The Nusu language is a

Loloish language 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 ...

spoken by the

Nu people The Nu people (; alternative names include Nusu, Nung, Zauzou and Along) are one of the 56 ethnic groups recognized by the People's Republic of China. Their population of 27,000 is divided into the Northern, Central and Southern groups. Their h ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. There are three dialects: Northern, Southern, and Central. The Central dialect of Miangu is the

prestige dialect Prestige refers to a good reputation or high esteem; in earlier usage, ''prestige'' meant "showiness". (19th c.) Prestige may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Films * ''Prestige'' (film), a 1932 American film directed by Tay Garnett ...

and is understood fairly well by speakers of other dialects. Lama (2012) observes a sound change *r- > Ø- from

Proto-Loloish Proto-Loloish is the reconstructed ancestor of the Loloish languages. Reconstructions include those of David Bradley (1979), James Matisoff (2003), and Ziwo Lama (2012). In later publications, in place of ''Loloish'', David Bradley instead uses ...

as a Nusoish innovation.

Distribution

The three Nusu dialects are spoken in the following locations (''Nusuzu Nusuyu Jianzhi'' 怒族怒苏语简志 1986). *Southern, also known as the Guoke-Puluo (果科-普洛) dialect: northern

Lushui County Lushui () is a county-level city in and the seat of Nujiang Prefecture, western Yunnan Province, China. It borders Myanmar's Kachin State to the west and occupies the southern fifth of Nujiang Prefecture. Administrative divisions Lushui City ha ...

泸水县, in Guoke 果科, Puluo 普洛, Tongping 同坪, Jiajia 加甲 (3,000 speakers) *Central, also known as the Zhizhiluo-Laomudeng (知之罗-老姆登) dialect: southern

Fugong County Fugong County () is a county located in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, in the west of Yunnan province, China, bordering Myanmar's Kachin State to the west. Administrative divisions Fugong County has 1 town, 5 townships and 1 ethnic townshi ...

福贡县, in Pihe 匹河怒族乡, Zhizhiluo 知之罗, Laomudeng 老姆登, Miangu 棉古, Shawa 沙瓦, Zileng 子楞 (4,000 speakers) *Northern, also known as the Wawa-Kongtong (瓦娃-空通) dialect:

福贡县, in Wawa 瓦娃, Kongtong 空通, Youduoluo 有夺洛 (2,000 speakers)

Phonology

Consonants

Tones

Nusu has seven tones:

References

External links

Nusu language site
{{Lolo-Burmese languages Loloish languages Languages of China