Maonan
A language of China
| Population | 30,000 (2005), decreasing. A few thousand women and children monolinguals. Ethnic population: 107,166 (2000 census). |
| Region | North central Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County, Xianan; a few in nearby Hechi, Yishan, Nandan, Du’an counties. |
| Language maps |
Southern China Southwestern China |
| Alternate names | Ai Nan |
| Classification | Tai-Kadai, Kam-Tai, Kam-Sui |
| Language use | 75% use it at home; 62% use it outside the home; 72% speak it to their children. Positive attitude. Also use Chinese [cmn] or other local language. |
| Language development | Literacy rate in L2: 93%. Taught in primary schools. Radio programs. Grammar. |
| Writing system | Han script, Simplified variant. Han script, Traditional variant. |
| Comments | Classified as Maonan nationality. SVO; numbers and adjectives follow nouns; reduplication; glottalized prenasalized, palatalized, and labialized onsets; nasal and stop finals; many Chinese loans; tonal, 6 tone categories in unchecked syllables, 2 in checked (split into 4 according to vowel length). Agriculturalists: rice, maize, sweet potatoes; animal husbandry: pigs, cattle. Daoist, Christian. |
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