Endangered Languages Project

CLASSIFICATION		Sino-Tibetan, Lolo-Burmese
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		smh
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

Compare Sources (4)

Information from: “East and Southeast Asia” (349-424) . David Bradley (2007) , C. Moseley · London & New York: Routledge

Threatened

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
~18,667
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
~28,000
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
A group of about 28,000 Yi whose own name is (sa21 ni53), but are known in Chinese as Samei. About two thirds speakers.

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

Extinct in some northwestern villages very close to Kunming city, severely endangered to the east in northeastern Guandu and Yiliang, and endangered in Ala Township which is the centre of the Samei distribution and where most villages are entirely or largely Samei. Few fully fluent young speakers, though many children have passive understanding of the language.

PLACES: China

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Yunnan, Guandu District of Kunming City, forty-two villages just southeast of the city; also seven villages in northwestern Yiliang County to the east.

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
20,000
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
35,000
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Data for the number of native speakers comes from Bradley (2007).

PLACES: China;

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
12,000
Native speakers worldwide

Vulnerable

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

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		12,000	10000-99999		Vulnerable (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)						25.0756,103.0133
	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	~28,000	~18,667	10000-99999	A group of about 28,000 Yi whose own name is (sa21 ni53), but are known in Chinese as Samei. About two thirds speakers.	Threatened (80 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	11	Extinct in some northwestern villages very close to Kunming city, severely endangered to the east in northeastern Guandu and Yiliang, and endangered in Ala Township which is the centre of the Samei distribution and where most villages are entirely or largely Samei. Few fully fluent young speakers, though many children have passive understanding of the language.	12	China	Yunnan, Guandu District of Kunming City, forty-two villages just southeast of the city; also seven villages in northwestern Yiliang County to the east.
		World Oral Literature Project						http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.			10,000	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	35,000	20,000	10000-99999	Data for the number of native speakers comes from Bradley (2007).	Vulnerable (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)				China;

Samei

Language metadata

Language information by source

Threatened

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~18,667

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

20,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

12,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

10,000

Discussion

Samei

Language metadata

Language information by source

Threatened

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~18,667

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

20,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

12,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

10,000

Discussion

Suggest information or improvement

Download language data

Sources of information

Compare Sources