Lisu language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lisu | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spoken in: | China, India, Burma, Thailand | |
| Total speakers: | 723,000 | |
| Language family: | Sino-Tibetan Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Lolo-Burmese Loloish Northern Loloish Lisu |
|
| Writing system: | Fraser Alphabet (Latin Based) | |
| Official status | ||
| Official language in: | Weixi Lisu Autonomous County, Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture (PRC) | |
| Regulated by: | no official regulation | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | -- | |
| ISO 639-2: | -- | |
| ISO 639-3: | lis | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
Lisu is a Sino-Tibetan tonal language spoken in Yunnan (southwestern China), northern Burma, and Thailand and a small part of India. It is the language of the Lisu minority. Lisu has many dialects that originate from the country in which they live. : Hua Lisu, Pai Lisu, and Lu Shi Lisu dialects are spoken in China. Although they are mutually intelligible, some have many more loan words from other languages than others.
The Lisu language is closely related to the Lahu and Akha languages and is also related to Burmese, Kachin, and Yi languages.
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[edit] Orthography
Around 1915, James O. Fraser, a Christian missionary with the China Inland Mission, developed a Lisu alphabet. Many Lisu Christians have since 1915 used this script so that they could read the Bible in their own language. A new alphabet based on pinyin was created for them in 1957, but most Lisu still used the old alphabet. The Fraser alphabet was officially recognized by the Chinese government in 1992, since which time its use has been encouraged.
[edit] Phonology
[edit] Vowels
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Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
[edit] Consonants
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palato-Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voiceless Unaspirated | p | t ʦ | ʧ | ʨ | k | ʔ |
| Voiceless Aspirated | pʰ | tʰ ʦʰ | ʧʰ | ʨʰ | kʰ | |
| Voiced | b | d ʣ | ʤ | ʥ | g | |
| Voiceless fricative | f | s | ʃ | ɕ | x | h |
| Voiced fricative | v | z | ʒ | ʑ | ɣ | |
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | h̃ | |
| Approximant | w | l ɹ | j |
[edit] External links
- Ethnologue Entry for Lisu Language
- Fraser Alphabet at Omniglot
- Lengua Lisu
- 1 Proto-Lolo-Burmese velar clusters and the origin of Lisu palatal ...
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This Sino-Tibetan languages-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
