| Nuosu | |
|---|---|
| Northern Yi, Liangshan Yi, Sichuan Yi | |
| ꆈꌠꉙNuosuhxop | |
 | |
| Native to | China |
| Region | SouthernSichuan, northernYunnan |
| Ethnicity | Yi |
Native speakers | (2 million cited 2000 census)[1] |
Standard forms |
|
| Yi syllabary, formerlyYi 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 |
 | |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
Nuosu orNosu (ꆈꌠꉙ or
written in traditional script, transcribed asNuo su hxop), also known asNorthern Yi,Liangshan Yi, andSichuan Yi, is theprestige language of theYi people; it has been chosen by the Chinese government as the standardYi language (Chinese:彝语) and as such is the only one taught in schools in both oral and written forms. It is spoken by two million people and is increasing (as of PRC census); 60% were monolingual (1994 estimate). Nuosu is the native Nuosu name for their own language and is not used inMandarin Chinese, though it may sometimes be translated asNuòsūyǔ (simplified Chinese:诺苏语;traditional Chinese:諾蘇語).[2]
The occasional terms 'Black Yi' (黑彝;hēi Yí) and 'White Yi' (白彝;bái Yí) arecastes of the Nuosu people, not dialects.[citation needed]
Nuosu is one of several oftenmutually unintelligible varieties known as Yi, Lolo, Moso, or Noso. The six Yi languages recognized by the Chinese government have only 25% to 50% of their vocabulary in common. They share a commontraditional writing system, but that is used forshamanism, rather than daily accounting.[citation needed]
According to theEncyclopedia Britannica, it is one of the eightTibeto-Burman languages with over 1,000,000 speakers (others beingBurmese,Tibetan,Meitei,Bai,Karen,Hani,Jingpo).[3]
Nuosu is mainly spoken in theLiangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture,Sichuan.
There are other parts of Sichuan where Yi is spoken, includingPanzhihua andLeshan.
InYunnan, Northern Yi (Nuosu) is spoken in the north.
Lama (2012) gives the following classification for Nuosu dialects.
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.[4]
Adu (阿都话), characterized by itslabial–velar consonants, is spoken in theButuo andNingnan counties ofLiangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture,Sichuan province, and also in parts ofPuge,Zhaojue,Dechang, andJinyang counties.[5]
Nyisu or Yellow Yi (黄彝) ofFumin County, Yunnan may either be a Soundi Yi (Nuosu) dialect orNisu dialect.
Zhu and Zhang (2005)[6] reports that the Shuitian people (水田人) reside mostly in the lowlands of the Anning Riverdrainage basin, in Xichang, Xide, and Mianning counties ofLiangshan Prefecture inSichuan. 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.
According to Bradley (1997),[8] there are three main dialects of Nosu, of which the Southeastern one (Sondi) is most divergent.
Chen (2010) lists the following dialects of Nosu. Also listed are the counties where each respective dialect is spoken.[9]
| Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | (Alveolo-) Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | sibilant | |||||||
| Nasal | voiceless | m̥⟨hm⟩ | n̥⟨hn⟩ | |||||
| voiced | m⟨m⟩ | n⟨n⟩ | ɲ᫈⟨ny⟩ | ŋ⟨ng⟩ | ||||
| Stop/ Affricate | voiceless | 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 | voiceless | f⟨f⟩ | ɬ⟨hl⟩ | s⟨s⟩ | ʂ⟨sh⟩ | ɕ⟨x⟩ | x⟨h⟩ | h⟨hx⟩ |
| voiced | v⟨v⟩ | l⟨l⟩ | z⟨ss⟩ | ʐ⟨r⟩ | ʑ⟨y⟩ | ɣ⟨w⟩ | ||
Gerner (2013) andEdmondson, Esling & Ziwo (2017) use theSinological symbol/ȵ/ to transcribe the alveolo-palatal nasal.
Eatough (1997)'s chart and transcriptions slightly differ from the later sources:
Eatough (1997) andGerner (2013) transcribe the voiceless lateral as an approximant/l̥/, whileEdmondson, Esling & Ziwo (2017) transcribe it as a fricative/ɬ/. See§ Assimilation for descriptions of syllabic realizations of the laterals.
Gerner (2013) segments the bilabial trill[ʙ] as an allophone of the following set of consonants before the vowel phonemes/uu/, whileEatough (1997) andEdmondson, Esling & Ziwo (2017) segment it as a syllabic realization of the same vowels (see§ Fricativized vowels):
| Front | Non-front | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | |||
| Close (fricative) | loose | /i/ | /u/ | |
| tight | /i/ | /u/ | ||
| Close-mid | loose | /e/ | /a/ | /o/ |
| Open-mid | tight | /e/ | /o/ | |
| Open | /a/ | |||
| Front | Non-front | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | |||
| Close (fricative) | loose | [z̩] | [v̩ʷ] | |
| tight | [z̍] | [v̍ʷ] | ||
| Close-mid | loose | [e] | [ɤ] | [o] |
| Open-mid | tight | [ɛ] | [ɔ] | |
| Open | [a] | |||
| Front | Central | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | ||
| Close | i⟨i⟩ | ɨ⟨y⟩ | ɯ⟨e⟩ | u⟨u⟩ | |
| Close-mid | o⟨o⟩ | ||||
| Open-mid | ɛ⟨ie⟩ | ɔ⟨uo⟩ | |||
| Open | ɒ̈⟨a⟩ | ||||
| (Near-)Front | Central | (Near-)Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | lax | /i/ | /z/ | |
| Near-close | /ɯ/ | /u/ | ||
| tense | /z/ | /u/ | ||
| Close-mid | lax | /o/ | ||
| Open-mid | tense | /ɛ(i)/ | /ɔ(o)/ | |
| Open | /a(ɯ)/ | |||
| (Near-)Front | Central | (Near-)Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | lax | [i̠] | [z̞] | |
| Near-close | [ɯ̽] | [v͡ʊ] | ||
| tense | [z̞] | [v̙͡ɵ̙] | ||
| Close-mid | lax | [o̟] | ||
| Open-mid | tense | [ɛ̙] | [ɔ̙᫈] | |
| Open | [ä̙] | |||
Nuosu has five pairs of phonemic vowels, contrasting in a featureEatough (1997) callsloose throat vs.tight throat, whileEdmondson, Esling & Ziwo (2017) call itlax vs.tense;Gerner (2013) simply describes the contrast as with and withoutlaryngealization. Underlining ⟨◌⟩ is used as anad hoc transcription for tight/tense phonation, used both phonemically and phonetically byEatough (1997), and phonemically byEdmondson, Esling & Ziwo (2017).Gerner (2013) treats the contrast both phonetically and with the transcription of creaky voice ⟨◌̰⟩, whileEdmondson, Esling & Ziwo (2017) treat it phonetically aslaryngeal register and with the transcription ofretracted tongue root ⟨◌̙⟩. According toEatough (1997), vowel quality (height) is a byproduct of loose vs. tight throat, working as a reinforcement; the phonation type is the primary phonemic distinction, rather than the quality.[13]Edmondson, Esling & Ziwo (2017)'s analysis shows this reinforcement likewise extends to thefricativized vowels (syllabic fricatives). According toGerner (2013) andWalters (2022), a syllable-final⟨-r⟩ is added in the Nuosu Pinyin orthography to indicate vowels with tense/tight/creaky phonation.
Eatough (1997) notes[eɛɤoɔ] as sounding slightly closer (higher) than theircardinal values.[13]Edmondson, Esling & Ziwo (2017)'s analysis found this to be true for[ɛɔ], while they found[eɤ] to be much closer (higher) and analyze them instead as more similar to[iɯ], and found[o] to be slightly more open (lower) than its cardinal value, the opposite ofEatough (1997)'s conjecture.
According toEatough (1997), the tight throat vowel[ɤ] occurs as a phonetic realization of the phonemically loose throat/a/ (Edmondson, Esling & Ziwo (2017)'s/ɯ/) in the high tone, due to raising of the larynx to produce high pitch; it only occurs in this tone. The loose throat[ɤ] never occurs in this tone, and as such there is no three way contrast known to exist in any tone between[ɤɤa].[14]
According toEdmondson, Esling & Ziwo (2017), vowels are often nasalized after nasal consonants.[15] The tense (tight) vowels often have a schwa offglide[V̙ᵊ̙].[16]
The fricativized vowels (also calledfricative vowels or syllabic fricatives) in Nuosu are theclose vowel phonemes:
The initial fricative elements of the fricativized vowels/uu/ (whichEdmondson, Esling & Ziwo (2017) state have also been notated as/vv/) may be voiceless or voiced bilabial trills[ʙ̥,ʙ] after bilabial and alveolar plosives; both the lax and tense variants may be either type of voicing, depending on the context.[17]Eatough (1997) suggests that the realization is morelenis after bilabial plosives, and more fortis after alveolar plosives.[18] The vowel elements may be a range of[u~ʊ~ɵ~ʉ~ʏ~ø], being fronted especially after more forward consonants. The fricative (or trill) elements may occasionally be reduced to offglides[ᶠ,ᵛ,𐞄̥,𐞄], or entirely neutralized.[15]Eatough (1997) transcribes this process instead as bilabially trilled onglides while the fricativized vowel retains its form[𐞄vʷ𐞄vʷ].[19]
The fricativized vowels/zz/ (whichEatough (1997) notates as/ii/) are described byEdmondson, Esling & Ziwo (2017) as 'voiced alveolar fricative syllabic continuants', which are apical and approximated (more open), and with the tongue position between[i] and[ɨ]; they are more accurately transcribed as[z̞z̞], or with theSinological symbol[ɿ]. They may also be fronted to[ʏ] or become fully rhotic[ɚ] after alveolo-palatal consonants. The retroflex pair/ʐʐ/ are described as retroflex equivalents of this articulation; they are more accurately transcribed as[ʐ̞ʐ̞], or with the Sinological symbol[ʅ], and are shown to be allophones of/zz/ after retroflex consonants.[20] In addition to the assimilated forms described below,Eatough (1997) suggestscomplementary distribution of[z̍~ʒ̍~ʒ̍ʲ] (or per the later authors' transcriptions[z̍~ʐ̍~ʑ̍]) and equivalent for the tight (tense) form, based on place of articulation of consonant onsets,[21] which is roughly corroborated byEdmondson, Esling & Ziwo (2017) in further detail.
The fricativized vowels show systematic assimilation to preceding lateral continuants and bilabial nasals, resulting in the formation of syllabic lateral and nasal consonants.
According toEdmondson, Esling & Ziwo (2017), the fricativized vowels may assimilate with the laterals/ɬl/ to form syllabic lateral-median approximants (roughly[ʪ̞̍,ʫ̞̍] for/zz/ and[ʪ̞̍ʷ,ʫ̞̍ʷ] for/uu/), which they transcribe as[ɬ˞l˞,l˞ː,ɬ˞l˞ʷ,l˞ʷː] to indicate quality between/ɬ,l/ and/ɹ̥,ɹ/; the voicing type is determined by the voicing of the laterals, not by vowel tenseness (tightness), and the combined forms in the case of the voiceless laterals indicates lengthened (geminated) with changing voicing. The initial voiceless onsets may be reduced to[h], resulting in the forms[hl˞ː,hl˞ʷː].[16]Eatough (1997) shows almost the same process, but treats them as simple laterals[l̥l,l,l̥lʷ,lʷ].[22]Gerner (2013) provides a similar but narrower analysis, stating only unrounded central[ɨ] assimilates with/l̥,l/ to form syllabic[l̩̊,l̩].[23] BothEatough (1997) andEdmondson, Esling & Ziwo (2017) show both lax and tense (loose and tight) forms of the syllabic laterals, whileGerner (2013) does not.
In a similar case as the laterals, all authors show some degree of fricativized vowel assimilation with the bilabial nasals/m̥,m/.Gerner (2013) treats this identically to the laterals; only unrounded central[ɨ] assimilates to form syllabic[m̩̊,m̩].[23]Eatough (1997) also treats this closely to the laterals, where/uu/ are labialized, and the voiceless variants are lengthened with changing voicing. However, rather than/ii/ forming simple nasals,Eatough (1997) reports them as formingco-articulated nasals and laterals[m͜l]; this results in the forms[m̥m͜l,m͜l,m̥mʷ,mʷ].[22]Edmondson, Esling & Ziwo (2017) do not include (extra-)labialized forms, but do note the same quality of changing voicing, and still show/uu/ as assimilating under the process just as/ii/ do; this results in the forms[m̥m,mː].[24] Just as with the laterals, bothEatough (1997) andEdmondson, Esling & Ziwo (2017) show both lax and tense (loose and tight) forms of the syllabic nasals, whileGerner (2013) does not.
Nuosu syllable structure is (C)V.
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According toGerner (2013) andWalters (2022), the Nuosu Pinyin orthography indicates tones with the following letters at the end of syllables:
The high-mid tone is only marginally contrastive. Its two main sources are fromtone 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 instanceꊈwo "bear" +ꃀmop "mother" regularly formsꊈꂾwo mox "female bear", butꃤvi "jackal" +ꃀmop "mother" formsꃤꃀvi mop "female jackal" without sandhi. The syntax creates other contrasts: tone sandhi applies across the boundary between object and verb, so is present inSOV clauses likeꃅꏸꇐꄜꎷmu jy lu ti shex "Mujy looks for Luti", but is absent inOSV clauses likeꃅꏸꇐꄜꎹmu jy lu ti shep "Luti looks for Mujy". A few words, likeꑞxix "what?", have underlying high-mid tone.
Classic Yi is a syllabiclogographic system of 8,000–10,000 glyphs. Although similar toChinese 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 ofGladstone Porteous of Sayingpan.[25] This was later replaced by the Modern Yi script.
The Modern Yi script (ꆈꌠꁱꂷnuosu bburma[nɔ̄sūbʙ̝̄mā] 'Nosu script') is a standardizedsyllabary 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.[26]
Nuosu is ananalytic language. The basic word order isSubject–object–verb. Vocabularies of Nuosu can be divided intocontent words andfunction 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, especiallygrammatical particles, have a significant role in terms of sentence constructions in Nuosu. Nuosu does not have article words, but conjunctions andpostposition words are used.[27]
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 | t͡sʰẑ̩t͡sʰz̩̄ | t͡sʰē̝ɲê̝ | |
| Yi Pinyin | cyp | nyip | suo | ly | nge | fut | shyp | hxit | ggu | cy | cyp cy | ci nyip |
There are 8 Tibeto-Burman languages with over 1,000,000 speakers (Burmese, Tibetan, Bai, Yi [Lolo], Karen, Meitei, Hani, Jingpo) ...
Sino-Tibetan branches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WesternHimalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand,Nepal,Sikkim) |
|  | |||
| EasternHimalayas (Tibet,Bhutan,Arunachal) | |||||
| Myanmar and Indo- Burmese border |
| ||||
| East andSoutheast Asia |
| ||||
| Dubious (possible isolates,Arunachal) |
| ||||
| Proposed groupings | |||||
| Proto-languages | |||||
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches. | |||||
