Pumi (prēn mì)

Pumi is a member of the Qiangic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. It is spoken in southwestern China by about 77,000 people. There are two main varieties of Pumi: Northern Pumi and Southern Pumi, each of which has several dialects. They are not mutually intelligible. Some linguists further divide Pumi into Northern, Central and Western varieties.

Northern Pumi has about 55,000 speakers in Muli, Yanyuan and Jiulong counties in Sichuan Province, and in Ninglang County in Yunnan Province. It is also known as Ch’rame, P’rome, P’umi, P’ömi, Pimi, Primmi or Pruumi.

Southern Pumi is spoken by about 22,000 people in Lanping, Ludian and Ninglang counties in Yunnan Province. It is also known as P’rome, P’umi, P’ömi, Pimi, Primmi, Prinmi or Pruumi.

Pumi can be written with the Latin alphabet using a spelling system based on Chinese pinyin.

Latin alphabet for Pumi

Latin alphabet for Pumi

Download an alphabet chart for Pumi (Excel)

Sample text

Tèr gwéjè dzwán thèr phxèungphxàr sì.
Timitae llìnggwe zreungzrun stìng.

Translation

He has broken several hammers.
This man is crying and shouting all the time.

Sample videos in Pumi

Links

Information about Pumi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumi_language
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/pmi
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/pmj
A Grammar of Wadu Pumi (PDF)

Qiangic languages

Northern Qiang, Pumi, Southern Qiang, Tangut

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page created: 12.01.22 Last modified: 15.04.22

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