Pumi language
# Pumi language

The Pumi language (also known as Prinmi) is a Qiangic language used by the Pumi people, an ethnic group from Yunnan, China, as well as by the Tibetan people of Muli in Sichuan, China. Most native speakers live in Lanping, Ninglang, Lijiang, Weixi and Muli.

The autonym of the Pumi is pʰʐə̃55 mi55 in Western Prinmi, pʰɹĩ55 mi55 in Central Prinmi, and pʰʐõ55 mə53 in Northern Prinmi with variants such as pʰɹə̃55 mə55 and tʂʰə̃55 mi53.

In Muli Bonist priests read religious texts in Tibetan, which needs to be interpreted into Prinmi. An attempt to teach Pumi children to write their language using the Tibetan script has been seen in Ninglang. A pinyin-based Roman script has been proposed, but is not commonly used.

## Dialects

Earlier works suggest there are two branches of Pumi (southern and northern), and they are not mutually intelligible. Ding (2014) proposes three major groups: Western Prinmi (spoken in Lanping), Central Prinmi (spoken in southwestern Ninglang, Lijiang, Yulong and Yongsheng) and Northern Prinmi (spoken in northern Ninglang and Sichuan).

### Lu (2001)

Dialects of Pumi include the following (Lu 2001).

**Southern (22,000 speakers)**

* Qinghua 箐花村, Lanping County, Yunnan
* Ludian 鲁甸县, Yunnan
* Xinyingpan 新营盘乡, Ninglang County, Yunnan

**Northern (55,000 speakers)**

* Taoba 桃巴村, Muli County, Sichuan
* Tuoqi 拖七村, Ninglang County, Yunnan
* Zuosuo 左所区, Yanyuan County, Sichuan
* Sanyanlong 三岩龙乡, Jiulong County, Sichuan

### Sim (2017)

Sims (2017) lists the following dialects of Pumi.

* Northern
   * Sanyanlong 三岩龙 [Jiulong County] (B. Huang & Dai 1992)
   * Taoba 桃巴 [Muli County] (Sun 1991)
   * Shuiluo 水洛 [Muli County] (Jacques 2011)
* Central
   * Wadu 瓦都 [Ninglang County] (Daudey 2014)
   * Niuwozi 牛窝子 [Ninglang County] (Ding 2001, etc.)
* Southern
   * Dayang [Lanping County] (Matisoff 1997)
   * Qinghua 箐花 [Lanping County] (Sun 1991; B. Huang & Dai 1992)

Sims (2017) reconstructs high tones and low tones for Proto-Prinmi.

## Documentation

Transcribed, translated and annotated audio documents in the Pumi language are available from the Pangloss Collection. They concern Northern dialects of Pumi.

## Phonology

Pumi Consonants :

| | | Labial | Dental | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Nasal | voiceless | [m̥] | [n̥] | | | [ŋ̥] |
| Nasal | voiced | [m] | [n] | | | [ŋ] |
| Plosive | voiceless | [p] | [t] | [ʈ] | | [k] |
| Plosive | aspirated | [pʰ] | [tʰ] | [ʈʰ] | | [kʰ] |
| Plosive | voiced | [b] | [d] | [ɖ] | | [ɡ] |
| Affricate | voiceless | | [ts] | [ʈʂ] | [tɕ] | |
| Affricate | aspirated | | [tsʰ] | [ʈʂʰ] | [tɕʰ] | |
| Affricate | voiced | | [dz] | [ɖʐ] | [dʑ] | |
| Fricative | voiceless | | [s] | [ʂ] | [ɕ] | [x] |
| Fricative | voiced | | [z] | [ʐ] | [ʑ] | [ɣ] |
| Lateral | voiceless | | [ɬ] | | | |
| Lateral | voiced | | [l] | | | |
| Approximant | voiceless | | [ɹ̥] | | | |
| Approximant | voiced | [w] | [ɹ] | | [j] | |

Oral Vowels of Pumi :

| | Front | Central | Central | Back | Back |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Close | [i/iᵊ] | [ɨ] | [ʉ] | [u] | [u] |
| Close-Mid | [e] | | | [ɤ] | [o] |
| Mid | | [ə] | [ə] | | |
| Open-Mid | [ɛ] | [ɜ] | [ɜ] | | |
| Near-Open | | [ɐ] | [ɐ] | | |
| Open | [a] | | | [ɑ] | [ɑ] |

Nasal Vowels of Pumi :

| | Front | Central | Back |
| - | - | - | - |
| Close | [ĩ] | | |
| Close-Mid | | | [õ] |
| Mid | | [ə̃] | |
| Open-Mid | [ɛ̃] | | |
| Near-Open | | [ɐ̃] | |

## Orthography

The pinyin-based Roman script for Pumi has been proposed, but yet to be promoted.

Initials: :

| Letter | IPA | Letter | IPA | Letter | IPA | Letter | IPA | Letter | IPA |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| b | [p] | p | [pʰ] | bb | [b] | m | [m] | hm | [m̥] |
| d | [t] | t | [tʰ] | dd | [d] | n | [n] | hn | [n̥] |
| g | [k] | k | [kʰ] | gg | [ɡ] | h | [x] | hh | [ɣ] |
| j | [tɕ] | q | [tɕʰ] | jj | [dʑ] | x | [ɕ] | xx | [ʑ] |
| z | [ts] | c | [tsʰ] | zz | [dz] | s | [s] | ss | [z] |
| zh | [ʈʂ] | ch | [ʈʂʰ] | zzh | [ɖʐ] | sh | [ʂ] | ssh | [ʐ] |
| zr | [ʈ], [ʈʂ/kʴ] | cr | [ʈʰ], [ʈʂʰ/kʴʰ] | zzr | [ɖ], [ɖʐ/ɡʴ] | l | [l] | lh | [ɬ] |
| br | pʴ | pr | pʴʰ | bbr | bʴ | r | [ɹ] | hr | [ɹ̥] |
| ng | [ŋ] | hng | [ŋ̥] | w | [w] | y | [j] |

Rimes: :

| Letter | IPA | Letter | IPA | Letter | IPA | Letter | IPA |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| i | [i/iᵊ] | u | [u] | ui | [ɥi/wi] | e | [ə] |
| ie | [jɛ/e] | iu | [ju] | uee | [ɥe/we] | | |
| ii | [ɨ/ə] | uu | [uə/ʉ] | ue | [ɥɛ/wɛ/wə] | üa | [ɥɐ] |
| in | [ĩ/ə̃] | ien | [(j)ɛ̃/ĩ] | uen | [ɥɛ̃/wɛ̃/wĩ] | uin | [ɥĩ] |
| o | [o/ɤ] | io | [(j)ɐw/ɨɤ] | on | [õ] | ion | [jõ] |
| a | [ɑ] | ia | [jɐ/jɜ] | ua | [wɑ/wɜ] | uan | [wɐ̃/wɜ̃] |
| aa | [a] | | | uaa | [wa] | an | [ɐ̃] |
| ea | [ɜ/ɛ] | ai | [ɜj] | uai | [wɜj] | | |

Tones:

* Monosyllabic words
   * f – falling tone
   * v – high tone
   * none – rising tone
* Polysyllable words
   * f – nonspreading of the high tone
   * v – spreading of the high tone to the next syllable
   * r – rising tone
   * none – default low tone

## Grammar

A reference grammar of the Wadu dialect of Pumi is available online. A grammar of Central Pumi is also available.

## Example

| Pumi | English |
| - | - |
| Tèr gwéjè dzwán thèr phxèungphxàr sì. Timitae llìnggwe zreungzrun stìng. | He has broken several hammers. This man is crying and shouting all the time. |
