Samei
PrintA language of China
ISO 639-3
Population
20,000 (Bradley 2007). Very few monolinguals. Ethnic population: 28,000 (Bradley 2007).
Location
Yunnan Province, Guandu district, Kunming city, Ala and surrounding communities, 47 villages; west Yiliang County, 7 villages.
Language Status
8a (Moribund).
Classification
Language Use
Extinct in some villages close to Kunming, severely endangered to the east in northeast Guandu and Yiliang, endangered in Ala Township, which is the center of the Samei distribution and where most villages are entirely or largely Samei (2007). Few fluent young speakers, though many children have a passive understanding (2007).
Language Development
Literacy rate in L2: High in Chinese.
Writing
Yi script, traditional, no longer in use.
Officially classified within Yi nationality. Traditional religion.