Mien
Fam2:	Hmongic
Fam3:	West Hmongic
Fam4:	Bu–Nao
Dia1:	Numao
Dia2:	Dongmeng
Dia3:	Doumu
Glotto:	numa1251
Glottorefname:	Numao

Numao is a Hmongic language of China.

Varieties

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

• Numao 努茂 (Nu Mhou, autonym: pronounced as /nu22 m̥ou11/) - 1,715 speakers in Libo County, Guizhou; representative dialect: Yaolu Township, Libo County 荔波瑶麓瑶族乡
  • Numao 努茂 (Nu Mhou, White-Trouser Yao 白裤瑶, autonym: pronounced as /nu22 m̥ou11/) - about 1,200 speakers in the townships of Yaolu 瑶麓 and Jiarong 佳荣
  • Dongmeng 冬孟 (Long-Shirt Yao 长衫瑶, autonym: pronounced as /toŋ11 nu22, toŋ11 m̥uŋ11/) - about 400 speakers in the townships of Maolan 茂兰, Dongtang 洞塘, and Weng'ang 翁昂

Zhou (2013:29) lists the following three varieties of Numao and also provides 400-word vocabulary lists for them.^[2]

• White-Trouser Yao 白裤瑶 (autonym: təu51 m̥o33) in Yaoshan Township 瑶山乡
• Green Yao 青瑶 (autonym: mu51 m̥ɑu33) in Yaolu Township 瑶麓乡
• Long-Shirt Yao 长衫瑶 (autonym: tən33 m̥o55) in Yaozhai 瑶寨, Dongtang Township 洞塘乡

The Guizhou Province Gazetteer (2002) lists the following autonyms for these villages in Libo County, Guizhou.^[3]

• pronounced as /nu55 m̥au33/

Yaolu 瑶麓

• pronounced as /təu55 m̥u55/

Yaoshan 瑶山

• pronounced as /tuŋ33 m̥uŋ33/

Yao'ai 瑶埃

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. Book: Zhou, Guoyan 周国炎 . Zhōngguó xīnán mínzú zájū dìqū yǔyán guānxì yǔduō yǔ héxié yánjiū: Yǐ Diān Qián Guì pílín mínzú zájū dìqū wèi yánjiū gè'àn . 2013 . Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe . 978-7-5161-1985-3 . Beijing . zh . zh:中国西南民族杂居地区语言关系与多语和谐研究：以滇黔桂毗邻民族杂居地区为研究个案.
3. Guizhou Province Gazetteer: Ethnic Gazetteer [贵州省志. 民族志] (2002). Guiyang: Guizhou Ethnic Publishing House [貴州民族出版社].