Hlai languages

Hlai
Hlai
Li
Native to	China
Region	Hainan
Ethnicity	Hlai
Native speakers	(667,000 cited 1999)
Language family	Kra–Dai Hlai–Jiamao? Hlai; ;
Early form	Proto-Hlai (reconstructed)
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either:; lic – Hlai; cuq – Cun
Glottolog	nucl1241
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The Hlai languages (Chinese: 黎语; pinyin: Líyǔ) are a primary branch of the Kra–Dai language family spoken in the mountains of central and south-central Hainan in China by the Hlai people, not to be confused with the colloquial name for the Leizhou branch of Min Chinese (Chinese: 黎话; pinyin: Líhuà). They include Cun, whose speakers are ethnically distinct.^[2] A quarter of Hlai speakers are monolingual. None of the Hlai languages had a writing system until the 1950s, when the Latin script was adopted for Ha.

^ Hlai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Cun at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ Ethnologue mistakenly lists Cun among the Kra languages.

[e18-1] Hlai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Cun at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[2] Ethnologue mistakenly lists Cun among the Kra languages.

[1]

[2]