Nisu language


Nisu is a language cluster spoken by half a million Yi people of China. It is one of six Yi languages recognized by the government of China. The Yi script was traditionally used, though few can still read it. According to Lama, Nisu autonyms include ', ', and .
The position of Nisu within Nisoish is debated. Nisu is classified as Southeastern Loloish by Pelkey, but is traditionally classified as a Northern Loloish language, including by Lama.

Internal classification

Chen (1985)

Chen, et al. recognizes 3 major varieties of Southern Yi that are spoken in Yunnan province, namely Shijian 石建, Yuanjin 元金, and Exin 峨新. Autonyms include na̠33 su55 and na̠33 su55 pho21. Chen reported a speaker population of nearly 1.6 million.
Yang classifies the Nisu dialects as follows.
The Jiangcheng, Mojiang, and Lüchun varieties were grouped by Chen to be southern varieties, but Yang found that they actually belonged to the Northern Nisu group.

Other varieties

Other Nisu or Southern Yi groups with similar s or language varieties are:
A variety of Southern Nisu spoken in Aka Luoduo 阿卡洛多 village, Tianfang Village 田房村, Jiangcheng County is covered in Lu Yan.
In Tonghai County, Southern Yi is spoken by all generations only in Xiangping 象平, Bajiao 芭蕉, Sizhai 四寨, Shikan 石坎, Pingba 平坝, Shangzhuangke 上庄科, and Xiazhuangke 下庄科 villages.