MONDZISH BRANCH

Mondzish is a branch of Lolo-Burmese proposed by Ziwo Lama (2012). I have also alternatively called it Mangish in Hsiu (2014).

Kathu

Muangphe

Mango

Mauphu

Motang

Maza

Mongphu

Meang

Munji

There are at least 10 Mondzish languages, some of which remain to be documented. The center of Mondzish diversity is in Funing County, Yunnan, China. My tentative classification of the Mondzish branch is as follows.

1. Northwestern Mondzish: Kathu, Thou

2. Core (Nuclear) Mondzish

- Munji / Mantsi cluster

- Meang / Maang cluster

- Mango / Manga cluster

- Muangphe

- Mauphu, Motang

- Mongphu

- Maza

No clear internal subgrouping can be determined for the Core Mondzish languages, which is a linkage rather than a sub-branch with a clearly defined nested structure.

MAPS

Map 1: Distribution of Mondzish languages (red labels) along the China-Vietnam border. Other non-Sino-Tibetan minor languages are labeled in blue.

References

Hsiu, Andrew. 2014. "Mondzish: a new subgroup of Lolo-Burmese". In Proceedings of the 14th International Symposium on Chinese Languages and Linguistics (IsCLL-14). Taipei: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica.