Sanie language


Sanie is a Loloish language of Yunnan, China. It is similar to Samataw. There were 17,320 ethnic Sanie in 1998, but only about 8,000 spoke the Sanie language fluently. The Sanie are also known as the White Yi .
A Sanie pinyin orthography had also been developed recently.

Names

Bradley reports significant variation in the Sanie language, and briefly compares the following 6 dialects.
Bradley notes that the Sanie varieties spoken in the plains of Xishan District in Heilingpu, Zhaozong, and Biji Townships are particularly conservative. The East and Southeast dialects are particularly conservative in that they preserve Proto-Loloish labiovelars; the speakers call themselves the '.
Northwest of Kunming, Sanie is locally known as Minglang 明廊''', and is spoken in Wuding County and Maoshan Township 茂山乡, Luquan County; it is probably also spoken in Fumin County. Gao reports high intermarriage rates between the Minglang and other neighboring ethnic groups.

Distribution

Sanie is spoken in 76 villages, 3 of which are mixed with Nasu. 58 of these villages are in Xishan District, 13 in southwestern Fumin County, and 5 in northwestern Anning County.