The Pakanic languages constitute a branch of two
Austroasiatic languages,
Bolyu and
Bugan. They are spoken in
Guangxi and
Yunnan provinces of southern China.
Mang was formerly included, but is now considered by
Paul Sidwell to form its own separate branch within Austroasiatic.[1]
Classification
Jenny & Sidwell (2015) consider Pakanic to be an independent branch of Austroasiatic.[2]
Various classifications had previously been proposed for individual Pakanic languages. In 1990,
Paul K. Benedict argued that
Bolyu constitutes a separate Mon-Khmer branch.
Edmondson & Gregerson (1996)[3] listed many phonological and lexical similarities shared by
Bolyu and
Vietic languages. However,
Gérard Diffloth later suggested that Pakanic (i.e.,
Bolyu and
Bugan) shares an affinity with
Palaungic languages and was part of a wider Northern Mon-Khmer group.
Mangic proposal
Mangic, a proposed language grouping that includes
Mang as a sister to Pakanic within a unified subgroup of Austroasiatic, is recognized by
Ilia Peiros (2004) and
Sidwell's earlier classifications.
Nguyen Van Loi also classified
Mang within the Samtau group of Waic with
Palaungic, although he later classified Mang as a sister of Waic (Sidwell 2009:133).
Reconstruction
Proto-Pakanic, the
proto-language ancestral to
Bolyu and
Bugan but not
Mang, was reconstructed by Andrew Hsiu (2016).[4] Hsiu (2017),[5] citing Li Xulian (1999), notes that Pakanic languages were formerly spoken further up north in
Guizhou and were in close contact with
Gelao. Hsiu (2017) also notes that Pakanic languages display loanword influence from
Kra languages, and have also influenced Kra languages.
See also
Mang language, formerly considered to be closely related