Pela

Print

A language of China

ISO 639-3
bxd
Alternate Names
Bela, Bola, Bula, Pala, Polo
Population

400 (2000 D. Bradley). Ethnic population: 1,000 (2001 J. Edmondson).

Location

Yunnan Province, Dehong prefecture, Luxi county, Santaishan township; Yingjiang and Lianghe counties. Maybe also Myanmar.

Language Maps
Language Status

7 (Shifting).

Classification
Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Ngwi-Burmese, Burmish, Northern
Dialects

Similar to Zaiwa [atb]. Considered by some a Zaiwa dialect.

Typology

SOV; only voiceless affricates and stops; no consonant clusters; palatalized and nonpalatalized series of labials and velars; nasal and stop codas; tense-lax and nasal unnasalized vowels; Chinese, Jingpo, Dai, and Burmese loans; tonal, 4 tones, tone sandhi

Language Use

Home. Used by half the children. Neutral attitudes. All are multilingual, using other languages within the cluster natively, some Chinese, and a local Tai language (Bradley 2007).

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Pela
Other Comments

Officially classified within Jingpo nationality. Live among the Jingpo majority and wear Jingpo clothing. They regard themselves as different from Zaiwa and Jingpo and have different traditions. Traditional religion.