Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Tuchia, Tujia, Tujia, Southern, Mozi, 土家語, 南部土家語
CLASSIFICATION		Sino-Tibetan, Tujia
ORTHOGRAPHY		no
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		tjs
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS		Northern Tujia [tji] and Southern Tujia [tjs] are not mutually intelligible.

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Information from: “Diachronic and synchronic overview of the Tujia language of Central South China” (75–97) . Brassett, Philip R. and Cecilia Brassett (2005)

Severely endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
2000
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
8000000 (people listed under the Tujia nationality)

DATE OF INFO: 2000 census

DOMAINS OF USE

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

"Tujia is being discarded simply because Chinese is more practical for everyday life."

SPEAKER ATTITUDE

positive

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Mandarin or other Chinese languages such as Xiang

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS

"In all of these villages, there is a steady shift to the use of Chinese. Only in Boluozhai, one of the remotest village clusters, are young children still speaking the dialect."

Scripts (Writing system)

PLACES: Hunan, China

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: a few villages within Tanxizhen Township in western Luxi County 瀘溪縣

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
1,500
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
8,028,133
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Speaker number data: (Brassett and Brassett 2005).

MORE ON VITALITY

Decreasing. Monolingual speakers are mainly women, children, and older adults.

PLACES: China;

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Northwest Hunan Province, Luxi County. 3 villages.

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
10,000
Native speakers worldwide

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
1,500
Native speakers worldwide

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
<1,000
Native speakers worldwide

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

PLACES: central south China

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: mountainous area

Severely endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
<10,000
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
8,028,133 members of the Tujia nationality

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS
TRANSMISSION
OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

PLACES: China

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Northwestern Hunan, Luxi County

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Earlier reported as still spoken in ten villages in eastern Luxi county, but recently found only in three: Boluozhai where all including children speak the language; Puzhu, where some children can speak; and Xiaqieji, where only adults can speak; in some of the other villages old people still know the language.

		2004	"Documentation of the Southern Tujia Language of China" HRELP Abstract								http://www.hrelp.org/grants/projects/index.php?projid=52	Xu, Shixuan	Xu, Shixuan. 2004. ""Documentation of the Southern Tujia Language of China" HRELP Abstract." Online: http://www.hrelp.org/grants/projects/index.php?projid=52.			<1,000		100-999			Chinese					almost all	Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)						central south China	mountainous area
16		2009	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)			M. Paul Lewis	SIL International			Dallas, TX	http://www.ethnologue.com/		Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)	ll_pub	8,028,133	1,500		1000-9999	Speaker number data: (Brassett and Brassett 2005).								Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)		Decreasing. Monolingual speakers are mainly women, children, and older adults.				China;	Northwest Hunan Province, Luxi County. 3 villages.
3rd		2010	Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger				UNESCO Publishing			Paris	http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas	Christopher Moseley (ed.)	Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)	ll_pub		10,000		10000-99999									Vulnerable (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)								28.258,109.9398
	173	2005	Diachronic and synchronic overview of the Tujia language of Central South China		75–97			International Journal of the Sociology of Language	2005			Brassett, Philip R. and Cecilia Brassett	Brassett, Philip R. and Cecilia Brassett. 2005. Diachronic and synchronic overview of the Tujia language of Central South China. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2005(173):75–97.		8000000 (people listed under the Tujia nationality)	2000	2000 census	1000-9999		all	Mandarin or other Chinese languages such as Xiang	no	positive	"In all of these villages, there is a steady shift to the use of Chinese. Only in Boluozhai, one of the remotest village clusters, are young children still speaking the dialect."	no	all	Severely Endangered (100 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	14	"Tujia is being discarded simply because Chinese is more practical for everyday life."	14	15		Hunan, China	a few villages within Tanxizhen Township in western Luxi County 瀘溪縣
		2007	East and Southeast Asia	Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages	349-424	C. Moseley	London & New York: Routledge					David Bradley	Bradley, David. 2007. "East and Southeast Asia." In Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, edited by C. Moseley. 349-424. London & New York: Routledge.	HHOLD	8,028,133 members of the Tujia nationality	<10,000		1000-9999			Chinese						Severely Endangered (80 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	14			15	Earlier reported as still spoken in ten villages in eastern Luxi county, but recently found only in three: Boluozhai where all including children speak the language; Puzhu, where some children can speak; and Xiaqieji, where only adults can speak; in some of the other villages old people still know the language.	China	Northwestern Hunan, Luxi County
			World Oral Literature Project								http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.			1,500		1000-9999									Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)

Southern Tujia

Language metadata

Language information by source

Severely endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,500

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

10,000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,500

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<1,000

Severely endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<10,000

Discussion

Southern Tujia

Language metadata

Language information by source

Severely endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,500

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

10,000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,500

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<1,000

Severely endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<10,000

Discussion

Suggest information or improvement

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Sources of information

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