Mangic languages


The Mangic languages, which include the Pakanic languages, constitute a branch of Austroasiatic languages. They are spoken in southern China and northern Vietnam. The Mangic languages consist of Mang and the two Pakanic languages Bolyu and Bugan.

Classification

's tentative classification is as follows.
Mangic, as a unified language group with all three languages above, is recognized by Ilia Peiros and Jenny & Sidwell, who classified Mang, Bolyu, and Bugan together. Jenny & Sidwell consider Mangic to be an independent branch of Austroasiatic.
Various classifications had previously been proposed for individual Mangic languages. In 1990, Paul K. Benedict argued that Bolyu constitutes a separate Mon-Khmer branch. Edmondson & Gregerson listed many phonological and lexical similarities shared by Bolyu and Vietic languages. However, Gérard Diffloth later suggested that Pakanic shares an affinity with Palaungic languages and was part of a wider Northern Mon-Khmer group. Nguyen Van Loi also classified Mang within the Samtau group of Waic with Palaungic, although he later classified Mang as a sister of Waic. Peiros includes Mang within Pakanic.
Proto-Pakanic, the proto-language ancestral to Bolyu and Bugan but not Mang, was reconstructed by Andrew Hsiu. Hsiu, citing Li Xulian, notes that Pakanic languages were formerly spoken further up north in Guizhou and were in close contact with Gelao. Hsiu also notes that Pakanic languages display loanword influence from Kra languages, and have also influenced Kra languages.