Hani language

The Hani language (Hani: Haqniqdoq; ; Tiếng Hà Nhì) is a language of the Loloish (Yi) branch of the Tibeto-Burman linguistic group spoken in China, Laos, Burma (Myanmar), and Vietnam by the Hani people. In China, Akha and other related languages are considered dialects of Hani.

Phonology

Hani has three main tones and two types of short vowels.

Speakers

The total number of speakers of Hani proper is over 500,000 in China with only around 20,000 in Vietnam and 1,000 in Phongsaly Province, Laos.

Dialects

Hani is divided into three dialects: Haya, Haohai, and Bika.

Writing systems

Oral tradition tells of an ancient written script for Hani but says it was lost when the Hani migrated from Sichuan. In China, Hani now uses a romanization of the Haya dialect of Luchun in the Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture as a written script developed by Chinese authorities and promulgated in 1957. As with the Latin-based scripts of the Zhuang, Hmong and Iu Mien languages, it uses final consonant letters to designate tone.

Sample Text

Hani	English
Aqsol liq yoqdeivq yoqpyuq bo, meeqyaovq ssolnei colpyuq qiq kov dei. Davqtavcolssaq neenyuq bel neema meeq ya siq, laongaoq meilnaol nadul meil e gaq ssol hhyul hha bavqduv nia.	All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

External links

• Ethnologue report for Hani
• Hani language recordings at GlobalRecordings.net
• Hani-Japanese wordlist with comparison with related languages (in Japanese)