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Hani Language
A Brief Overview

A Brief overview of its status:
The Hani people have no documented language, including a formal system for the language itself - no spelling rules, no grammatical framework, and no writing system. However, in the late 1950s after the founding of New China, the Chinese government began to intervene and created a Latin pinyin-based Hani pinyin for the Hani people [3].

Main issue:
According to Zhao (2023), the Hani language has long relied on oral transmission,without written records [3]. This pattern reflects the oral-centered cultural characteristics of the Hani people, and also results in a high degree of flexibility in the phonological and grammatical structure of the language. Compared with other ethnic minorities, Hani has no fixed grammatical rules or spelling system, and belongs to an “informal language system”, with significant differences in language formation depending on the region and branch of the ethnic group. Because of this, with the promotion and popularization of Putonghua, the frequency of use of the Hani language has gradually declined, especially among the younger generation.
Environmental Aspects of Hani language use:

Dai Qingxia's study points out that the Hani ethnic group is generally in a bilingual or even multilingual environment. The Hani language is used within the ethnic group, while Chinese has become the main tool for inter-ethnic communication. The Chineseization of school education and the decrease in the probability of mother tongue use in family education are challenges to the intergenerational transmission of the Hani language. Xiong Wen's investigation further illustrates that the use of Hani language in the public sphere is limited and stays more in the family and traditional ceremonies [2]. Additionally, the Hani language is not only a communication tool, but also carries the history, religion (rituals) and cultural identity of the Hani people. Zhao Dewen mentions that Bema (a traditional religious figure of the Hani people) is an important carrier of the Hani language as a national culture by speaking about religious ceremonies and culture through oral forms.
Deficiencies in the range of applications

Although the newer writing system has filled the gap in the lack of written records to a certain extent, its scope of use is limited to specific areas such as education and literacy, and it fails to be widely quoted in daily life, and is immature; surveys in Honghe Prefecture show that the written Hani language is used more for literacy and basic education, and quoted in areas such as literary creation and scientific dissemination is virtually nil. Further, the rapid advance of globalization and modernization is an environment in which the use of Hani language is further squeezed by Chinese and other mainstream languages. Many young Hani people tend to obtain more educational and professional opportunities through Mandarin and English, weakening their reliance on their mother tongue [2].
References：
[1] 张素杰. 云南省哈尼族大学生语言使用及语言态度探析 [J]. 思茅师范高等专科学校学报, 2009, 25 (01): 105-107.

[2] 熊雯. 云南绿春县戈奎乡哈尼族语言使用现状调查研究[D]. 中央民族大学, 2018.

[3] CHINASTUDIES@UM.EDU.MY. Institute of China Studies [EB/OL]//Um.edu.my. (2023)[2024-12-11].
https://ics.um.edu.my/contemporary-china-studies-vol-10-no-1-april-2023.

[4]嘎汤帕节[EB/OL]//百度百科.(2024)[2024-12-12]. https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%98%8E%E6%B1%A4%E5%B8%95%E8%8A%82/6045668.

Hani Language

A Brief Overview

A Brief overview of its status:

Main issue:

Environmental Aspects of Hani language use:

Deficiencies in the range of applications

References：

[1] 张素杰. 云南省哈尼族大学生语言使用及语言态度探析 [J]. 思茅师范高等专科学校学报, 2009, 25 (01): 105-107.

[2] 熊雯. 云南绿春县戈奎乡哈尼族语言使用现状调查研究[D]. 中央民族大学, 2018.

[3] CHINASTUDIES@UM.EDU.MY. Institute of China Studies [EB/OL]//Um.edu.my. (2023)[2024-12-11].

https://ics.um.edu.my/contemporary-china-studies-vol-10-no-1-april-2023.

[4]嘎汤帕节[EB/OL]//百度百科.(2024)[2024-12-12]. https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%98%8E%E6%B1%A4%E5%B8%95%E8%8A%82/6045668.