Laghuu () is a Loloish language spoken in northwestern Vietnam.[Raymond G. Gordon Jr., ed. 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 15th edition. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.] In Nậm Sài, Sa Pa Town, the speakers' autonym is , while in Sơn La Province it is .
Edmondson considers Laghuu to be related to but not part of the Yi language language complex of China. Jamin Pelkey (2011) considers Laghuu to be a Southeastern Loloish language.
Distribution
Laghuu is spoken in the following locations by a total of about 1,000 people (Edmondson 1999 & 2002).
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Lào Cai province
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Văn Bàn district
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Bảo Thắng district
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Bát Xát district
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Sa Pa town
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Cam Đường (near Lào Cai city)
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Yên Bái province
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Sơn La province
The Vietnam, Laghuu speakers are officially classified as part of the Phù Lá ethnic group. Some Laghuu are known as "Black Phu La," and others as "Flowery Phu La."
Phonology
Phonotactics
Words in Laghuu are typically
disyllabic compounds, consisting of two single-syllable
morphemes, as in other Yi languages. A syllable may be divided into an initial, a rhyme, and a tone. The initial is not obligatory, and it usually consists of a single consonant, though it may also be a cluster consisting of a velar stop followed by a lateral. The rhyme consists of a nuclear vowel followed by a
semivowel or a nasal coda , with being the most common coda nasal.
Consonants
Laghuu has the following consonants. In addition to these single consonants, Laghuu also allows syllables to begin with velar stop + alveolar lateral sequences: .
Vowels
Laghuu has the following vowels. Also, the
, , occur.
Tones
Laghuu has five tones:
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high (/55/)
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high-mid (/44/)
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low-mid (/33/)
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low-rising (/24/)
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low-falling (/21/)
Notes
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Nguyễn Văn Huy (1975). "Bước đầu tim hiểu mối quan hệ tộc người giữa hai nhóm Phù Lá và Xá Phó". In, Ủy ban khoa học xã hội Việt Nam: Viện dân tộc học. Về vấn đề xác định thánh phần các dân tộc thiểu số ở miền bắc Việt Nam, 415-428. Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản khoa học xã hội.
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http://ling.uta.edu/jerry/vietTB1.pdf
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