U language
Austroasiatic language spoken in Yunnan, China
title: "U language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["palaungic-languages", "languages-of-yunnan"] description: "Austroasiatic language spoken in Yunnan, China" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Austroasiatic language spoken in Yunnan, China ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | U |
| nativename | Pouma |
| region | China |
| speakers | 40,000 |
| date | 2000 |
| ref | e18 |
| familycolor | Austro-Asiatic |
| fam2 | Khasi–Palaungic |
| fam3 | Palaungic |
| fam4 | Angkuic |
| iso3 | uuu |
| glotto | uuuu1243 |
| glottorefname | U |
| map2 | Lang Status 60-DE.svg |
| mapcaption2 | |
| :: |
|name=U |nativename=Pouma |region=China |speakers= 40,000 |date=2000 |ref=e18 |familycolor=Austro-Asiatic |fam2=Khasi–Palaungic |fam3=Palaungic |fam4=Angkuic |iso3=uuu |glotto=uuuu1243 |glottorefname=U |map2=Lang Status 60-DE.svg |mapcaption2=
The U language, or P'uman (), is spoken by 40,000 people in the Yunnan Province of China and possibly Myanmar. It is classified as an Austroasiatic language in the Palaungic branch. In China, U speakers are classified as ethnic Bulang.
Locations
U is spoken in Shuangjiang County of Yunnan and other nearby counties.
- Wang & Chen (1981) covers the dialect of Pengpan 碰拚, Dafengshan Township 大凤山乡, Shuangjiang County.
- Zhou & Yan (1983) covers the dialect of Pangpin 胖品, Yongge Township 永革乡, Shuangjiang County.
- Yan & Zhou (2012) cover U of Gantang 甘塘, Yongde County as well as U of Pangpin 胖品.
- Svantesson (1991:67) documents the U dialect of Pã Xɛp (Bangxie, 邦协), Shahe Township 沙河乡, Shuangjiang County.
There two main dialects of U in Shuangjiang County: one spoken in Gongnong (公弄, now part of Mengku Town, 勐库镇) and one spoken in Bangbing (邦丙) and Dawen Mangga (大文乡忙嘎); the Dawen dialect is reportedly mutually intelligible with that of Shidian County (Shuangjiang County Ethnic Gazetteer 1995:160).
Avala (autonym: a21 va21 la21) is spoken in Bangliu (邦六), Manghuai Township (芒怀乡), Yun County (云县), Yunnan, China.
Phonology
U has four tones, high, low, rising, falling, which developed from vowel length and the nature of final consonants.
::data[format=table title="Consonants{{harvnb|Svantesson|1988|p=69}}"]
| Labial | Dental | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | Plosive | plain | aspirated | Affricate | plain | aspirated | Fricative | voiceless | voiced | Nasal | Lateral | Approximant |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| :: |
::data[format=table title="Vowels{{harvnb|Svantesson|1988|p=70}}"]
| Front | Central | Back | High | Mid | Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| :: |
References
References
- {{harvp. Svantesson. 1988
- "Shuāngjiāng Lāhùzú Wǎzú Bùlǎngzú Dǎizú Zìzhìxiàn Dàwén Xiāng Dàliángzi Cūnwěihuì Pàngpǐn Zìráncūn".
- "Yǒngdé Xiàn Měngbǎn Xiāng Hùyā Cūnwěihuì Gāntáng Zìráncūn".
- "Yǒngdé Xiàn Měngbǎn Xiāng Líshù Cūnwěihuì Gāntáng Zìráncūn".
- "Shuāngjiāng Lāhùzú Wǎzú Bùlǎngzú Dǎizú Zìzhìxiàn Shāhé Xiāng Bāngxié Cūnmín Wěiyuánhuì Bāngxié Zìráncūn".
- "Yúnxiàn Mánghuái Yízú Bùlǎngzú Xiāng Bāngliù Cūnwěihuì".
- Hsiu, Andrew. (2017). "The Angkuic Languages: A Preliminary Survey". Zenodo.
- Hsiu, Andrew. (2017). "Avala Audio Word List". Zenodo.
- {{harvnb. Svantesson. 1988
- {{harvnb. Svantesson. 1988
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