Zhaba language


Zhaba, also known as Bazi, Bozi, Draba, nDrapa, Zaba, Zha, is a Qiangic language of Sichuan, China spoken by about 8,000 people in Daofu County and Yajiang County. The Zhaba, who are officially classified by the Chinese government as ethnic Tibetan people, refer to themselves as ' and to the Zhaba language as '. Neighboring Khams Tibetan speakers refer to the Zhaba people as . Zhaba speakers live primarily in the Xianshui River 鲜水河 valley.
Descriptions of Zhaba include Huang and Gong. Huang & Dai document the Queyu dialect spoken in Zhatuo Village 扎拖村, Zhatuo Township 扎拖乡, Daofu County, Sichuan.

Dialects

Ethnologue lists two dialects of Zhaba:
A total of 8,319 Zhaba people are distributed in the following townships of Zhaba District 扎坝区 of Daofu County, and Zhamai District 扎麦区 of Yajiang County . Zhaba people from the two districts speak the same mutually intelligible language.