Bradley (1979)
 | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (October 2012) |
| Proto-Loloish | |
|---|---|
| Reconstruction of | Loloish languages |
Reconstructed ancestor | |
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 the term Ngwi based on a conservative autonym in the Sanie language. [1]
| | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (October 2012) |
| | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (October 2012) |
Li Yongsui (2011) reconstructs Proto-Lolo-Burmese (Proto-Mian-Yi 缅彝) based on 30 languages.
Lama (2012) reconstructs 37 consonants for Proto-Loloish (which he calls Proto-Nisoic), 7 of which (marked in green) can occur as syllable finals. The glides /w/ and /j/ occur medially.
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Alveolo-palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stops | Voiceless | p | t | ts | tɕ | k | ʔ | ||||||
| Voiceless aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | tsʰ | tɕʰ | kʰ | h | |||||||
| Voiced | b | d | dz | dʑ | ɡ | ||||||||
| Prenasalized | mb | nd | ndz | ndʑ | ŋɡ | ||||||||
| Fricatives | Voiceless | s | x | ||||||||||
| Voiced | z | ʑ | ɣ | ||||||||||
| Nasals | Voiced | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||||||
| Liquids and Semivowels | Voiced | -w- | l | r | -j- | ||||||||
Sino-Tibetan branches | |||||
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| Western Himalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim) |
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| Eastern Himalayas (Tibet, Bhutan, Arunachal) | |||||
| Myanmar and Indo-Burmese border |
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| East and Southeast Asia |
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| Dubious (possible isolates) (Arunachal) |
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| Proposed groupings | |||||
| Proto-languages | |||||
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches. | |||||
Sino-Tibetan, also cited as Trans-Himalayan in a few sources, is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 billion native speakers of Sinitic languages. Other Sino-Tibetan languages with large numbers of speakers include Burmese and the Tibetic languages. Other languages of the family are spoken in the Himalayas, the Southeast Asian Massif, and the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Most of these have small speech communities in remote mountain areas, and as such are poorly documented.
Nuosu or Nosu, also known as Northern Yi, Liangshan Yi, and Sichuan Yi, is the prestige language of the Yi people; it has been chosen by the Chinese government as the standard Yi language and, as such, is the only one taught in schools, both in its oral and written forms. It was spoken by two million people and was increasing as of ; 60% were monolingual. Nuosu is the native Nuosu name for their own language and is not used in Mandarin Chinese, though it may sometimes be translated as Nuòsūyǔ.
Lahu is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Lahu people of China, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos. It is widely used in China, both by Lahu people, and by other ethnic minorities in Yunnan, who use it as a lingua franca. However, the language is not widely used nor taught in any schools in Thailand, where many Lahu are in fact refugees and illegal immigrants, having crossed into Thailand from Myanmar.
The Nung or Nungish languages are a poorly described family of uncertain affiliation within the Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Yunnan, China and Burma. They include:
The Lolo-Burmese languages of Burma and Southern China form a coherent branch of the Sino-Tibetan family.
The Loloish languages, also known as Yi and occasionally Ngwi or Nisoic, are a family of fifty to a hundred Sino-Tibetan languages spoken primarily in Yunnan province of China. They are most closely related to Burmese and its relatives. Both the Loloish and Burmish branches are well defined, as is their superior node, Lolo-Burmese. However, subclassification is more contentious.
Proto-Tibeto-Burman is the reconstructed ancestor of the Tibeto-Burman languages, that is, the Sino-Tibetan languages, except for Chinese. An initial reconstruction was produced by Paul K. Benedict and since refined by James Matisoff. Several other researchers argue that the Tibeto-Burman languages sans Chinese do not constitute a monophyletic group within Sino-Tibetan, and therefore that Proto-Tibeto-Burman was the same language as Proto-Sino-Tibetan.
The Jino language constitutes a pair of Loloish language varieties spoken by the Jino people of Yunnan, China.
The Northern Loloish languages, also known as Northern Ngwi, are a branch of the Loloish languages that includes the literary standard of the Yi people. In Lama's (2012) classification, it is called Nisoid (Nisu–Lope), which forms the Nisoish branch together with the Axi-Puoid languages.
The Southern Loloish or Southern Ngwi languages, also known as the Hanoish (Hanish) languages, constitute a branch of the Loloish languages that includes Akha and Hani.
The Lisoish languages are a branch of the Loloish languages proposed by Ziwo Lama (2012) that includes Lisu and several of the Yi languages. David Bradley (1997) considers Lisoish languages to be part of the Central Loloish branch.
Nyisu or Yellow Yi 黄彝 is a Loloish language of Kunming, central Yunnan, China. There are fewer than 300 speakers remaining according to Bradley. Nyisu speakers are also referred to as Doupo 都泼.
Mondzish (Mangish) is a small group of languages that constitute the most divergent branch of the Lolo–Burmese languages in the classification of Lama (2012). The Mondzish languages are spoken in Funing, Guangnan, Malipo, and Napo counties of China and Hà Giang and Cao Bang provinces of northern Vietnam. The autonyms of Mondzish-speaking peoples often begins with *man-. Lama (2012) considers *man- to be cognate with Mán (蛮), which is an ancient Chinese exonym for non-Chinese peoples to the south.
The Central Loloish languages, also known as Central Ngwi, is a branch of Loloish languages in Bradley (1997). It is not used in Lama's (2012) classification. Central Loloish is also not supported in Satterthwaite-Phillips' (2011) computational phylogenetic analysis of the Lolo-Burmese languages.
Sanie is a Loloish language of Yunnan, China. It is similar to Samataw. There were 17,320 ethnic Sanie in 1998, but only about 8,000 spoke the Sanie language fluently. The Sanie are also known as the White Yi (白彝).
The Burmo-Qiangic or Eastern Tibeto-Burman languages are a proposed family of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Southwest China and Myanmar. It consists of the Lolo-Burmese and Qiangic branches, including the extinct Tangut language.
The Kazhuoish languages are a branch of Loloish languages proposed by Lama (2012). There are five languages.
Mruic or Mru–Hkongso is a small group of Sino-Tibetan languages consisting of two languages, Mru and Anu-Hkongso. Their relationship within Sino-Tibetan is unclear. However, it shares similarities with Bodo-Garo languages
Meuma is a Loloish language spoken in Xinzhai 新寨, Mada Village 马达村, Daping Township 大坪镇, Malipo County, Yunnan. There are several semi-fluent elderly speakers, with no fluent speakers left.
Proto-Karenic or Proto-Karen is the reconstructed ancestor of the Karenic languages.