Laomian language
language
Laomian (Chinese: 老緬語; pinyin: Lǎomiǎnyǔ, also known as Bisu, Guba or Lawmeh) is a Sino-Tibetan language and is a Chinese derivation of the Lahu name Lawmeh. Laomian is closely related to the Bisu language, is spoken in Laomian Dazhai (老缅大寨), Zhutang Township (竹塘乡), Lancang County, Yunnan. There are 4,000 speakers (out of 5,000 ethnic members) in central Lancang County, Yunnan, and fewer than 1,000 Laopin speakers, which may not be included in these numbers. Its language family consists of Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Ngwi-Burmese, Ngwi, Southern, Bisoid, Bisu-Pyen-Laomian, Bisu, Pyen, and Laomian. It is mostly spoken in China in the Southwestern areas of Yunnan Province that joins Thailand and Myanmar. Speakers of Laomian that live in areas with different ethnic groups mostly speak Laomian in their home, while using the main local ethnic language in public. The average age of Laomian speakers is increasing into the sixties to seventies in areas of heterogeneous communities because children are learning the main local language. The domination of Chinese language has had a major impact on the villages of the Laomian people due to the increasing number of people who can speak multiple languages.
Geographic distribution
Two centuries ago, the Lahu people started a rebellion in the Shuangjiang, Lancang and Menglian areas of Yunnan Province. The Bisu people, also known as the Laomian and Laopin people, joined them.
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