According to Michel Ferlus, the Sino-Vietnamese "Jiao" in Jiāozhǐ (交趾), together with the ethnonym and autonym of the Lao people (lǎo 獠), and the ethnonym Gēlǎo (仡佬), a Kra population scattered from Guizhou (China) to North Vietnam, would have emerged from the Austro-Asiatic *k(ə)ra:w 'human being'. The etymon *k(ə)ra:w would have also yielded the ethnonym Keo/ Kæw "kɛːwA1", a name given to the Vietnamese by Tai speaking peoples, currently slightly derogatory. In Pupeo (Kra branch), "kew" is used to name the Tay (Central Tai) of North Vietnam.