Ethnologue Ethnologue distinguishes the following languages: •
Saek (Laos and
northeast Thailand; listed outside Tai proper in the
Ethnologue classification, though said to be similar to Tai Maen, which is listed as Northern Tai) •
Tai Maen (Laos) •
Yoy (Thailand) [?] •
Bouyei (Buyi) (China) (including the language of the
Giáy people of Vietnam) •
Central Hongshuihe Zhuang •
Eastern Hongshuihe Zhuang •
Guibei Zhuang •
Yei Zhuang •
Lianshan Zhuang •
Liujiang Zhuang •
Liuqian Zhuang •
Yongbei Zhuang •
Youjiang Zhuang (See
varieties of Zhuang.)
Yoy is elsewhere classified as
Southwestern Tai, and
E, which is a
mixed language Northern Tai-Chinese language.
Longsang Zhuang, a recently described Northern Tai language, is spoken Longsang Township,
Debao County, Guangxi, China.
Hezhang Buyi is a moribund Northern Tai language of northwestern
Guizhou that is notable for having a
Kra substratum.
Pittayaporn (2009) Pittayaporn (2009:300) distinguishes a similar group of Zhuang varieties as group "N", defined by the phonological shifts *ɯj, *ɯw → *aj, *aw. He moves the
prestige dialect of Zhuang, the Wuming dialect, from the Northern Tai
Yongbei Zhuang to
Yongnan Zhuang – purportedly Central Tai – as it lacks these shifts. The various languages and localities Pittayaporn includes in group N, along with their
Ethnologue equivalents, are: •
Saek •
Bouyei 布依 (including the language of the
Giáy people of Vietnam) • Yei Zhuang 剥隘 • (
Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan) •
Guangnan Sha 广南沙族 = Guibian Zhuang (north Guangnan; south Guangnan is Nong Zhuang) •
Qiubei 丘北县 = Qiubei Zhuang • (
Baise, Guangxi) •
Lingyun 凌乐/凌云县 = Guibian Zhuang •
Pingguo 平果县 = Yongbei Zhuang •
Tiandong 田东县 = Youjiang Zhuang •
Tianlin 田林县 = Guibian Zhuang • (
Nanning Prefecture, Guangxi) •
Hengxian 横县 = Yongbei Zhuang •
Shanglin 上林县 = Hongshuihe Zhuang • Yongbei 邕北 = Yongbei Zhuang • (
Guigang Prefecture, Guangxi) •
Guigang 贵港 City = Hongshuihe Zhuang ? •
Dulan 独兰 Village,
Pingnan 平南县 •
Laibin 来宾 Prefecture,
Guangxi = Hongshuihe Zhuang (south Laibin), Liujiang Zhuang (north Laibin) • (
Hechi Prefecture, Guangxi) •
Hechi City 河池 = Guibei Zhuang •
Huanjiang 环江 = Guibei Zhuang •
Nandan 南丹县 = Guibei Zhuang •
Yishan 宜州 = Liujiang Zhuang • (
Liuzhou Prefecture, Guangxi) •
Liujiang 柳江县 = Liujiang Zhuang •
Rong'an 融安县 = Guibei Zhuang •
Longsheng 龙胜县,
Guilin 桂林,
Guangxi = Guibei Zhuang •
Dong'an 东安县,
Yongzhou 永州,
Hunan •
Lianshan 连山县,
Qingyuan 清远,
Guangdong = Lianshan Zhuang ==Vocabulary==