Hani languages
The Hani languages are a group of closely related but distinct languages of the Loloish (Yi) branch of the Tibeto-Burman linguistic group. They are also referred to as the Hanoid languages by Lama (2012) and as the Akoid languages by Bradley (2007). Approximately 1.5 million people speak these languages, mainly in China, Laos, Burma (Myanmar), and Vietnam; more than 90% of the speakers of these languages live in China. Various ethnicities that use Hani languages are grouped into a single class recognized nationality named "Hani" after the largest subgroup. In China, the languages of this group—which  include Hani proper, Akha, and Hao-Bai (Honi and Baihong)—are considered dialects (). Western scholars, however, have traditionally classified them as separate languages. Varieties. In China, Akha and other related languages are considered to be derivatives of Hani. They are not mutually intelligible, which means that speakers of one language do not necessarily understand speakers of the other language. In 2007, according to Ethnologue, there were almost 1.5 million speakers of all Hani varieties. Slightly more than half (760,000) of these speakers can speak Hani properly (considering age etc.). Lama (2012) groups the principal varieties of the Hani languages identified by  Bradley (2007) as follows: Yunnan locations and speaker populations are from "Haniyu Jianzhi" 哈尼语简志 according to information from 1986. David Bradley (2007) considers the Hani-Akha (Ha-Ya) and Haoni-Baihong (Hao-Bai) languages to be part of an "Akoid" subgroup. In China, all of the Bi-Ka languages () are considered to form a single Hani dialect cluster ( "fangyan"), and the speakers are officially classified as ethnic Hani ("Haniyu Jianzhi" 哈尼语简志 1986). Recognized dialects include Biyue 碧约 (autonym: "bi31jɔ31"), Kaduo 卡多, and Enu 峨努. In Yunnan, China, they are spoken in Mojiang, Jiangcheng, Jingdong, and other counties, with a total  of 370,000 speakers. The representative dialect is that of Caiyuan 菜园, Mojiang County. Other Hani varieties include Luomian 罗缅, Guozuo 果作, Gehuo 格活, and Guohe 郭合 (Tang 2011). Yunnan Provincial Gazetteer. The "Yunnan Provincial Gazetteer" (云南省志：少数民族语言文字志, p. 113) classifies the Hani languages as follows. Additional dialects and datapoints from Zhang (1998) and Tang (2011) are also included. Distribution. China. In China, Hani languages are spoken mostly in areas east of the Mekong River in the south-central Yunnan province, concentrated in the Pu'er and Honghe prefectures as well as in parts of other surrounding prefectures. Hani is also spoken in  Lai Châu Province of northwestern Vietnam, northern Laos, and Shan State of northeastern Burma. Vietnam. Edmondson (2002) reports that the Hani of Vietnam is distributed in 2 provinces of northwestern Vietnam. The earliest Hani pioneers to Vietnam probably numbered around 5 to 6 families, and arrived in Mường Tè District from Jinping County and Lüchun County in Yunnan about 325 years ago. The Hani of Phong Thổ District and Bát Xát District arrived later, about 175 years ago from Yunnan. The Hani of Vietnam claim to be able to communicate in the Hani language with ethnic Hani from different areas  of Vietnam despite significant geographical barriers. Edmondson (2002), however, reported different Hani speech varieties in various parts of northwestern Vietnam, which differ mostly lexically. Further reading. Tang Mingsheng (2011, ed.) contains word lists and ethnographies of Hani subgroups. There are 12 books in the "Regional Culture Investigation of International Hani/Aka" (国际哈尼/阿卡区域文化调查) series edited by Tang.