Mondzish languages

Mondzish
Geographic distribution:	Chinese–Vietnamese border
Linguistic classification:	Sino-Tibetan Lolo–Burmese Mondzish
Proto-language:	Man
Subdivisions:	Kathu Nuclear Mondzish
Glottolog:	mond1269[1]

Mondzish (Mangish) is a small group of languages that constitute the most divergent branch of the Lolo–Burmese languages in the classification of Lama (2012), who identifies them as the descendents of the Man people (Nánmán).

Mondzish languages are spoken in Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan, China and across the border in Hà Giang Province, Vietnam. According to Hsiu (2014), Kathu is related.

Classification

Hsiu (2014:73) classifies the Mondzish languages as follows.

• Kathu (Thou)
• Nuclear Mondzish (Nuclear Mangish)
  • Muangphe
  • Mango, Manga
  • Maang (AKA Mo'ang, Meang)
  • Mondzi, Mantsi
  • Maza

Sound changes

Lama (2012) lists the following sound changes from Proto-Loloish as Mondzish innovations.

• *tsʰ- > s-
• *ɣr- > ʐ-
• *ɣʷ- > b-

References

1. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Mondzish". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.

• Edmondson, Jerold A. 2003. Three Tibeto-Burman Languages of Vietnam.
• Hsiu, Andrew. 2014. "Mondzish: a new subgroup of Lolo-Burmese". In Proceedings of the 14th International Symposium on Chinese Languages and Linguistics (IsCLL-14). Taipei: Academia Sinica.
• Lama, Ziwo Qiu-Fuyuan (2012), Subgrouping of Nisoic (Yi) Languages, thesis, University of Texas at Arlington.