Lama
[aka Bijang Bai, Bai, Northern Bai]Classification: Sino-Tibetan
·endangered
·
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Endangered
40 percent certain, based on the evidence available
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15,000
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50,000
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Spoken by the Lama or Laemae of the Bai Nationality.
- SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS
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- MORE ON VITALITY
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About 15,000 of 50,000 Lama speak this variety of Bai.
- OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
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Lisu
- LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS
Classified partly in Bai and partly in Lisu nationality; about 15,000 still speak a distinct language closely related to Bai, known as Lama in Lanping and Laemae (in Chinese, Lemei) in Luobenzhuo; others have assimilated and are simply a local clan within the Lisu in other areas, and speak only Lisu. Group population, including that submerged in the Lisu, is about 50,000; but people who identify as members of this group are far fewer, and speakers number only about 15,000, including most children in the core area of Luobenzhuo.
- PLACES
- China
- LOCATION DESCRIPTION
Lushui and Lanping counties, Nujiang Prefecture, Sichuan Province
- ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
This language is spoken northwest of the main Bai concentration.