Miao-Yao

American  

[myou-you] / ˈmyaʊˈyaʊ /

noun

1. a family of languages, affiliated with Kam-Tai, spoken in southern China and Southeast Asia.

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Example Sentences

Those and other draconian measures must have contributed to the spread of North China’s Sino-Tibetan languages over most of China, and to reducing the Miao-Yao and other language families to their present fragmented distributions.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Naturally, Miao-Yao speakers did not acquire their current fragmented distribution as a result of ancient helicopter flights that dropped them here and there over the Asian landscape.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Instead, one might guess that they once had a more nearly continuous distribution, which became fragmented as speakers of other language families expanded or induced Miao-Yao speakers to abandon their tongues.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

But the language families closest to Austronesian are thought to be Tai-Kadai, Austroasiatic, and Miao-Yao.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Miao-Yao speakers live in dozens of small enclaves, all surrounded by speakers of other language families and scattered over an area of half a million square miles, extending from South China to Thailand.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond