Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 3, 2026

Samu language

The Samu language, or Samatao, also known as Eastern Samadu, is a Loloish language spoken by older adults in Zijun Village 子君村, Yiliu Township 矣六乡, Guandu District 官渡区, Kunming, China. Although there was an ethnic population of 2,465 in 1999, there are no fluent speakers under 50 years of age.

Last revised
Jun 3, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
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143 w
Citations
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Source
Wikipedia ↗
Samu
Samatao
Native toChina
Ethnicity2,810 (2007)1
Native speakers
400 (2007)1
Language codes
ISO 639-3ysd
Glottologsama1295
ELPSamatao
Samu language is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.

The Samu (autonym: sa33 mu33; Chinese: 撒慕) language, or Samatao (sa33 ma21 taw21; Chinese 撒马多 Samaduo), also known as Eastern Samadu, is a Loloish language spoken by older adults in Zijun Village 子君村 (also called Da'er), Yiliu Township 矣六乡, Guandu District 官渡区, Kunming, China.3 Although there was an ethnic population of 2,465 in 1999, there are no fluent speakers under 50 years of age.4

References

References

  1. Samu at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Lama, Ziwo Qiu-Fuyuan (2012), Subgrouping of Nisoic (Yi) Languages, thesis, University of Texas at Arlington
  3. "官渡区矣六街道办事处子君村民委员会子君村". Archived from the original on 2013-10-16. Retrieved 2013-03-02.
  4. Bradley, David. 2005. "Sanie and language loss in China".International Journal of the Sociology of Language. Volume 2005, Issue 173, Pp. 159–176.