Sui is a member of the Kam-Sui branch of the Tai language family. It is spoken mainly in Guizhou province in southern China, and also in northern Vietnam. In 2007 there were about 300,000 speakers of Sui, which is known as Thủy in Vietnam.
The majority of Sui speakers live in Sandu Shui Autonomous County (三都水族自治县) in Guizhou. There are also Sui speakers in Hechi City (河池) and Nandan County (南丹) in the neigbouring province of Guangxi. In Vietnam Sui is spoken in Hồng Quang Village in Chiêm Hoá District of Tuyên Quang Province.
Sui can be written with the version of the Latin alphabet shown below. It was also written was a written with a logographic script known as 水书 (shuǐshū), which includes about 500 characters, and was used by shamans for geomancy and divination. Efforts are being made by the Chinese government to preserve the Sui script, and it was added to the intangible cultural heritage list in 2006. The Sui usually write in Chinese these days.
Download an alphabet chart for Sui (Excel)
Some examples of characters in the Sui script
Information about the Sui language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sui_language
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sui_(langue)
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/swi
http://www.china.com.cn/aboutchina/zhuanti/shuizu/2009-05/14/content_17806574.htm
Ahom, Aiton, Bouyei, Isan, Kam, Khamti, (Tai) Khün, Lao, Lue, Northern Thai (Kam Mueang), Nùng, Shan, Sui, Tai Dam, Tai Dón, Tai Hongjin, Tai Laing, Tai Nuea, Tai Phake, Tai Ya, Thai, Thai Song, Yang Zhuang, Zhuang
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Akkadian Cuneiform, Ancient Egyptian (Demotic), Ancient Egyptian (Hieratic), Ancient Egyptian (Hieroglyphs), Chinese, Chữ-nôm, Cuneiform, Japanese, Jurchen, Khitan, Linear B, Luwian, Mayan, Naxi, Sawndip (Old Zhuang), Sui, Sumerian Cuneiform, Tangut (Hsihsia)
Page last modified: 15.03.23
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