The Northern Loloish languages, also known as Northern Ngwi, are a branch of the

Loloish languages The Loloish languages, also known as Yi in China and occasionally Ngwi or Nisoic, are a family of fifty to a hundred Sino-Tibetan languages spoken primarily in the Yunnan province of China. They are most closely related to Burmese and its relat ...

that includes the literary standard of the

Yi people The Yi or Nuosu people,; zh, c=彝族, p=Yízú, l=Yi ethnicity historically known as the Lolo,; vi, Lô Lô; th, โล-โล, Lo-Lo are an ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with eac ...

. In Lama's (2012) classification, it is called ''Nisoid'' (''Nisu–Lope''), which forms the Nisoish branch together with the ''Axi-Puoid'' (Southeastern Loloish) languages.

Languages

Two of the six Yi languages (''fangyan'' 方言) officially recognized by the Chinese government belong to the Northern Loloish branch. *Northern Yi ( Nuosu 诺苏) *Eastern Yi ( Nasu 纳苏) Another officially recognized Yi language (''fangyan''), Southern Yi ( Nisu 尼苏), may or may not be a Northern Loloish language, as Pelkey (2011) classifies it as a

Southeastern Loloish The Southeastern Loloish languages, also known as Southeastern Ngwi, are a branch of the Loloish languages. In Lama's (2012) classification, it is called ''Axi-Puoid'', which forms the Nisoish branch together with the ''Nisoid'' (''Nisu–Lope'' ...

language based on phonological innovations shared with Southeastern instead of Northern Loloish languages. Other Northern Loloish languages are listed below. * Aluo is close to Nasu. * Chesu is close to Nasu. * Lope, also known as Awu * Alingpo is close to Nasu and Gepo. * Ku of

Qiubei County Qiubei County () is under the administration of the Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, in southeast Yunnan province, China. Administrative divisions In the present, Qiubei County has 3 towns, 4 townships and 5 ethnic townships. ;3 to ...

, Yunnan * Luoji of

Weining County Weining Yi Hui and Miao Autonomous County (; Xiao'erjing: ) is a county of Guizhou, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People ...

, Guizhou Nisu is classified as

by Pelkey (2011), but is traditionally classified as a Northern Loloish language. Bradley (1997) also lists the endangered

Kathu Kathu is a town in South Africa, and the iron ore capital of the Northern Cape province. Its name means "town under the trees", after the Camel Thorn forest it is situated in. The phrase "the town under the trees" was coined by an engineer wo ...

and Mo'ang languages of

Wenshan Prefecture Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture in southeastern Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China and the easternmost prefecture-level division of the province. It borders Baise, Guangxi to the east, Vietnam's ...

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

, China as Northern Loloish languages, but they were later classified as Mondzish by Lama (2012) and Hsiu (2014).

Bradley (2007)

Within Northern Loloish, David Bradley (2007)Bradley, David. 2007. East and Southeast Asia. In Moseley, Christopher (ed.), ''Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages'', 349-424. London & New York: Routledge. recognizes the ''Nosoid'' and ''Nasoid'' subgroups. Lama (2012) also recognizes a distinction between the Nuosu and Nasu clusters, with the Nuosu cluster including Nuosu and Niesu, and the Nasu cluster include Nasu, Gepu, and Nesu. *''Nosoid'' ** Nuosu (Nosu) **Muhisu ** Nyisu *''Nasoid'' ** Nasu ** Aluo ** Naluo ** Chesu ** Gepo, Ayizi Samei, Samataw, and Sanie are classified as Nasoid by Bradley (2007), but as

Kazhuoish languages The Kazhuoish languages are a branch of Loloish languages proposed by Lama (2012). There are five languages. * Katso * Samu * Sanie * Sadu * Meuma Samei may or may not be a Kazhuoish language. However, Bradley (2007) classifies the Kazhuoish la ...

by Lama (2012).

Chen (2010)

Chen (2010) recognizes two

topolect Chinese, also known as Sinitic, is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds of local varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the more mountainous southeast of main ...

s (

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

: ''fangyan'' 方言), namely ''Nosu'' (Northern Yi) and ''Nasu'' (Eastern Yi). *

Nosu Nosu is a district in Mamasa Regency, West Sulawesi, Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, includ ...

诺苏方言 (''See'') *Nasu 纳苏方言 ** Nàsū 纳苏次方言 ***Nàsū 纳苏 ('): 400,000 speakers in Luquan, Wuding, Xundian, Huize, Dongchuan, Songming, etc. ***Naso, Nàsuǒ 纳索 ('): 300,000 speakers in Zhaotong, Ludian, Yiliang, Daguan, Yanjin, Suijiang, Yongshan, Qiaojia, Huize, etc. *** Alo, Āluó 阿罗 ('): 100,000 speakers in Wuding, Fumin, Lufeng, etc. ***Mongi, Mòqí 莫其 ('): 50,000 speakers in Wuding, Luquan, Songming, Kunming, Mile, etc. **Nersu, Nèisū 内苏次方言 ***Nersu, Nèisū 内苏 ('): 300,000 speakers in Weining, Shuicheng, Hezhang, Nayong, Yiliang, Huize, Xuanwei, Weixin, Zhenyong, etc. ***Nipu, Nípǔ 尼普 ('): 300,000 speakers in Bijie, Qianxi, Jinsha, Dafang, Zhijin, Nayong, Qingzhen, Pingba, Puding, Liuzhi, Guanling, Zhenning, etc. **Noso, Nuòsuǒ 诺索次方言 ***Noso, Nuòsuǒ 诺索 ('): 100,000 speakers in Panxian, Xingren, Pu'an, Xingyi, Qinglong, Shuicheng, Fuyuan, Luoping, etc. ***

Polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

, Bǔluó 补罗 ('): 50,000 speakers in Kaiyuan, Gejiu, Mengzi, Honghe, Wenshan, Yanshan, etc. Li (2013:245) lists the following autonyms for the

of these counties. *

Xide County Xide County () (Northern Yi dialect: ꑝꅇꑤ xit ddop xiep /ɕɪ˥dʊ˨˩ ɕɛ˨˩/) is a county under the jurisdiction of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, People's Republic of China. Located in the southwestern mountainous ...

: ' *

Luquan County Luquan Yi and Miao Autonomous County (; A-Hmao: ) is an autonomous county, under the jurisdiction of Kunming, Yunnan, China, bordering Sichuan province to the north. As of the 2020 census the population was 378,881. The county seat has two bus st ...

, Xundian County: ' *

Shilin County Shilin Yi Autonomous County (: Sani: ) is an autonomous county, under the jurisdiction of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, China. Etymology Lunan Yi Autonomous County () is the former name of Shilin, and usually be called for short as ...

: ', '/' *

: ' *

Dafang County Dafang (), called Dading () until 1958, is a county of Guizhou province, China. It is under the administration of Bijie Bijie () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Guizhou Province, China, bordering Sichuan to the north and Yunnan to the ...

: ' *

Eshan County Eshan Yi Autonomous County (; Yi: ) is located in Yuxi, in the central part of Yunnan Province, China. Administrative divisions Eshan Yi Autonomous County has 2 subdistricts, 3 towns and 3 townships. ;2 subdistricts * Shuangjiang () * Xiaojie ...

: ' *

Pan County Panzhou () is a county-level city in southwestern Guizhou province, China, on the border with Yunnan province to the west. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Liupanshui. Administrative divisions As of 2017, Panzhou is ...

: ' *

Longlin County Longlin Various Nationalities (Gezu) Autonomous County () is an autonomous county, under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Baise, in the west of Guangxi, China, bordering Guizhou Province to the north. As of 2019, the county's pop ...

: ' *

Liangshan County Liangshan County () is a county situated in the southwest of Shandong province, China. It is administered by the prefecture-level city of Jining. Geography Liangshan County is situated north west of Jining in the south west of Shandong province ...

: '', '' Other autonyms listed by Dai (1998:218): *

: ' (Black Yi 黑彝); '; ' *

Mojiang County Mojiang Hani Autonomous County (; Hani: ) is an autonomous county under the jurisdiction of Pu'er City, in the south of Yunnan Province, China. Administrative divisions In the present, Mojiang Hani Autonomous County has 12 towns, 2 townships and ...

: ' The ' of southwestern Guizhou reside in Pingdi 坪地, Pugu 普古, and Jichangping 鸡场坪 townships, Pan County; Longchang 龙场 and Fa'er 法耳 township, Shuicheng County (Chen 1987).Chen Fuzhi 陈富智. 1987. 盘县特区坪地彝语语音浅探. In 贵州民族研究(季刊), Vol. 2 (No. 30). April 1987.

Innovations

Pelkey (2011:368) lists the following as Northern Ngwi innovations that had developed from Proto-Ngwi. *Proto-Ngwi tone categories H and L flipped (*L > (13) in Nasu) *Proto-Ngwi tone categories *1 and *2 merged to mid-level *Proto-Ngwi tone category *3 > low-falling *Lexicalized family group classifiers with frequent monosyllabic forms *Burmic extentive paradigm is highly grammaticalized, with few lexical innovations

References

*Bradley, David (1997).
Tibeto-Burman languages and classification
. In ''Tibeto-Burman languages of the Himalayas, Papers in South East Asian linguistics''. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. *Chen Kang ��康 2010. ''A study of Yi dialects'' ��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. {{Lolo-Burmese languages