Kim Mun language

Kim Mun (Template:Lang-zh; also Lanten or Landian 蓝靛) is a Mienic language spoken by 200,000 of the Yao people in the Chinese provinces of Guangxi, Hunan and Yunnan, with about 61,000 of the speakers in Hainan Province. There are also speakers in Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.

Iu Mien and Kim Mun are similar to each other, having a lexical similarity percentage of 78%.

Distribution

In China, Kim Mun is spoken in the following counties (Mao 2004:304-305).

• Yunnan: Hekou, Malipo, Maguan, Xichou, Qiubei, Guangnan, Funing, Yanshan, Shizong, Jiangcheng, Mojiang, Yuanyang, Jinping, Lüchun, Mengla, Jinghong
• Guangxi: Xilin, Lingyun, Napo, Tianlin, Fengshan, Bama, Lipu, Pingle, Mengshan, Jinxiu, Yongfu, Luzhai, Fangcheng, Shangsi
• Hainan: Qiongzhong, Baoting, Qionghai, Tunchang, Ledong, Wanning, Sanya. In Hainan, Kim Mun speakers are officially classified by the Chinese government as ethnic Miao, rather than Yao.

Ethnologue lists several counties in Vietnam where Kim Mun is spoken (in Bac Giang province, Ha Giang province, Lao Cai province, Quang Ninh province, Tuyen Quang province and Yen Bai province).. Van Ban district of Lao Cai province is one of the primary areas where Kim Mun is spoken in Vietnam. In Vietnam, Dao people belonging to the Quần Trắng, Thanh Y, and Áo Dài subgroups speak Kim Mun. Kim Mun speakers are also found in northern Laos (in Luang Namtha province, Oudomxai province and in Bokeo province).

Daniel Arisawa has performed fieldwork with an isolated speaker of Kim Mun (originally from Laos) in Lampang province, northern Thailand (along the border of Mae Mo district and Ngao district).

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial		Dental		Alveolar		(Alveolo-) palatal	Velar			Glottal
		plain	pal.	plain	pal.	plain	pal.		plain	lab.	pal.	plain	pal.
Nasal		Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink			Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink
Stop	voiceless	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink			Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink
	voiced	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink			Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink
Affricate	voiceless			(Template:IPAlink)	(Template:IPAlink)	Template:IPAlink
	voiced			(Template:IPAlink)	(Template:IPAlink)	Template:IPAlink
Fricative	voiceless	Template:IPAlink		Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	(Template:IPA link)				Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink
	voiced	Template:IPAlink		Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink
Lateral						Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink
Approximant								Template:IPAlink		Template:IPAlink

• Lateral-released sounds are also present as .
• Fricative sounds are realized as affricate sounds in the Liangzi dialect.
• may also be heard as a retroflex in free variation in the Liangzi dialect.
• may also be heard as in different positions in the Liangzi dialect.
• Palatalized sounds ; can also be heard as palatal sounds ; in free variation.
• Sounds are more stiff-voiced in free variation.
• Sounds are heard as unreleased in word-final position.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	Template:IPAlink		Template:IPAlink
Close-mid	Template:IPAlink		Template:IPAlink
Mid		(Template:IPAlink)
Open-mid	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPA link	Template:IPAlink
Open		Template:IPAlink Template:IPA link

• /ɐ/ is heard as [ə] in the Laos dialects of Kim Mun.
• /i, u/ can be heard as [ɪ, ʊ] when in closed syllables.
• /o/ may be labialized as [oʷ] in word-final position.
• /e/ may have a palatal off-glide as [eʲ] in word-final syllables.
• /ɔ/ when before a velar consonant can be heard as a diphthong [aʊ].
• /o, ɔ/ may also be heard as lowered [ɔ̞, ɒ] in free variation in the Laos dialects.

Writing system

The orthography for Kim Mun in the Latin script was developed in China in 1983.

Initials:

Letter	IPA	Letter	IPA	Letter	IPA	Letter	IPA
b	[p]	mbl	[bl]	h	[x]	gl	[kl]
mb	[b]	d	[t]	j	[tɕ]	nq	[g]
m	[m]	z	[ts]	x	[ɕ]	nql	[gl]
f	[f]	nd	[d]	nj	[dʑ]	ng	[ŋ]
v	[v]	s	[θ]	ny	[ɲ]
w	[w]	n	[n]	y	[j]
bl	[pl]	l	[l]	g	[k]

Finals:

Letter	IPA	Letter	IPA	Letter	IPA	Letter	IPA	Letter	IPA	Letter	IPA	Letter	IPA	Letter	IPA	Letter	IPA
i	[i]	iing	[iːŋ]	eeu	[eːu]	et	[et]	au	[au]	aap	[aːp]	om	[om]	oot	[oːt]	uun	[uːn]
ir	[ɪ]	ip	[ip]	em	[em]	eet	[eːt]	aau	[aːu]	at	[at]	oom	[oːm]	ok	[ok]	ung	[uŋ]
iu	[iu]	iip	[iːp]	eem	[eːm]	ek	[ek]	am	[am]	aat	[aːt]	on	[on]	ook	[oːk]	uung	[uːŋ]
iiu	[iːu]	it	[it]	en	[en]	eek	[eːk]	aam	[aːm]	ak	[ak]	oon	[oːn]	u	[u]	up	[up]
im	[im]	iit	[iːt]	een	[eːn]	er	[ə]	an	[an]	aak	[aːk]	ong	[oŋ]	ui	[ui]	uup	[uːp]
iim	[iːm]	ik	[ik]	eng	[eŋ]	erm	[ən]	aan	[aːn]	o	[o]	oong	[oːŋ]	uui	[uːi]	ut	[ut]
in	[in]	e	[e]	eeng	[eːŋ]	a	[a]	ang	[aŋ]	oi	[oi]	op	[op]	um	[um]	uut	[uːt]
iin	[iːn]	ei	[ei]	ep	[ep]	ai	[ai]	aang	[aːŋ]	ooi	[oːi]	oop	[oːp]	uum	[uːm]	uk	[uk]
ing	[iŋ]	eu	[eu]	eep	[eːp]	aai	[aːi]	ap	[ap]	ou	[ou]	ot	[ot]	un	[un]	uuk	[uːk]

Tones are marked with letters d, h, v, s, z, x, w, c, q, f, y, r after a syllable.

References

• Clark, Eddie. (2008). A phonological analysis and comparison of two Kim Mun varieties in Laos and Vietnam (Master's thesis) Template:Webarchive. Payap University.
• Phạm Văn Duy. 2014. Văn hóa dân gian Kinh Môn. Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản văn hóa thông tin. Template:ISBN
• Phan Hữu Dật & Hoàng Hoa Toàn. 1998. "Về vấn đề xác minh tên gọi và phân loại các ngành Dao Tuyên Quang." In Phan Hữu Dật (ed). Một số vấn đề về dân tộc học Việt Nam, p.483-567. Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản Đại Học Quốc Gia Hà Nội.
• Shintani Tadahiko. 1990. The Mun language of Hainan Island: its classified lexicon [海南島門語: 分類詞滙集]. Tokyo: ILCAA.
• Shintani Tadahiko. 2008. The Mun language of Funing County: its classified lexicon. Tokyo: ILCAA.

External links

• Asia Harvest. (n.d.) "People Group Profiles: Kim Mun" Template:Webarchive. Retrieved 12 June 2019.