Lisu language

Infobox Language
name=Lisu
nativename=
states=China, India, Burma, Thailand
speakers=723,000
familycolor=Sino-Tibetan
fam2=Sino-Tibetan
fam3=Tibeto-Burman
fam4=Lolo-Burmese
fam5=Loloish
fam6=Northern Loloish
nation=Weixi Lisu Autonomous County, Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture (PRC)
script=Fraser Alphabet (Latin Based)
iso2=sit
iso3=lis

Lisu is a Sino-Tibetan tonal language spoken in Yunnan (southwestern China), northern Burma, and Thailand and a small part of India. It is the language of the Lisu minority. Lisu has many dialects that originate from the country in which they live. : Hua Lisu, Pai Lisu, and Lu Shi Lisu dialects are spoken in China. Although they are mutually intelligible, some have many more loan words from other languages than others.

The Lisu language is closely related to the Lahu and Akha languages and is also related to Burmese, Kachin, and Yi languages.

Orthography

Around 1915, James O. Fraser, a Christian missionary with the China Inland Mission, developed a Lisu alphabet. Many Lisu Christians have since 1915 used this script so that they could read the Bible in their own language. A new alphabet based on pinyin was created for them in 1957, but most Lisu still used the old alphabet. The Fraser alphabet was officially recognized by the Chinese government in 1992, since which time its use has been encouraged.

Phonology

Vowels

Consonants

External links

* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=lis Ethnologue Entry for Lisu Language]
* [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/fraser.htm Fraser Alphabet at Omniglot]
* [http://www.proel.org/mundo/lisu.htm Lengua Lisu]
* [http://faculty.washington.edu/zhandel/Handel_Lisu.pdf 1 Proto-Lolo-Burmese velar clusters and the origin of Lisu palatal ...]