ꆈꌠꉙ

Yi

Sino-Tibetan (Loloish)

FamilySino-Tibetan (Loloish) Speakers~2M ScriptYi syllabary CountriesChina Official inLiangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture Vitalitysafe ISO 639-3iii

Nuosu (Northern Yi, ꆈꌠꉙ) is the largest Yi/Loloish Sino-Tibetan language, spoken by the Yi people of the Liangshan mountains in southwestern Sichuan. It uses a unique syllabary, the modern Yi script of 1,165 characters standardized in 1975 from the older logographic Yi tradition. Nuosu features four contrastive tones, no codas, and a clan-based register tradition; it is the medium of bilingual education across Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture.

Where it is spoken

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87 core words in Yi

Water

ꒉ

ʑɿ˧˧

Fire

ꃆꄔ

mu˨˩tu˥

Sun

ꉘꁮ

ho˧˧bu˧˧

Moon

ꆪ

ɬɯ˨˩

Star

ꃅꏸ

mu˧˧tɕɿ˧˧

Night

ꃅꌋ

mu˧˧si˧˧

Rain

ꂷꉐ

ma˧˧ha˧˧

Snow

ꃰ

vo˧˧

Wind

ꃅꆳ

mu˧˧ɬɿ˧˧

Earth

ꊖ

tsa˧˧

Stone

ꇓ

lu˧˧

Mountain

ꁧ

bo˧˧

Mother

ꀉꂿ

a˧˦mo˧˧

Father

ꀉꄉ

a˧˦ta˧˧

Daughter

ꀋꃋ

a˨˩mɿ˧˧

I

ꉢ

ŋa˧˧

You

ꆏ

nɯ˧˧

We

ꉪꊇ

ŋo˨˩ɣo˧˦

Name

ꂓ

m̥i˧˧

Person

ꊿ

tsʰo˧˧

Head

ꀂꏾ

i˧˧tɕʰi˧˧

Eye

ꑓ

ɲɔ˧˧

Ear

ꅻ

n̥ɯ˨˩

Nose

ꅲ

n̥a˧˧

Mouth

ꈂꀸ

kʰa˨˩pʰi˥

Tooth

ꎐꂷ

dʐɿ˧˧ma˧˧

Tongue

ꉐꆂ

ha˧˧nɛ˧˧

Hand

ꇇ

lo˥

Foot

ꏸꑭ

tɕɿ˧˧ɕɿ˧˧

Heart

ꉌꂵ

hɛ˧˧ma˥

Bone

ꃷꅍ

vu˨˩du˧˧

Blood

ꌦ

sɿ˧˧

Love

ꉂ

ŋɡu˧˧

Tree

ꌩꁧ

sɿ˧˧bo˧˧

Dog

ꈌ

kʰɯ˧˧

Cat

ꀉꑐ

a˧˦ɲɛ˧˧

Fish

ꉛ

hɯ˧˧

Egg

ꏿ

tɕʰi˨˩

Bear

ꊈ

ɣo˧˧

Horse

ꃅ

mu˧˧

House

ꑳ

ʑi˧˧

Honey

ꐚꒉ

dʑi˧˧ʑɿ˧˧

Salt

ꋂ

tsʰɯ˧˧

Rice

ꍯ

tʂʰɯ˧˧

Silk

ꁮꑟ

bu˧˧ɕi˧˧

Book

ꄯꒉ

tʰɯ˨˩ʑɿ˧˧

Eat

ꋠ

dzɯ˧˧

Drink

ꅝ

ndo˧˧

Sleep

ꀀ

i˥

One

ꋍ

tsʰɿ˨˩

Two

ꑍ

ɲi˨˩

Three

ꌕ

sɔ˧˧

Four

ꇖ

lɿ˧˧

Five

ꉬ

ŋɯ˧˧

Hundred

ꉐ

ha˧˧

Hello

ꂿꎆꈐ

mo˧˧su˧˧kɤ˧˧

Thank you

ꈀꎭꀕ

kʰa˧˦ʂa˧˧ʂa˧˧

Good

ꉾ

xɯ˧˧

New

ꀊꏀ

a˧˧ʂɿ˥

Red

ꀊꅪ

a˧˧n̥i˧˧

White

ꀊꐎ

a˧˧tɕʰu˧˧

Black

ꀉꆈ

a˧˦nɔ˧˧

Green

ꀈꆧ

a˥ɬo˨˩

Blue

ꀊꃴ

a˧˧vu˥

Tea

ꆿꒉ

la˥˥ʑɿ˧˧

Ninety-nine

ꈬꊰꈬ

ɡu˧˧ tsʰi˧˧ ɡu˧˧

Sources

Words compared

Compared with languages in the same classification: Sino-Tibetan (Loloish)

Meaning YiJinoHaniAzheSouthern QiangNusuWenzhou Wu
Water ꒉ /ʑɿ˧˧/ ji31tʃho55 /ji˧˩tʃʰo˥˥/ wulquvq /u˥˥tɕʰu˧˩/ ʐitɕɪ /ʐi˨˨tɕɪ˧˧/ tsuə /tsuə˧˧/ ɹi31gɹɑ53 /ɹi˧˩ɡɹɑ˥˧/ 水 /sɿ˧˥/
Fire ꃆꄔ /mu˨˩tu˥/ mi33 /mi˧˧/ miqzaq /mi˧˩dza˧˩/ mɯtɯ /mɯ˥˥tɯ˥˥/ mi /mi˧˧/ mi55 /mi˥˥/ 火 /fu˧˥/
Sun ꉘꁮ /ho˧˧bu˧˧/ ȵɔ35 /ɲɔ˧˥/ naolma /nɔ˥˥ma˧˧/ lodʐi /lo˨˩dʐi˨˨/ masɿ /ma˧˧sɿ˥˥/ ȵi35ɑ55 /ɲi˧˥ɑ˥˥/ 日头 /ȵi˨˩˧ dɤu˧˩/
Moon ꆪ /ɬɯ˨˩/ pu33ɬa44 /pu˧˧ɬa˦˦/ bala /ba˧˧la˧˧/ lobo /lo˨˨bo˨˨/ ɕyɕya /ɕy˧˧ɕya˥˥/ ɬɑ31 /ɬɑ˧˩/ 月光 /ȵy˨˩˧ kuɔ˧˧/
Star ꃅꏸ /mu˧˧tɕɿ˧˧/ pu33ke33 /pu˧˧ke˧˧/ aqgeel /a˧˩ɡɯ˥˥/ kɛzo /kɛ˧˧zo˨˩/ χdʐepe /χdʐe˧˧pe˥˥/ kɹe31lɔ35 /kɹe˧˩lɔ˧˥/ 星 /seŋ˧˧/
Night ꃅꌋ /mu˧˧si˧˧/ mi33tɕhø33 /mi˧˧tɕʰø˧˧/ aoqqivq /ɔ˧˩tɕi˧˩/ kumo /kʰu˧˧mo˧˧/ mudʑo /mu˧˧dʑo˨˦˩/ suɑʴ35nɑ35 /suɑ˞˧˥nɑ˧˥/ 夜里 /ɦi˨˨ lei˧˦/
Rain ꂷꉐ /ma˧˧ha˧˧/ mi31tha55 /mi˧˩tʰa˥˥/ aoqsseil /ɔ˧˩ze˥˥/ muxoʐi /mu˨˩xo˨˨ʐi˨˨/ maʐi /ma˧˩ʐi˥˥/ mɯ55ɑ31ɹuɑ55 /mɯ˥˥ɑ˧˩ɹuɑ˥˥/ 雨 /vu˧˦/
Snow ꃰ /vo˧˧/ njɛ33ji44 /ɲɛ˧˧ji˦˦/ haqju /xa˧˩dʑu˧˧/ ɣo /ɣo˨˩/ məpɑ /mə˧˩pɑ˥˥/ vɑ55 /vɑ˥˥/ 雪 /ɕy˧˩˧/
Page 1/9

Word order compared

Compare with major world languages

Yi
ꉢ ꁧ ꃅꑵ ꉌꈲ ꀕꈁ ꁱꇩ ꄅꃀ ꀋꑵ ꄉꑸ
I want to try on a suit I saw ‌in a shop across from the hotel
Ich möchte einen Anzug anprobieren den ich in einem Geschäft gegenüber vom Hotel gesehen habe
मैं होटल के सामने एक दुकान में देखा सूट को पहनकर देखना चाहता हूँ
私は ホテルの 向かいの お店 で 見た スーツを 試着 したいです
我 想 试穿 酒店 对面的 商店 里 看到的 那套西装
أنا أريد أن أجرب بدلة رأيتها في محل مقابل الفندق
Я хочу примерить костюм который я увидел в магазине напротив отеля

Compare with languages in the same classification

Yi
ꉢ ꁧ ꃅꑵ ꉌꈲ ꀕꈁ ꁱꇩ ꄅꃀ ꀋꑵ ꄉꑸ
ကျွန်တော် ဟိုတယ် ရှေ့က ဆိုင်မှာ တွေ့ခဲ့တဲ့ ဝတ်စုံကို ဝတ်ကြည့် ချင်ပါတယ်
ངས མགྲོན་ཁང གི་ཕ་རོལ་གྱི ཚོང་ཁང་ནང མཐོང་པའི གོས གྱོན་ལྟ་བྱེད འདོད

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