Jinuo, Youle

A language of China

ISO 639-3

Alternate Names

Jino, Youle

Population

10,000 (Bradley 2007b). Ethnic population: All Jinuo: 20,900 (Bradley 2007a).

Location

Yunnan province: Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture, near Laos and Myanmar borders, east of Jinghong in Youle mountains. 40 villages.

Language Status

6b (Threatened). Language of recognized nationality: Jinuo.

Classification

Dialects

Youle and Buyuan dialects not mutually inherently intelligible. Chinese used to communicate.

Typology

SOV; initial consonant clusters (stop or nasal plus, r); no syllable-final consonants; mostly monosyllabic words; tonal, 6 tones.

Language Use

Vigorous. All domains. All ages. Positive attitudes. Some also use Mandarin Chinese [cmn], which is used in education. Also use Lü [khb].

Language Development

Literacy rate in L2: 83%. Films.

Language Resources

Writing

Latin script [Latn].

Other Comments

Traditional religion.