Hlai languages
| Hlai | |
|---|---|
| Li | |
| Native to | China |
| Region | Hainan |
| Ethnicity | Hlai |
Native speakers | (667,000 cited 1999) |
Early form | Proto-Hlai (reconstructed)
|
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:lic – Hlaicuq – Cun |
| Glottolog | nucl1241 |
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. 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.