Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Yi, Micha, Minqi, Lolo, Yi, Miqie, 密岔
CLASSIFICATION		Sino-Tibetan, Lolo-Burmese
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		yiq
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

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Information from: “Assessing the linguistic vitality of Miqie: An endangered Ngwi (Loloish) language of Yunnan, China” (164-191) . Gao, Katie B. (2015)

Threatened

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
8,000
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
13,000
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
The Miqie people call themselves as "Micha" in Mandarin.

DATE OF INFO: 2012

DOMAINS OF USE

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

Intermarriage with Han Chinese or other ethnic group has significant impact on the family and village's rate of intergenerational transmission.

SPEAKER ATTITUDE

neutral attitudes toward language loss

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Yunnan Mandarin
Eastern Lipo
Nasu

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS

The use of Miqie is largely depending on the specific village context, namely the rate of intermarriage of Miqie with Chinese or other ethnic groups such as Lipo (called Lisu). Most Miqie villages are in a village cluster with other ethnic groups, including Han, Lipo, Lolo, Nasu, Hani, and Miao. Most elders and some middle-age Miqie speak the languages of the groups near their village and as well as Mandarin.

More on Orthography

No orthography. Other scripts used (mainly for religious purposes) by other ethnic groups in the area include Yi script (Nasu/Nuosu Yi) and the Pollard Script for Miao/Hmong.

PLACES: China

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Scattered villages in border region of Luquan and Fumin counties in Kunming City Administration and Wuding and Lufeng counties in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture.

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
30,000
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
50,000
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Speaker number data from (Bradley 2007), decreasing.

MORE ON VITALITY

No remaining speakers in Jinning and Anning counties; declining elsewhere. Home. Neutral attitudes. Most also use Mandarin Chinese.

PLACES: China;

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Yunnan Province, Wuding (Jincheng, Jiuchang, and Chadian districts), north Fumin, north Lufeng, south Luquan counties, parts of Yongren, Dayao, Yao’an, Nanhua, Jingdong, Zhenyuan, Jinggu, and Yimen counties.

Vulnerable

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

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
13,000
Native speakers worldwide

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
<30,000
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Classified in the Yi Nationality. Micha and Miqie are autonyms. Moderately closely related to Lipho.

MORE ON VITALITY

Extinct in some areas, moribund or severely endangered in others, otherwise endangered.

PLACES: Yunnan, China

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Scattered locations from Fumin, Luquan and Wuding counties north of Kunming, also in various small clusters in Yongren, Dayao, Yaoan and Nanhua counties in west-central Yunnan, and in Jingdong, Zhenyuan and Jinggu counties further south, along the eastern side of the Mekong.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Also formerly spoken in several villages in southern Anning and southwestern Jinning counties south of Kunming, and as far south as one Lahu village at the northern extremity of Thailand, which intermarried with the Miqie
and later moved from Jinggu County to Burma in the early 1950s and in 1971 to Thailand.

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)
	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		<30,000		10000-99999	Classified in the Yi Nationality. Micha and Miqie are autonyms. Moderately closely related to Lipho.						Vulnerable (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)		Extinct in some areas, moribund or severely endangered in others, otherwise endangered.			Also formerly spoken in several villages in southern Anning and southwestern Jinning counties south of Kunming, and as far south as one Lahu village at the northern extremity of Thailand, which intermarried with the Miqie and later moved from Jinggu County to Burma in the early 1950s and in 1971 to Thailand.	Yunnan, China	Scattered locations from Fumin, Luquan and Wuding counties north of Kunming, also in various small clusters in Yongren, Dayao, Yaoan and Nanhua counties in west-central Yunnan, and in Jingdong, Zhenyuan and Jinggu counties further south, along the eastern side of the Mekong.
	2015	Assessing the linguistic vitality of Miqie: An endangered Ngwi (Loloish) language of Yunnan, China		164-191		online		Language Documentation & Conservation	9	Honolulu, HI	http://hdl.handle.net/10125/24640	Gao, Katie B.	Gao, Katie B. 2015. Assessing the linguistic vitality of Miqie: An endangered Ngwi (Loloish) language of Yunnan, China. Language Documentation & Conservation 9:164-191. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/24640		13,000	8,000	2012	1000-9999	The Miqie people call themselves as "Micha" in Mandarin.	school, market, many homes	Yunnan Mandarin, Eastern Lipo, Nasu	neutral attitudes toward language loss	The use of Miqie is largely depending on the specific village context, namely the rate of intermarriage of Miqie with Chinese or other ethnic groups such as Lipo (called Lisu). Most Miqie villages are in a village cluster with other ethnic groups, including Han, Lipo, Lolo, Nasu, Hani, and Miao. Most elders and some middle-age Miqie speak the languages of the groups near their village and as well as Mandarin.	Nearly all Miqie speak Mandarin	Threatened (100 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	11	Intermarriage with Han Chinese or other ethnic group has significant impact on the family and village's rate of intergenerational transmission.	14	12		China	Scattered villages in border region of Luquan and Fumin counties in Kunming City Administration and Wuding and Lufeng counties in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture.	25.385286, 102.454376; 25.453369, 102.423347; 25.581697, 102.570808; 25.620361, 102.346939; 25.586885, 102.247009
		World Oral Literature Project									http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.			13,000		10000-99999							Vulnerable (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)
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	50,000	30,000		10000-99999	Speaker number data from (Bradley 2007), decreasing.						Vulnerable (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)		No remaining speakers in Jinning and Anning counties; declining elsewhere. Home. Neutral attitudes. Most also use Mandarin Chinese.				China;	Yunnan Province, Wuding (Jincheng, Jiuchang, and Chadian districts), north Fumin, north Lufeng, south Luquan counties, parts of Yongren, Dayao, Yao’an, Nanhua, Jingdong, Zhenyuan, Jinggu, and Yimen counties.	25.530389, 102.404338

Miqie Yi

Language metadata

Language information by source

Threatened

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

8,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

30,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

10,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

13,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<30,000

Discussion

Miqie Yi

Language metadata

Language information by source

Threatened

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

8,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

30,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

10,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

13,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<30,000

Discussion

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