On April 20, 2014 in southern Zhenyuan County, Yunnan Province, China, I found ethnic Guaigun living in a village of Sanhe 三合 Administrative Village called Xiongxing 熊姓, since most Guaigun have the last name Xiong. An elderly informant in the village told me said that the Guaigun are basically “Han” now, since they are completely Sinicized. There are also ethnic Guaigun in Datian 大田 of Lianhe 联合村, with no one speaking any minority languages. There are some ethnic Guaigun in Minqiang 民强 too.
My informant said that the meaning of Guaigun is unknown, and was a pejorative term given to them by other ethnic groups due to their poverty. His grandparents might have known at least some phrases in the Guaigun language. When asked why they are classified as Yi, he said he was not sure why.
I also found an ethnic "Lolo" man in his 80’s around Zhoujiacun 周家村. He reported that even his parents could not speak Lolo, but that his grandparents could.
Yao (Lewu)
On April 22, 2014 in Taizhong Township, Jingdong Township, I found out that the local Yao (also called Lewu) language is apparently extinct, although a few people in the township center said that they spoke a “form of Yi” unintelligible to the other Yi.
Ache?
On April 22, 2014, a Yi women on the bus told me that a³³kʰɛ³³ (meaning: “Luoluo”/autonym) is spoken about 30 km to the east of the Taizhong township center, near the border with Chuxiong. She can understand but not speak Yi. Perhaps this is Ache, due to proximity to Shuangbai and Yimen counties.
Pengzi 棚子 and Suan 蒜
In Guodazhai Township, Fengqing County, I was also unable to find anyone who had heard the names of these two Yi subgroups.