Nuosu language

Nuosu
Northern Yi, Liangshan Yi, Sichuan Yi
ꆈꌠꉙ Nuosuhxop
Native to	China
Region	Southern Sichuan, northern Yunnan
Ethnicity	Yi
Native speakers	2 million (2000 census)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Lolo–Burmese Loloish Nisoish Nisoid Nuosu
Standard forms	Liangshan (Cool Mountain) dialect
Writing system	Yi syllabary, formerly Yi logograms
Official status
Recognised minority language in	China (Yunnan province)
Language codes
ISO 639-1	ii Sichuan Yi, Nuosu
ISO 639-2	iii Sichuan Yi, Nuosu
ISO 639-3	iii Nuosu, Sichuan Yi
Glottolog	sich1238  Sichuan Yi

Nuosu or Nosu (ꆈꌠꉙ, transcribed as Nuo su hxop), also known as Northern Yi, Liangshan Yi, and Sichuan Yi, is the prestige language of the Yi people; it has been chosen by the Chinese government as the standard Yi language (Chinese: 彝语) and, as such, is the only one taught in schools, both in its oral and written forms. It was spoken by two million people and was increasing (as of PRC census); 60% were monolingual (1994 estimate). Nuosu is the native Nuosu name for their own language and is not used in Mandarin Chinese, though it may sometimes be translated as Nuòsūyǔ (simplified Chinese: 诺苏语; traditional Chinese: 諾蘇語).

The occasional terms "Black Yi" (黑彝; hēi Yí) and 'White Yi' (白彝; bái Yí) are castes of the Nuosu people, not dialects.

Nuosu is one of several often mutually unintelligible varieties known as Yi, Lolo, Moso, or Noso; the six Yi languages recognized by the Chinese government hold only 25% to 50% of their vocabulary in common. They share a common traditional writing system, though this is used for shamanism rather than daily accounting.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, it is one of the eight Tibeto-Burman languages with over 1,000,000 speakers (others being Burmese, Tibetan, Meitei, Bai, Karen, Hani, Jingpo).

Distribution

Liangshan Yi (Nuosu) is mostly spoken in southern Sichuan (mainly Liangshan). In places of Sichuan in which there are only Nuosu speakers, it is also simply referred to as Yi, and the other Sichuanese Yi language is Nasu.

Northern Yi (Nuosu) in northern Yunnan is spoken mainly in the northern part of Yunnan, including Kunming and Chuxiong. It is also called Black Yi or White Yi.

In Vietnam, Nuosu (usually known as Northern Lô Lô) is spoken in Ha Giang Province and Lao Cai Province, and speakers are classified as Lô Lô people. The number of Nuosu speakers in Vietnam is not known.

In Laos, Nuosu is spoken in Phongsaly Province in 3 villages near the Chinese border. Speakers are classified separately as Lolo.

In Myanmar, Nuosu is possibly spoken in Shan State or Kachin State, and it is usually known as Northeastern Yi or simply Yi, and speakers are classified as Lisu people which form the Kachin people.

In Thailand, Nuosu (usually referred to as Lolo), is spoken in Chiang Rai Province. Speakers are classified as Lolo subgroup of Lisu people. The Lolo of Thailand migrated from Myanmar.

Dialects

Lama (2012)

Lama (2012) gives the following classification for Nuosu dialects.

• Nuosu
  • Qumusu (Tianba)
  • Nuosu proper
    • Nuosu
      • Muhisu
      • Nuosu (nɔ³³su³³)
        • Yinuo
        • Shengzha
    • Niesu (nie³³su³³)
      • Suondi
      • Adu

The Qumusu (曲木苏, Tianba 田坝) dialect is the most divergent one. The other dialects group as Niesu (聂苏, Suondi and Adu) and as Nuosu proper (Muhisu 米西苏, Yinuo 义诺, and Shengzha 圣乍). Niesu has both lost voiceless nasals and developed diphthongs.

Adu (阿都话), characterized by its labial–velar consonants, is spoken in the Butuo and Ningnan counties of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province, and also in parts of Puge, Zhaojue, Dechang, and Jinyang counties.

Nyisu or Yellow Yi (黄彝) of Fumin County, Yunnan may either be a Soundi Yi (Nuosu) dialect or Nisu dialect.

Zhu and Zhang (2005) reports that the Shuitian people (水田人) reside mostly in the lowlands of the Anning River drainage basin, in Xichang, Xide, and Mianning counties of Liangshan Prefecture in Sichuan. They are called Muhisu (mu33 hi44 su33) by the neighboring Yi highland people. Shuitian is spoken in the following locations. Shuitian belongs to the Shengzha dialect (圣乍次土语) of Northern Yi.

• Mianning County: Jionglong 迥龙, Lugu 泸沽, Hebian 河边; Manshuiwan 漫水湾
• Xichang: Lizhou 礼州, Yuehua 月华
• Xide County: Mianshan 冕山镇 (including Shitoushan Village 石头山村), Lake 拉克

Bradley (1997)

According to Bradley (1997), there are three main dialects of Nosu, of which the Southeastern one (Sondi) is most divergent.

• Northern
  • Tianba 田坝 a.k.a. Northwestern
  • Yinuo 义诺 a.k.a. Northeastern
• Central (Shengzha 圣乍)
• Southeastern (Sondi)
  • Sondi
  • Adur

Chen (2010)

Chen (2010) lists the following dialects of Nosu. Also listed are the counties where each respective dialect is spoken.

• Nosu 诺苏方言
  • Senza, Shèngzhà 圣乍次方言
    • Senza, Shèngzhà 圣乍 (no̠33 su33): 1,200,000 speakers primarily in Xide, Yuexi, Ganluo, Jinyang, Puge, Leibo, Xichang, Dechang, Mianning, Yanyuan, Yanbian, Muli, Shimian, Jiulong, and Luding; also in Huaping, Yongsheng, Ninglang, Lijiang, Jianchuan, Yongshan, and Qiaojia
    • Yino, Yìnuò 义诺 (no̠22 su22): 600,000 speakers primarily in Meigu, Mabian, Leibo, and Ebian, Ganluo; also in Yuexi, Zhaojue, and Jinyang
    • Lidim, Tiánbà 田坝 (no̠33 su33): 100,000 speakers primarily in Ganluo, Yuexi, and Ebian; also in Hanyuan
  • Sodi, Suǒdì 所地次方言 (no̠33 su33): 600,000 speakers primarily in Tuoxian, Huili, Huidong, Ningnan, Miyi, Dechang, and Puge

Writing system

Main article: Yi script

Classic Yi is a syllabic logographic system of 8,000–10,000 glyphs. Although similar to Chinese characters in function, the glyphs are independent in form, with little to suggest a direct relation.

In 1958 the Chinese government had introduced a Roman-based alphabet based on the romanized script of Gladstone Porteous of Sayingpan. This was later replaced by the Modern Yi script.

The Modern Yi script (ꆈꌠꁱꂷ nuosu bburma [nɔ̄sū bʙ̝̄mā] 'Nosu script') is a standardized syllabary derived from the classic script in 1974. It was made the official script of the Yi languages in 1980. There are 756 basic glyphs based on the Liangshan dialect, plus 63 for syllables only found in Chinese borrowings. The government requires the use of the script for signs in some designated public places.

A signpost in a public park in Xichang, Sichuan, China, showing Modern Yi, Chinese and English text.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants in Nuosu

		Labial	Alveolar		Retroflex	(Alveolo-) Palatal	Velar	Glottal
			plain	sibilant
Nasal	unvoiced	m̥ ⟨hm⟩	n̥ ⟨hn⟩
	voiced	m ⟨m⟩	n ⟨n⟩			ɲ ⟨ny⟩	ŋ ⟨ng⟩
Stop/ Affricate	unvoiced	p ⟨b⟩	t ⟨d⟩	ts ⟨z⟩	ʈʂ ⟨zh⟩	tɕ ⟨j⟩	k ⟨g⟩
	aspirated	pʰ ⟨p⟩	tʰ ⟨t⟩	tsʰ ⟨c⟩	ʈʂʰ ⟨ch⟩	tɕʰ ⟨q⟩	kʰ ⟨k⟩
	voiced	b ⟨bb⟩	d ⟨dd⟩	dz ⟨zz⟩	ɖʐ ⟨rr⟩	dʑ ⟨jj⟩	ɡ ⟨gg⟩
	prenasalized	ᵐb ⟨nb⟩	ⁿd ⟨nd⟩	ⁿdz ⟨nz⟩	ᶯɖʐ ⟨nr⟩	ᶮdʑ ⟨nj⟩	ᵑɡ ⟨mg⟩
Continuant	unvoiced	f ⟨f⟩	l̥ ⟨hl⟩	s ⟨s⟩	ʂ ⟨sh⟩	ɕ ⟨x⟩	x ⟨h⟩	h ⟨hx⟩
	voiced	v ⟨v⟩	l ⟨l⟩	z ⟨ss⟩	ʐ ⟨r⟩	ʑ ⟨y⟩	ɣ ⟨w⟩

Vowels

Vowels in Nuosu

		Front	Non-front
			unrounded	rounded
Syllabic consonant	loose		z̩ ⟨y⟩	v̩ʷ ⟨u⟩
	tight		z̠̩ ⟨yr⟩	v̠̩ʷ ⟨ur⟩
Close	loose	e̝ ⟨i⟩	ɤ̝ ⟨e⟩	o̝ ⟨o⟩
Open-mid	tight	ɛ ⟨ie⟩		ɔ ⟨uo⟩
Open			a ⟨a⟩

Nuosu has five pairs of phonemic vowels, contrasting in a feature Andy Eatough calls loose throat vs. tight throat. Underlining is used as an ad-hoc symbol for tight throat; phonetically, these vowels are laryngealized and/or show a retracted tongue root. Loose vs. tight throat is the only distinction in the two pairs of syllabic consonants, but in the vocoids it is reinforced by a height difference.

The syllabic consonants y(r) u(r) are essentially the usual Sinological vowels ɿ ʮ, so ⟨y⟩ can be identified with the vowel of the Mandarin 四 sì "four", but they have diverse realizations. Y(r) completely assimilates to a preceding coronal except in voice, e.g. /ɕz̩˨˩/ [ɕʑ̩˨˩] ꑮ xyp "to marry", and is [m͡l̩] after a labial nasal, e.g. /m̥z̩˧sz̩˧/ [m̥m͡l̩˧sɹ̩˧] ꂪꌦ hmy sy "cloth". U(r) assimilates similarly after laterals, retaining its rounding, e.g. /l̥v̩ʷ˧/ [l̥l̩ʷ˧] ꆭ hlu "to stir-fry", and is [m̩ʷ] after a labial nasal, e.g. /m̥v̩ʷ˧/ [m̥m̩ʷ˧] ꂥ hmu "mushroom"; moreover it induces a labially trilled release of preceding labial or alveolar stops, e.g. /ⁿdv̩ʷ˨˩/ [ⁿd^ʙβ̩˨˩] ꅥ ndup "to hit".

The tight-throat phone [ɤ̝] occurs as the realization of /ɤ̝/ in the high tone. That it is phonemically loose-throat is shown by its behaviour in tightness harmony in compound words.

Nuosu syllable structure is (C)V.

Tones

• high [˥] / [V̋] – written ⟨-t⟩
• high-mid [˦] / [V́] or mid falling [˧˨] / [V᷆] – written ⟨-x⟩ (written with diacritic ̑ over symbol in the syllabary)
• mid [˧] / [V̄] – unmarked
• low falling [˨˩] / [V̂] – written ⟨-p⟩

The high-mid tone is only marginally contrastive. Its two main sources are from tone sandhi rules, as the outcome of a mid tone before another mid tone, and the outcome of a low-falling tone after a mid tone. However, these changes do not occur in all compounds where they might: for instance ꊈ wo "bear" + ꃀ mop "mother" regularly forms ꊈꂾ wo mox "female bear", but ꃤ vi "jackal" + ꃀ mop "mother" forms ꃤꃀ vi mop "female jackal" without sandhi. The syntax creates other contrasts: tone sandhi applies across the boundary between object and verb, so is present in SOV clauses like ꃅꏸꇐꄜꎷ mu jy lu ti shex "Mujy looks for Luti", but is absent in OSV clauses like ꃅꏸꇐꄜꎹ mu jy lu ti shep "Luti looks for Mujy". A few words, like ꑞ xix "what?", have underlying high-mid tone.

Vocabulary and grammar

Nuosu is an analytic language, the basic word order is Subject–object–verb. Vocabularies of Nuosu can be divided into content words and function words. Among content words, nouns in Nuosu do not perform inflections for grammatical gender, number, and cases, classifiers are required when the noun is being counted; verbs do not perform conjugations for its persons and tenses; adjectives are usually placed after the word being fixed with a structural particle and do not perform inflections for comparison. Function words, especially grammatical particles, have a significant role in terms of sentence constructions in Nuosu. Nuosu does not have article words, but conjunctions and postposition words are used.

Numbers

Classifiers are required when numbers are used for fixing nouns.

Number	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Yi script		ꋍ	ꑍ	ꌕ	ꇖ	ꉬ	ꃘ	ꏃ	ꉆ	ꈬ	ꊰ	ꊰꋍ	ꊰꑋ
IPA		t͡sʰẑ̩	ɲê̝	sɔ̠̄	lz̩̄	ŋɤ̝̄	fv̩̋ʷ	ʂʐ̩̄	he̝̋	ɡv̩̄ʷ	t͡sʰz̩̄	t͡sʰẑ̩ t͡sʰz̩̄	t͡sʰē̝ ɲê̝
Yi Pinyin		cyp	nyip	suo	ly	nge	fut	shyp	hxit	ggu	cy	cyp cy	ci nyip

See also

• Appendix:Yi (Mihei) word list on Wiktionary (Mihei is a Nuosu dialect)

Further reading

• Edmondson, Jerold A.; Esling, John H.; Lama 拉玛兹偓, Ziwo (2017). "Nuosu Yi". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 47 (1): 87–97. doi:10.1017/S0025100315000444. S2CID 232345858.
• Collective book, Ritual for Expelling Ghosts, A religious Classic of the Yi nationality in Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan. The Taipei Ricci Institute (November 1998) ISBN 957-9185-60-3.
• Ma Linying, Dennis Elton Walters, Susan Gary Walters (editors). Nuosu Yi-Chinese-English Glossary. Nationalities Publishing House (2008). ISBN 978-7-105-09050-1/H.638.
• Gerner, Matthias (2013). A Grammar of Nuosu. Mouton Grammar Library 64. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. ISBN 978-3-11-030867-9.
• Review of Bilingual education and minority language maintenance in China: The role of schools in saving the Yi language, by Lubei Zhang and Linda Tsung. Journal of Linguistics 56: 450—454 (2020).

External links

• Yi font by SIL
• Pronunciation of Yi Consonant and Vowel
• Learn Yi Vocabulary
• Yi language edition of the People's Daily
• Yi keyboard input
• 600 Phrases in the Liangshan Yi Dialect
• Large Chinese forum dedicated to speaking and studying Yi language