| Ersuic | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | China |
Native speakers | (20,000 cited 1982)[1] |
| Linguistic classification | Sino-Tibetan
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ers |
| Glottolog | ersu1242 |
 | |
TheErsuic languages (Chinese:尔苏,Ersu; also calledDuoxu orErhsu) are aQiangic language cluster of theSino-Tibetan language family. Ersu languages are spoken by about 20,000 people inChina as reported bySun (1982).[2]Muya (alternatively Menia or Menya) is reported to be related, but it is not known how it fits in.
Ersuic speakers live in the western part of China'sSichuan province (several counties within theGarzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture,Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, and theprefecture-level city ofYa'an).[2] Most of them areclassified by the Chinese government as members of theTibetan ethnic group,[1][2] although some also are registered asHan Chinese.[1] Older adults mostly use Ersu, but younger people also useChinese orYi.
TheErsu Shaba script of theshābā religious books is apictographic system ofproto-writing. The system, in which the color of the characters has an effect on the meaning, was inspired by Chinese writing and was created in the 11th century.
There are three Ersuic languages.[3]
Yu (2012) classifies Ersu languages as follows, with defining innovations given in parentheses.
Ersu is asubject–object–verb language. It has three tones.
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Sino-Tibetan branches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WesternHimalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand,Nepal,Sikkim) |
|  | |||
| EasternHimalayas (Tibet,Bhutan,Arunachal) | |||||
| Myanmar and Indo- Burmese border |
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| East andSoutheast Asia |
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| Dubious (possible isolates,Arunachal) |
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| Proposed groupings | |||||
| Proto-languages | |||||
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches. | |||||