Ai-Cham language

Ai-Cham (autonym: ʔai33 cam11; Chinese: 锦话) is a Kam–Sui language spoken mainly in Diwo 地莪 and Boyao 播尧 Townships, Jialiang District, Libo County, Qiannan Prefecture, Guizhou, China. Alternative names for the language are Jiamuhua, Jinhua and Atsam. Fang-Kuei Li first distinguished the language in 1943. Nearby languages include Bouyei and Mak. However, Yang (2000) considers Ai-Cham and Mak to be different dialects of an identical language.^[2]

Ai-Cham has six tones. Regarded of speaker's nationality, they are being subsumed under "Bouyei" nationality (same with speakers of Mak language).

The mythical patriarch and hero of the Ai-Cham people is the demigod Wu Sangui, who is celebrated during the Ai-Cham New Year.^[3]

References

• Edmondson, J. A., & Solnit, D. B. (1988). Comparative Kadai: linguistic studies beyond Tai. Summer Institute of Linguistics publications in linguistics, no. 86. [Arlington, Tex.]: Summer Institute of Linguistics. ISBN 0-88312-066-6.
• Zhou, Guoyan 周国炎 (2013). Zhōngguó xīnán mínzú zájū dìqū yǔyán guānxì yǔduō yǔ héxié yánjiū: Yǐ Diān Qián Guì pílín mínzú zájū dìqū wèi yánjiū gè'àn 中国西南民族杂居地区语言关系与多语和谐研究：以滇黔桂毗邻民族杂居地区为研究个案 (in Chinese). Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe. ISBN 978-7-5161-1985-3.