What is it about?
The Ei language (or Wu-se) is a mixed language derived from Chinese and the Kam-Tai languages.
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Why is it important?
The ancestors of the Ei people were soldiers and their families from different ethnic groups, who were sent to the Patrol Division of E’jing Town, Rong County, Guangxi Province in the Ming Dynasty, some 600 years ago. They are a multi-ethnic fusion of Chinese, Zhuang, Kam, and Sui peoples. The Ei language resulted from contact between Chinese and Kam-Tai languages.
Perspectives
Ei's core words are mainly Kam-Tai, and the commonly-used words are mainly Chinese. The word order is basically the same as Chinese, and its voiceless sonorants are consistent with Kam-Sui phonology. The root causes of its formation are the Ei speakers’ ethnic identity as well as their stable and relatively closed life circles.
Xiaoyu Zeng
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This page is a summary of: On the formation of the Ei language, Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages, May 2023, John Benjamins,
DOI: 10.1075/jpcl.00106.zen.
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