Alternate Names: Pimi, P’ömi, Primmi, P’rome, Pruumi, P’umi
Dialects: Qinghua. 4 other dialects. Intelligibility of Northern Pumi , is difficult. Lexical similarity: 60% between Northern Pumi , and Southern Pumi.
Status Notes: Language of recognized nationality: Pumi.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 19,000 (1999). 6,000 monolinguals. Ethnic population: 28,000 (2000 census).
Language Use: Vigorous. All domains. Positive attitudes. Also use Central Bai [bca], Central Tibetan [bod], Lipo [lpo], Lisu [lis], Mandarin Chinese [cmn], Naxi [nxq]. Used as L2 by Shixing [sxg].
Language Development: Literacy rate in L2: 70% for Pumi nationality (2000 census).
Typology: SOV; adjectives and numbers follow noun heads; uvular obstruents; initial s + consonant clusters; different vowels from N. Pumi; tonal, 2 tones.
Writing System: Unwritten
Nation of Origin: China
Other Comments: Buddhist (Lamaist).