Luoji audio word list

The luo31 dʑi33 are located in Shejie 蛇街村, Yangjie Town 羊街镇, Weining County, Guizhou, China. The neighboring ethnic groups call them the “Qixingmin” (七姓民), while they also call themselves the “Baizi” 白子 in Chinese, and luo31 dʑi33 in their own language (non-Chinese). The locals say they are officially classified as ethnic Bai. Another group officially classified as ethnic Bai are the “Caizu” (蔡族), who are a completely distinct group from the Qixingmin. Both have different languages and customs. My minivan driver did not know about the Caizu until today.

Also, Yangjie separated from Tiejiang Township 铁匠乡 by “only a bridge,” according to my driver (who has worked in “mountain carving mines” in Jiangxi and Zhejiang). Intriguingly, he reported that there are also ethnic Shui in the area.

On April 7, 2013, I interviewed an elderly man named Zhang Dexu 张得旭 (born December 15, 1938). Zhang claimed that the ancestors of the Qixingmin had come from Dali, and that their ancestors had spoken a “Bai language” (白话 or 白族话) completely different from the “Yi” (彝话) that their grandparents had spoken. He claimed that this “Bai language” had gone extinct hundreds of years ago, and guessed that it could have been back in the Song Dynasty. He reports that there are also Qixingmin speakers in Jinzhong Township 金钟镇 and Dajie Township 大街乡, and Caijia speakers in Kele Township 可乐乡, Hezhang County and Dajie Township 大街乡, Weining County.