The Hlai languages are a primary branch of the Tai–Kadai language family spoken in China on the island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 of Hainan

Hainan

Hainan is the smallest province of the People's Republic of China . Although the province comprises some two hundred islands scattered among three archipelagos off the southern coast, of its land mass is Hainan Island , from which the province takes its name...

. They include Hlai

Hlai language

Hlai is one of two languages of the Hlai or Li people, the other being the Jiamao "dialect". It is spoken by 600,000 people , a quarter of them monolingual, in the mountains of central and south-central Hainan Island...

 proper, with 600,000 speakers, and Cun

Cun language

Cun is a variety of Hlai language on Hainan Island. Lexical similarity with standard Hlai is 40%....

, which has 80,000 speakers. The most divergent language is Jiamao

Jiamao language

Jiamao is one of the Hlai languages of the Li people. In the 1980s it was spoken by 50,000 people in central and south-central Hainan Island, mostly in Jiamao Township, Baoting County. It shares less than half of its lexicon with standard Hlai. Graham Thurgood has suggested that Jiamao was...

, with 52,300 speakers in southern Hainan.

Classification

The following a classification of Hlai dialects or languages. Dialect/language names are highlighted in bold, while names of branches are not. Language demographics are from Norquest (2007:17).

• Jiamao
  Jiamao language
  Jiamao is one of the Hlai languages of the Li people. In the 1980s it was spoken by 50,000 people in central and south-central Hainan Island, mostly in Jiamao Township, Baoting County. It shares less than half of its lexicon with standard Hlai. Graham Thurgood has suggested that Jiamao was...
  
  – 52,000
• Hlai
  Hlai language
  Hlai is one of two languages of the Hlai or Li people, the other being the Jiamao "dialect". It is spoken by 600,000 people , a quarter of them monolingual, in the mountains of central and south-central Hainan Island...
  
   (descended from Proto-Hlai
  Proto-Hlai language
  The Proto-Hlai language is the reconstructed ancestor of the Hlai languages. Proto-Hlai reconstructions include those of Matisoff , Thurgood , Ostapirat , and Norquest .-Phonology:Peter K...
  
  , which is from Pre-Hlai) – 800,000 (incl. Cun
  Cun language
  Cun is a variety of Hlai language on Hainan Island. Lexical similarity with standard Hlai is 40%....
  
  )
  • Bouhin (Heitu) – 73,000
  • Greater Hlai
    • Ha Em (Zhongsha) – 193,000
    • Central Hlai
      • East Central Hlai – 344,000
        • Lauhut (Baoding) – 166,000
        • Qi – 178,000
          • Tongzha (Tongshi) – 125,000
          • Zandui (Qiandui) – 29,000
          • Baoting
            Baoting Li and Miao Autonomous County
            Baoting Li and Miao Autonomous County is an autonomous county in Hainan, People's Republic of China. One of the six autonomous counties on the island, its postal code is 572300. In 1999 the county had a population of 155,575, largely made up of people from the Li and Miao minorities.-External links:*...
            
            – 24,000
      • North Central Hlai – 136,500
        • Northwest Central Hlai – 62,500
          • Cun
            Cun language
            Cun is a variety of Hlai language on Hainan Island. Lexical similarity with standard Hlai is 40%....
            
             (Ngan Fon, Gelong) – 60,000
          • Nadou (Dongfang) – 2,500
        • Northeast Central Hlai – 74,000
          • Meifu – 30,000
            • Changjiang
              Changjiang Li Autonomous County
              Changjiang Li Autonomous County is an autonomous county in Hainan, the People's Republic of China. It is one of 6 counties of Hainan. Its postal code is 572700, and in 1999 its population was 225,131 people, largely made up of the Li people.-References:...
              
              
            • Moyfaw (Xifang)
          • Run – 44,000
            • Baisha
              Baisha Li Autonomous County
              Baisha County is an autonomous county in Hainan, the People's Republic of China. It is one of 6 counties of Hainan. Its postal code is 572800, and in 1999 its population was 176,377 people, largely made up of the Li people.-References:...
              
              – 36,000
            • Yuanmen – 8,000

External links

• Bible recordings in various Hlai languages
• ABVD: Proto-Hlai word list