Mak language
The Mak language (Chinese: 莫语; autonym: ʔai3 maːk8) is a Kam–Sui language spoken in Libo County, Qiannan Prefecture, Guizhou, China. It is spoken mainly in the four townships of Yangfeng (羊/阳风乡, including Dali 大利村 and Xinchang 新场村 dialects), Fangcun (方村), Jialiang (甲良), and Diwo (地莪) in Jialiang District (甲良), Libo County. Mak speakers can also be found in Dushan County. Mak is spoken alongside Ai-Cham and Bouyei. The Mak, also called Mojia (莫家) in Chinese, are officially classified as Bouyei by the Chinese government.
| Mak | |
|---|---|
| ʼai3 ma꞉k8 | |
| Native to | China |
| Region | Libo County, southern Guizhou |
| Ethnicity | 10,000 (2000) |
Native speakers | 5,000 (2007) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mkg |
| Glottolog | makc1235 |
| ELP | Mak (China) |
Yang (2000) considers Ai-Cham and Mak to be different dialects of the same language.
The Fangcun dialect was first studied by Fang-Kuei Li in 1942, and the Yangfeng dialect was studied in the 1980s by Dabai Ni of the Minzu University of China. Ni also noted that the Mak people only sing Bouyei folk songs, and that about 5,000 Mak people have shifted to the Bouyei language.