The Pumi language is a Tibeto-Burman language

Tibeto-Burman languages

The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non-Chinese members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken thoughout the highlands of southeast Asia, as well as lowland areas in Burma ....

 used by the Pumi people, an ethnic group from Yunnan

Yunnan

Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...

, China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

. Most native speakers live in Lanping, Ninglang

Ninglang Yi Autonomous County

Ninglang Yi Autonomous County is located in Lijiang City Prefecture, Yunnan, China.-External links:**...

, Lijiang, Weixi

Weixi Lisu Autonomous County

Weixi Lisu Autonomous County is located in Diqing Prefecture, Yunnan province, China.-External links:*...

 and Muli

Muli Tibetan Autonomous County

Muli Tibetan Autonomous County is in the Liangshan prefecture of Sichuan province in China. It is a remote, mountainous and forested region with few roads. The highest peaks are nearly 6000 metres in height...

. There are two branches of Pumi (southern and northern), and they are not mutually intelligible.

In some areas Pumi used the Tibetan script, mainly for religious purposes, although gradually it fell into disuse. A pinyin-based Roman script has been proposed, but is not commonly used.

Example

Pumi	English
Tèr gwéjè dzwán thèr phxèungphxàr sì. Timitae llìnggwe zreungzrun stìng.	He have broken several hammers. This man is crying and shouting all the time.