Sanie (autonym: sɑ21ɲɛ21 or sɑ21ŋʷɛ21) is a Loloish language of Yunnan, China. It is similar to Samataw. There were 17,320 ethnic Sanie in 1998, but only about 8,000 spoke the Sanie language fluently. The Sanie are also known as the White Yi (白彝) (Bradley 1997).
A Sanie pinyin orthography had also been developed recently (Bradley 2005).
Names
Ngwi, David Bradley's reconstruction for the autonym of Loloish speakers, is based on the Sanie autonym sɑ21ŋʷɛ21 (also pronounced sɑ21ɲɛ21 by some speakers) (Bradley 2005). Proto-Ngwi *ŋw- changed into ɲ- or n- in most modern Loloish languages.
Dialects
Bradley (2005) reports significant variation in the Sanie language, and briefly compares the following 6 dialects.
East: Zhaozong 昭宗 (also in Huahongyuan and Yuhua)
Southeast: Chejiabi 车家壁 (also in Shiju)
Northeast: Gulu 古律
North: Qinghe 清河
Northwest: Luomian 罗免
Southwest: Tuoji 妥吉
Bradley (2005) notes that the Sanie varieties spoken in the plains of Xishan District in Heilingpu, Zhaozong, and Biji Townships are particularly conservative. The East and Southeast dialects are particularly conservative in that they preserve Proto-Loloish labiovelars; the speakers call themselves the sɑ˨˩ŋʷi˨˩.
Northwest of Kunming, Sanie is locally known as Minglang 明廊, and it is sometimes classified as a Sani dialect. It is spoken in Wuding County (Lower Lemei Village 下乐美[3] of Chadian Township 插甸乡, and Tianxin Village 田心[4] of Gaoqiao Township 高桥镇) and Maoshan Township 茂山乡, Luquan County; it is probably also spoken in Fumin County.[5][6] Gao (2017)[7] reports high intermarriage rates between the Minglang and other neighboring ethnic groups.
Distribution
Sanie is spoken in 76 villages, 3 of which are mixed with Nasu (Bradley 2005). 58 of these villages are in Xishan District, 13 in southwestern Fumin County, and 5 in northwestern Anning County.
