Lolopo (autonyms: lɔ21 lo33 pʰɔ21, lo31 lo31 pʰo31; Chinese: 彝语中部方言; Central Yi) is a Loloish language spoken by half a million Yi people of China. Chinese speakers call it Central Yi, as the name Lolopo does not exist in Chinese. It is one of the six Yi languages recognized by the government of China.

Distribution

The Lolo language is mainly spoken in central Yunnan. It is also spoken on different sides of the China-Myanmar–Laos border.

In Laos, Lolo is spoken in three villages of Phongsaly Province, where the language is usually referred to as Lolopho.

In Myanmar, Lolo is spoken in Shan State. The language is usually referred to as Eastern Gaisu, and they are classified as the Gaisu subgroup of the Lisu people.

Names

Lolo speakers are referred to by a variety of exonyms. Below is a list of exonyms followed by their respective autonyms and demographics.^[2]

• Mili: lo21 lo33 pʰo21 (spoken by about 12,000 people in Jingdong County). Also called Alie.
• Enipu 厄尼蒲 (ɣɯ55 ni21 pa̠21 'water buffalo people', an offensive exonym used by Lalo speakers): lo21 lo33 pʰo21 (spoken in Nanjian County). Spoken by nearly 20,000 people in Weishan County (Qinghua Township) and Nanjian County (in Wuliang, Xiaowandong, and Langcang townships)
• Tu 土 (Tuzu 土族): lo21 lo33 pʰo21 (spoken by nearly 10,000 people in southern Xiangyun County)
• Qiangyi 羌夷: lɔ̠21 lɔ33 sɨ55 (spoken by nearly 15,000 people in northern and central Xiangyun County)
• Eastern Lalu: lo̠21 lo̠33 (spoken by nearly 20,000 people in Xinping County and Zhenyuan County). The Xinping dialect is documented in Wang (2020). In Xinping County, there are about 3,000 ethnic "Lalu" (腊鲁; i.e., Lolopo) in Malutang 马鹿塘 and Mowei 磨味 villages, located in Jianxing Township 建兴乡.^[3]
• Lolo (of northeastern Binchuan County): lo̠21 lo33 pʰo21
• Xiangtang 香堂 (spoken in Zhenkang County). Widespread distribution in Jinggu, Zhenyuan, Pu'er, Jiangcheng, Mengla, Jinghong, and Zhenkang counties, with perhaps under 80,000 speakers.
• Lolo (of Nanhua County): lo̠21 lo̠33 pʰo21
• Lolo (of Yao'an County): lo21 la33 pʰo21
• Wotizo: wɔ21 ti33 zɔ21 (Yang 2010:7)^[4]

Classification

Yang (2011) proposes this tentative internal classification of Lolo.

• Southern Lolo (?)^[5]
  • Western Lolo (Southern Lolopo in Ethnologue^[1])
  • Xiangtang
  • Jingdong Lolo (Mili)
• Southern Dali Lolo (Enipu)
• Nanhua Lolo
  • Eastern Lalu
  • Tu
• Binchuan Lolo (?)
• Yao'an Lolo (Qiangyi) (?)

The Chuxiong Prefecture Ethnic Gazetteer (2013:364)^[6] lists the following cognacy percentages between Lolopo 罗罗濮 and other Yi languages in Chuxiong Prefecture.

• Ache 阿车: 74.86% (211/282)
• Chesu 车苏: 55% (155/282)
• Luowu 罗武: 75.89% (214/282)
• Shansu 山苏: 78.4% (221/282)
• Lipo 里濮: 93.36% (253/271)

Phonology

Consonants

• /m, n, ŋ/ before stops and fricatives are heard as syllabic sounds [m̩, ɱ̍], [n̩], and [ŋ̍].
• /l/ is also heard in free variation as a voiced lateral fricative [ɮ].

Vowels

There is distinction between tight-throat vowels and lax-throat (plain) vowels.

• Sounds /ʊ, ʊ/ are pronounced as syllabic consonants [z̩ʷ, z̩ʷ] when following alveolar sibilants, and as [v̩, v̩] when following /d/ in a low [˨] tone syllable.
• Sounds /i, i/ are heard as syllabic consonants [z̩, z̩] when following alveolar sibilants.
• Sounds /ɯ, ɯ/ are heard as central sounds [ə, ə] when following alveolar consonants.
• /æ/ is heard as open-mid [ɛ] following alveolar plosives /t, d, ts, dz/, a palatal fricative /ʝ/, and within palatalized diphthongs /ʲ/.^[7]

Tones