ABSTRACT
The Kra or Kadai language group is a relatively uncelebrated stock with small populations living in South China’s Guizhou Province, Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, as well as in Vietnam’s Cao Bҵng Province, Hà Giang Province, Lào Cai Province, and Sѫn La Province.1 Unlike the better known Kam-Tai Branch, the Kra data and history have been little discussed. In the listings below we have given their names in English, Chinese, and Vietnamese. There are seven languages in this group, which are listed in order of the number of speakers:
Lachi, ᢝ, La Chi, 10,000 speakers Gelao, ҵՀ Cѫ Lao, in all countries, 7,900 speakers Paha, Ꮘજ, Langjia 䚢ᶊ, Ecun ኼᴥ, Yalhong 䲙䚢 (collectively Buyang Ꮧ༂ ), 2,000 speakers Laha, ᢝજ La Ha, 1,400 speakers Pubiao, ᱂ᷛ, Qabiao, Pu Peo, 700 speakers En, ր᭛, Nùng Vên, 250 speakers
The total number of speakers amounts perhaps to 22,000.
