Mulam language

For Mulao, a Kra language of Guizhou, see Mulao language (Kra).

The Mulam language (Chinese: 仫佬; pinyin: Mùlǎo) is a Kam–Sui language spoken mainly in Luocheng County, Hechi, Northern Guangxi by the Mulao people. The greatest concentrations are in Dongmen and Siba communes. Their autonym is mu6 lam1.^[2] The Mulam also call themselves kjam1, which is probably cognate with lam1 and the Dong people's autonym "Kam" (Wang & Zheng 1980).

Mulam
Native to	China
Region	Luocheng County, Hechi, Northern Guangxi
Ethnicity	210,000 (2000 census)[1]
Native speakers	86,000 (2005)[1] < 10,000 monolinguals
Language family	Kra–Dai Kam–Sui Mulam
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mlm
Glottolog	mula1253
ELP	Mulam

Phonology

The Mulam language, like Dong, does not have voiced stops, but does have a phonemic distinction between unvoiced and voiced nasals and laterals. It has a system of eleven distinct vowels. It is a tonal language with ten tones, and 65% of its vocabulary is shared with the Zhuang and Dong languages.^{[citation needed]}

Dialects

The following Mulam dialects are listed in Wang & Zheng (1980) (all of which are spoken in Luocheng Mulao Autonomous County).

• Dongmen 东门镇 (in Dayin 大银, Dafu 大福村, Le'e 勒俄村 etc.); documented in detail by Wang & Zheng (1980)
• Long'an 龙岸镇 (in Liangsi 良泗, etc.)
• Huangjin 黄金镇 (in Zhongjian 中间寨, etc.); documented in Qiu (2004)^[3]
• Qiaotou 桥头镇 (in Dongnong 洞弄屯, etc.)
• Siba 四把镇 (in Dawu 大梧, Miao'er 苗儿屯, Shuangzhai 双寨村, etc.); documented in Guangxi (2008)^[4]
• Xiali 下里乡 (in Xiecun 谢村, etc.)

The following comparison of Mulam dialects is from Ni Dabai (2010:221-222).^[2][5]

English gloss	Chinese gloss	Qiaotou 桥头	Huangjin 黄金	Siba 四把	Dongmen 东门	Long'an 龙岸
die	死	tai1	tai1	pɣai1	tai1	tai1
medicine	药	ta2	ta2	kɣa2	-	tsa2
intestines	肠子	taːi3	taːi3	kɣaːi3	khɣaːi3	tsaːi3
cloud	云	ma3	ma3	kwa3	kwa3	fa3
bran	细糠	pwa6	pwa6	kwa6	kwa6	fa6
dog	狗	m̥a1	m̥a1	ŋwa1	ŋ̥wa1	m̥a1
hair, fur	毛发	pəm1	pəm1	pɣam1	pɣam1	kjam1