The Hani languages are a group of closely related but distinct languages of the Loloish branch of the Tibeto-Burman linguistic group. They are also referred to as the Hanoid languages by Lama and as the Akoid languages by Bradley. Approximately 1.5 million people speak these languages, mainly in China, Laos, Burma, and Vietnam; more than 90% of the speakers of these languages live in China. Various ethnicities that use Hani languages are grouped into a single class recognized nationality named Hani after the largest subgroup. In China, the languages of this group—which include Hani proper, Akha, and Hao-Bai —are considered dialects. Western scholars, however, have traditionally classified them as separate languages.
Varieties
In China, Akha and other related languages are considered to be derivatives of Hani. They are not mutually intelligible, which means that speakers of one language do not necessarily understand speakers of the other language. In 2007, according to Ethnologue, there were almost 1.5 million speakers of all Hani varieties. Slightly more than half of these speakers can speak Hani properly. Lama groups the principal varieties of the Hani languages identified by Bradley as follows: Yunnan locations and speaker populations are from Haniyu Jianzhi 哈尼语简志 according to information from 1986.
Ha-Ya 哈雅 had 850,000 speakers in 1982. The representative dialect is Dazhai 大寨 and is spoken in Lüchun County.
*Hani 哈尼 has 520,000 speakers in south-central Yunnan, China and 12,500 speakers in Vietnam. In Yunnan is spoken in Honghe, Yuanyang, Lüchun, and Jinping counties.
*Akha 阿卡Yani 雅尼 has 550,000 speakers: 250,000 in China, 220,000 in Burma, 35,000 in northern Thailand, and 35,000 in northern Laos. In Yunnan, China it is spoken in Sipsongpanna. Representative dialect is Gelanghe Township 格朗和哈尼族乡, Menghai County.
*Muda 木达 has over 2,000 speakers in Nanlianshan township 南联山乡, Jinghong City, Yunnan, China.
Hao-Bai 豪白: 210,000 speakers in Mojiang, Yuanjiang, and Pu'er counties. Representative dialect: Shuigui 水癸, Mojiang County.
David Bradley considers the Hani-Akha and Haoni-Baihong languages to be part of an Akoid subgroup. In China, all of the Bi-Ka languages are considered to form a single Hani dialect cluster, and the speakers are officially classified as ethnic Hani . Recognized dialects include Biyue 碧约, Kaduo 卡多, and Enu 峨努. In Yunnan, China, they are spoken in Mojiang, Jiangcheng, Jingdong, and other counties, with a total of 370,000 speakers. The representative dialect is that of Caiyuan 菜园, Mojiang County. Other Hani varieties include Luomian 罗缅, Guozuo 果作, Gehuo 格活, and Guohe 郭合.
Yunnan Provincial Gazetteer
The Yunnan Provincial Gazetteer classifies the Hani languages as follows. Additional dialects and datapoints from Zhang and Tang are also included.
*Biyue 碧约: Caiyuan Township, Mojiang County dialect 墨江菜园乡土语
*Kaduo 卡多: Minxing Township, Mojiang County dialect 墨江民兴乡土语
*Enu 哦怒: Dazhai, Yayi Township, Mojiang County dialect 墨江雅邑大寨土语
Distribution
China
In China, Hani languages are spoken mostly in areas east of the Mekong River in the south-central Yunnan province, concentrated in the Pu'er and Honghe prefectures as well as in parts of other surrounding prefectures. Hani is also spoken in Lai Châu Province of northwestern Vietnam, northern Laos, and Shan State of northeastern Burma.
Vietnam
Edmondson reports that the Hani of Vietnam is distributed in 2 provinces of northwestern Vietnam. The earliest Hani pioneers to Vietnam probably numbered around 5 to 6 families, and arrived in Mường Tè District from Jinping County and Lüchun County in Yunnan about 325years ago. The Hani of Phong Thổ District and Bát Xát District arrived later, about 175 years ago from Yunnan. The Hani of Vietnam claim to be able to communicate in the Hani language with ethnic Hani from different areas of Vietnam despite significant geographical barriers. Edmondson, however, reported different Hani speech varieties in various parts of northwestern Vietnam, which differ mostly lexically.
