Southeastern Loloish
Southeastern Ngwi Axi-Puoid
Geographic distribution	SouthernChina,Vietnam
Ethnicity	Yi people
Linguistic classification	Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman) Lolo–Burmese Loloish Nisoish Southeastern Loloish
Language codes
Glottolog	sout3212
Phula is classified as Vulnerable by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger

TheSoutheastern Loloish languages, also known asSoutheastern Ngwi, are a branch of theLoloish languages. In Lama's (2012) classification, it is calledAxi-Puoid, which forms theNisoish branch together with theNisoid (Nisu–Lope) (Northern Loloish) languages.

Southeastern Yi is one of the sixYi languages (fangyan 方言) officially recognized by the Chinese government.Sani 撒尼 is the officially recognized literary standard for Southeastern Yi. Pelkey (2011) considers Southern Yi (Nisu 尼苏) to be another officially recognized Yifangyan 方言 that belongs to Southeastern Loloish.

Jamin Pelkey (2011) lists the following languages in Southeastern Ngwi (Southeastern Loloish). Four branches of Southeastern Loloish are recognized, namelyNisu,Sani–Azha,Highland Phula, andRiverine Phula.

• Nisu:Nyisu?;Northern Nisu,Southern Nisu [+Lope]
• Sani–Azha:Sani,Axi;Azhe;Azha [+Samei?]
• Highland Phula:
  • Muji:
    • Core Muji:Northern Muji,Qila Muji,Southern Muji,Bokha–Phuma;Muzi;Laghuu
    • Thopho
    • Moji
  • Phowa:
    • Ani Phowa,Labo Phowa
    • Hlepho Phowa,Phukha
    • Khlula,Zokhuo
• Riverine Phula:
  • Upriver:Phola,Alo Phola,Phala
  • Downriver:
    • Phupa,Phuza
    • Phupha,Alugu

Pelkey (2011b)^[1] contains a comparative word list ofPhola (Upriver Phula),Phuza (Downriver Phula),Muji (Highland Phula),Phowa (Highland Phula), andAzha.

Bradley (2007) had classifiedSani,Axi,Azhe, andAzha as forming aSoutheastern Central subgroup ofCentral Loloish, but Pelkey (2011) reclassified them as Southeastern Loloish rather than Central Loloish languages.

Also, Pelkey (2011) notes thatSoutheastern Ngwi may be most closely related toNorthern Ngwi (including Nosu and Nasu), which is in line with Lama's (2012) proposal of aNisoish clade.

Pelkey (2011:353)^[2] specifically excludesPholo, noting that although it has been closely associated with speakers of Southeastern Ngwi languages historically, it does not share the defining features of the branch.

Pelkey (2011) classifiesNyisu ofShilin County as belonging to theNisu language cluster, but notes that this classification is in need of further formal evidence. Bradley (2007), however, classifies Nyisu ofKunming as being most closely related toSuondi Yi. It is not known whetherNyisu of Kunming and Nyisu of Shilin County are related or not.

Ethnologue classifiesAche as a Southeastern Loloish language. However, Ache has not been analyzed in classifications of Southeastern Loloish by Pelkey (2011) and Lama (2012), and hence remains unclassified within the Southeastern Loloish branch.

Pelkey (2011:431) suggests that theXiqi,Ati, andLong languages ofHuaning County may be Southeastern Loloish languages.

It is uncertain if Zhayipo 扎依颇 (dza21ʑi21pʰo21) ofMile County is a Southeastern Loloish language or not.^[3]

Glottolog and ISO 639 (2007) also add the "Nisi (China)" language (code:yso), previously named "Southeastern Lolo Yi", and still unclassified within branches of Southeastern Loloish.^[4]

Pelkey (2011:356-365) lists the following four mergers fromProto-Ngwi as Southeastern Ngwi innovations.

1. Proto-Ngwi *ʔ-k and *ʔ-ɡl > Proto-Southeastern Ngwi *tɬ (modern reflexes: tɬ, kɬ, k, t, ɬ, etc. in words such asto load)
2. Proto-Ngwi *pl/pj and *ʔ-kl > Proto-Southeastern Ngwi *tɬʰ (modern reflexes: tɬʰ, kɬʰ, kʰ, tʰ, ɬ, etc. in words such asbee, taro, destroy, change, excrement)
3. Proto-Ngwi *bl/bj and *ɡl > Proto-Southeastern Ngwi *dɮ (modern reflexes: dɮ, ɡɮ, ɡ, d, etc. in words such assilver, face, pus, full, to fly, lightning, four)
4. Proto-Ngwi *m-pl/m-plj and *m-bl/m-blj > Proto-Southeastern Ngwi *ndɮ (modern reflexes: ndɮ, ŋɡɮ, nd, etc.)

Another Southeastern Ngwilexical innovation is that of ‘bat’, which is compounded from *b-yam¹ (‘to fly’) and *wa² (‘person’), literally meaning ‘flyer’ (Pelkey 2011:375).

Chen, et al. (1985)^[5] also recognizes a similar group calledSoutheastern Yi (彝语东南部方言), which includes the following dialects.

• Yiliang 宜良土语: spoken in Yiliang (including the Shilin border area), Qiubei, Luxi, Mile, and Luliang counties
• Mile 弥勒土语: spoken in Mile, Huaning, Kunming, Luxi, and Yiliang counties
• Huami 华弥土语 (Huaning-Mile): spoken in Mile, Huaning, and Jianshui counties
• Wenxi 文西土语 (Wenshan-Xichou): spoken in Wenshan, Xichou, Yanshan, Malipo, Maguan, Funing, Guangnan, and Qiubei counties. Internal variation is greatest within the Wenxi lect.

In Chen (2010), Southeastern Loloish calledNesu (聂苏方言). Also listed are the counties where each respective dialect is spoken.

• Nesu 聂苏方言
  • Nesu, Nièsū 聂苏次方言
    • Nesu, Nièsū 聂苏 (ne̠33su55): 500,000 speakers in Honghe, Mojiang, Yuanjiang, Yuanyang, Luchun, Jiangcheng, Jinping, Hekou, Pu'er, Jinghong, Mengla, etc.
    • Narsu, Nuósū 娜苏 (na33su55): 500,000 speakers in Shiping, Eshan, Tonghai, Jianshui, Kaiyuan, Gejiu, Mengzi, Pingbian, etc.
    • Zoko, Zuòkuò 作括 (dzo21kʰo44): 100,000 speakers in Wenshan, Yanshan, Xichou, Maguan, Malipo, etc.
  • Sani, Sǎní 撒尼次方言
    • Sani, Sǎní 撒尼 (nɪ21): 200,000 speakers in Lunan, Yiliang, Luliang, Mile, Luxi, Shizong, Malong, Luquan, Qiubei, etc.
    • Asi, Āxì 阿细 (a21ɕi55pʰo21): 200,000 speakers in Mile, Lunan, Chengjiang, Kunming, Huaning, etc.
    • Nise, Nísài 尼赛 (ni55sɛ21pʰu55): 100,000 speakers in Lunan
  • Azi, Āzhé 阿哲次方言
    • Azi, Āzhé 阿哲 (a21dʐɛ̠21pʰo21): 100,000 speakers in Mile, Huaning, Kaiyuan, Jianshui, etc.
    • Neshu, Nièshū 聂舒: (nɪ̠33ʂu55pʰo21): 500,000 speakers in Xinping, Yuxi, Jiangchuan, Yimen, Puning, etc.
    • Lopo, Luópō 罗泼 (lo21pʰɯ21): 100,000 speakers in Mile
    • Kopo, Gépō 格泼 (ko55pʰo21): 100,000 speakers in Fuyuan, Luoping, Zhanyi, Qujing, Shizong, Huize, Lunan, Luliang, Mile, etc.
    • Sanni, Sāngní 桑尼 (ʂɛ21ni51): 100,000 speakers in Kunming

The following demographics of Southeastern Loloish languages are from Pelkey (2011).

The following datapoints (i.e., sample locations) for Phula languages are from Pelkey (2011:26-27).

• Bradley, David. 1997. "Tibeto-Burman languages and classification". InTibeto-Burman languages of the Himalayas, Papers in South East Asian linguistics. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
• Bradley, David. 2002. The subgrouping of Tibeto-Burman. InMedieval Tibeto-Burman languages, Christopher Beckwith and Henk Blezer (eds.), 73–112. (International Association for Tibetan Studies Proceedings 9 (2000) and Brill Tibetan Studies Library 2.) Leiden: Brill.
• Bradley, David. 2007. East and Southeast Asia. In Moseley, Christopher (ed.),Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, 349-424. London & New York: Routledge.
• Chen Kang [陈康]. 2010.A study of Yi dialects [彝语方言研究]. Beijing: China Minzu University Press.
• Lama, Ziwo Qiu-Fuyuan. 2012.Subgrouping of Nisoic (Yi) Languages. Ph.D. thesis, University of Texas at Arlington.
• Pelkey, Jamin. 2011.Dialectology as Dialectic: Interpreting Phula Variation. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.
• van Driem, George. 2001.Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region. Leiden: Brill.

• Loloish languages

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