The etymon *k(ə)ra:w would have also yielded the ethnonym Keo/Kæw/kɛːwA1/, a name given to the Vietnamese by
Tai speaking peoples, currently slightly derogatory.[3] In fact, Keo/Kæw/kɛːwA1/ was an exonym used to refer to Tai speaking peoples, as in the
epic poem of Thao Cheuang, and was only later applied to the Vietnamese.[4] In
Pupeo (
Kra), kew is used to name the
Tay (
Central Tai) of North Vietnam.[5]
In Southern China, people speaking Kam–Tai (Zhuang–Dong) languages are mainly found in
Guangxi,
Guizhou,
Yunnan,
Hunan,
Guangdong and
Hainan. According to statistics from the fourth census taken in China in 1990, the total population of these groups amounted to 23,262,000. Their distribution is as follows:
Zhuang
Zhuang people are the largest ethnic minority in China, with a population of 15,489,630. The Zhuang live mainly in Guangxi and in
Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan. In addition, there are some Zhuang scattered throughout Guangdong, Guizhou and Hunan (Zhao Jia 1994).
Bouyei (Buyi)
The
Bouyei people are mostly found in the south and southwest of Guizhou Province, where there are two autonomous prefectures and three autonomous counties designated for the Buyi and the Miao. There are also Buyi living in the suburban areas of the
capital of Guizhou, in Yunnan, and in
Sichuan. According to statistics collected in 1990, the total number of Buyi is 2,545,059 (Zhou Guomao et al. 1994). Although the Chinese regard them as a group separate from the Zhuang, a commonly held belief among the Buyi is that they are Zhuang.
Kam (Dong)
The
Kam people have a population of 2,514,014. They are found mainly in Guizhou, Hunan, Guangxi and Hubei (Yang Quan et al. 1994).
Hlai (Li)
Hlai people, with a population of 1,110,900, reside primarily in Hainan (Wen Mingying 1994).
The
Maonan people have a population of 71,968, mainly in
Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County, Guangxi, while the rest are scattered throughout the province (Che Rushan 1994). In the early 1990s, about thirty thousand Yanghuang (
T'en) people in Guizhou identified themselves as ethnic Maonan (Zhang Min 1991).
Lin'gao
The Lin'gao people are an ethnic group clustered in
Hainan who speak the
Lin'gao language.[6] According to statistics from the early 1980s, there are about 500,000 speakers of the language. At this stage, they have not been recognized as an individual ethnic group (Ni Dabai 1990). They are categorized as
Han Chinese under China's system of ethnic classification.
For detailed geographic distribution, see
Kra languages.
Kam–Sui peoples
Kam–Sui peoples are found in
China (as Kam, Mulam, Maonan, etc.), as well as in neighboring portions of Northern
Laos and
Vietnam.
Saek people
The center of the
Saek population is the
Mekong River in Central Laos. A smaller Saek community makes its home in the
Isan region of Northeast
Thailand, near the border with Laos.
Lakkia people are an ethnic group residing in
Guangxi, China, and neighboring portions of
Vietnam. They are of
Yao descent but speak a Tai–Kadai language called
Lakkia.[9] These Yao were likely in an area dominated by Tai speakers and assimilated an early Tai–Kadai language (possibly the ancestor of the
Biao language).
Pain, Frédéric (2008), "An Introduction to Thai Ethnonymy: Examples from Shan and Northern Thai", Journal of the American Oriental Society, 128 (4): 641–662,
JSTOR25608449.