The Lawu languages: footprints along the Red River valley corridor

In this paper, Lawu (Yang 2012) and Awu (Lu & Lu 2011) are shown to be two geographically disjunct but related languages in Yunnan, China forming a previously unidentified sub-branch of Loloish (Ngwi). Both languages are located along the southwestern banks of the Red River. Additionally, Lewu, an extinct language in Jingdong County, may be related to Lawu, but this is far from certain due to the limited data. The possible genetic position of the unclassified Alu language in Lvchun County is also discussed, and my preliminary analysis of the highly limited Alu data shows that it is likely not a Lawu language. The Lawu (alternatively Lawoid or Lawoish) branch cannot be classified within any other known branch or subgroup or Loloish, and is tentatively considered to be an independent branch of Loloish. Further research on Lawu languages and surrounding under-documented languages would be highly promising, especially on various unidentified languages of Jinping County, southern Yunnan.