Nasu | |
---|---|
Eastern Yi | |
Native to | China |
Ethnicity | Nasu (Yi) |
Native speakers | 1.0 million (2007)[1] |
Pollard script, Yi script | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Variously:ywq – Nasu (Wulu)ygp – Gepo (Köpu)yig – Wusa Nasuywu – Wumeng Nasu |
Glottolog | wudi1238 Wuding-Luquan Yi = Wulugepo1234 Geponesu1235 Nesu = Wusa–Wumeng |
Nasu (Naisu, Eastern Yi), or Nasu proper, is a Loloish language spoken by a quarter million Yi people of China. Nasu proper and Wusa Nasu are two of six Yi languages recognized by the government of China. Unlike most written Yi languages, Nasu proper uses the Pollard (Miao) script. A distinct form of the Yi script was traditionally used for Wusa, though few can still read it.
According to the Guizhou Ethnic Gazetteer (2002),[2] Yi autonyms include Nasu 哪苏,[3] Tusu 兔苏,[4] Lagou 腊勾,[5] Guo 果,[6] and so forth.
Most of Yi people of the Luquan area do not have the autonym Luoluo and Nasu (transliterated into Chinese as 纳苏) means "black", hence the Black Yi (黑彝 Hei Yi),[7] though Black Yi is an aristocratic caste distinction among the Yi People, and Black Yi Script (Heiyiwen) was a Latin script for Yi introduced by missionaries.[8]
Chen, et al. (1985:108) recognizes 3 major varieties of Eastern Yi (i.e., Nasu) that are spoken in Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, namely Dianqian 滇黔 (Yunnan-Guizhou), Pan 盘县 (Pan County of Guizhou), and Diandongbei 滇东北 (Northeastern Yunnan).[9] Autonyms include no55su55 (alternatively nɤ55su13), na33su33 pʰo55 (including na33so33 pʰo55, nɤ55su33 pʰu55, and ni55su33 pʰu55), nɒ55 pʰo55, and ko33 pʰo55.
In his description of the Yi script (not the spoken language), Huáng Jiànmíng (1993) holds that the Nasu variety of the Yi script is used by the groups speaking languages of the Nasu language cluster of Northern Yi in south-eastern Sìchuān, eastern Yúnnán, Gùizhōu, as well as in Guǎngxī.[10] He distinguishes two sub-groups. Nasu proper used in Wuding, Luquan, and the suburbs of Kunming, and Wusa used in Guizhou and the bordering areas of Eastern Yunnan.
David Bradley (1997) distinguishes three main dialects of Nasu:
Lama (2012) determined that Nasu (Western) is more closely related to Gepo than it is to the others:
Main article: Northern Loloish languages § Chen (2010) |
Labial | Alveolar | (Alveolo-) palatal |
Retroflex | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ȵ | ɳ | ŋ | ||
Stop | voiceless | p | t | ʈ | k | ||
aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | ʈʰ | kʰ | |||
voiced | b | d | ɖ | ɡ | |||
prenasal/asp. | ᵐbʱ | ⁿdʱ | ᶯɖʱ | ᵑɡʱ | |||
Affricate | voiceless | t͡s | t͡ɕ | t͡ʂ | |||
aspirated | t͡sʰ | t͡ɕʰ | t͡ʂʰ | ||||
voiced | d͡z | d͡ʑ | d͡ʐ | ||||
prenasal/asp. | ⁿd͡zʱ | ⁿd͡ʑʱ | ᶯd͡ʐʱ | ||||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ɕ | ʂ | x | h |
voiced | v | z | ʑ | ʐ | ɣ | ||
lateral | ɬ | ||||||
Lateral | l |
Front | Central | Back | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
unrd. | rnd. | |||
Close | i, i̠ | ɯ | u | |
Mid | e, e̠ | ə˞, ə˞̠ | ɤ, ɤ̠ | o, o̠, õ |
Open-mid | ɔ | |||
Open | a, a̠ |
3 tones occur as follows:
Name | Pitch | Symbol |
---|---|---|
High | 55 | ˦ |
Mid | 33 | ˧ |
Low (falling) | 21 | ˨˩ |