Kucong language

Kucong
Native to	China, Vietnam
Region	Yunnan
Native speakers	50,000 (2007)[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman) Lolo–Burmese Loloish Lahoish Lahu Kucong
Language codes
ISO 639-3	lkc
Glottolog	kuco1235[2]

Kucong (Khucong, Cosung), or Lahlu, is a Loloish language of Yunnan and Vietnam. In Vietnam, the speakers' autonym is kʰu˧ tsʰɔ˧, and are also known as the La Hủ Na 'Black Lahu' (Edmondson 2002). It is very closely related to Lahu.

Distribution

Vietnam

Kucong, or Black Lahu, is spoken in the following villages of Ca Lăng Commune, Mường Tè District, Lai Châu Province, Vietnam (Edmondson 2002).

• Nậm Phìn
• Nậm Khao
• Nậm Cấu
• Phìn Hồ
• Nậm Xả

The Kucong, or Black Lahu, live adjacently to the La Hủ Sủ (Yellow Lahu) and La Hủ Phung (White Lahu). The Yellow Lahu are distributed in the following locations.

• Pa Vệ Sủ Commune
• Pa Ủ Commune
• Ca Lăng Commune (in Là Pé, Nhu Tè, and Hóm Bô)

The White Lahu live in the following locations, often together with the Yellow Lahu.

• Pa Ủ Commune (in Xà Hồ, Ử Ma, Pha Bu, Pa Ử, and Khồ Ma)
• Ca Lăng Commune (in Hà Xe)

The Kucong and related Lahu groups had originally come from the Jinping County area of southern Yunnan, China (Edmondson 2002).

China

Sun Hongkai (1992) reports 30,000 Kucong speakers in Yunnan, China. Chang Suanzhi (2011:5) recognizes 3 branches of Kucong.

• Black Kucong 黑苦聪 (Lahu Na; autonym Guocuo 锅搓 or Guochou 郭抽) is spoken in Zhenyuan, Mojiang, Jiangcheng, Yuanjiang, and Mengla counties, and in Mường Tè District, Vietnam. Chang Suanzhi (2011) covers the Black Kucong dialect of Shaohuiqing[zhai], Dangduo Village, Yangjie Township, Yuanjiang County (元江县羊街乡党舵村烧灰箐寨).^[3] Their autonym in Yuanjiang County is kɔ31 tsʰɔ33.^[4]
• Yellow Kucong 黄苦聪 (Lahu Shi) is spoken in Jinping County.
• White Kucong 白苦聪 (Lahu Pu) is spoken in two villages of Zhemi Township 者米乡, Jinping County.

Li & Zhang (2003)^[5] report that there are about 30,000 Kucong people in Yunnan. Zhenyuan County has more than 13,000 Kucong people; western Jinping County has more than 6,000 Kucong people; and Xinping County has more than 4,000 Kucong people. Li & Zhang (2003) cover the Kucong dialect of Kudumu Village 库独木村, Pingzhang Township 平掌乡, Xinping County 新平县. In Xinping County, their autonym is kɔ33 tsʰɔ53, which means 'mountain people.'

In Yuanjiang County, Yunnan, Kucong (960 people total) is spoken in the following villages.)^[6]

• Xingfu Village 幸福村, Dong'e Town 东峨镇 (536 people)
• Damansha Village 大漫沙村, Mili Township 咪哩乡^[7] (129 people)
• Shaohuiqingzhai 烧灰箐寨, Yangjie Township 羊街乡 (186 people)

References

1. Kucong at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Kucong". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
3. http://www.ynszxc.gov.cn/villagePage/vIndex.aspx?departmentid=252235
4. 戴庆厦, 常俊之. 2009. 元江苦聪话概况. Minzu Yuwen 2009:3.
5. Li Jie [李洁] & Zhang Wei [张伟]. 2003. "Kuconghua gaikuang" [苦聪话概况]. Minzu Yuwen 2003:1.
6. Dai Qingxia [戴庆厦] & Chang Suanzhi [常俊之]. 2009. "Yuanjiang kuconghua gaikuang" [元江苦聪话概况]. Minzu Yuwen 2009:3.
7. http://www.ynszxc.gov.cn/villagePage/vIndex.aspx?departmentid=252470

• Chang Junzhi [常俊之] (2011). A reference grammar of Yuanjiang Kucong [元江苦聪话参考语法]. Beijing: China Social Sciences Academy Press.
• Edmondson, Jerold A. (2002). "The Central and Southern Loloish Languages of Vietnam". Proceedings of the Twenty-Eighth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society: Special Session on Tibeto-Burman and Southeast Asian Linguistics (2002), pp. 1-13.