The Loloish languages, also known as Yi (like the Yi people) and occasionally Ngwi or Nisoic, are a sub-branch of 50–100 Tibeto-Burman languages spoken primarily in the Yunnan province of Southwestern 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, sub-classification is more contentious.

The 2013 edition of Ethnologue estimated a total number of 9 million native speakers of Loloish ("Ngwi") languages, the largest group being the speakers of Nuosu (Northern Yi) at 2 million speakers.

+ ISO 639-3 Language Speakers hle Hlersu 15000 jiy Buyuan Jinuo 1000 jiu Youle Jinuo 10000 lkc Kucong 46870 lhu Lahu 530350 lhi Lahu Shi 196200 ywt Xishanba Lalo 213000 yik Dongshanba Lalo 30000 yit Eastern Lalu 38000 ywl Western Lalu 38000 llh Lamu 120 yne Lang'e 2000 lwu Lawu 50 ylm Limi 29000 lpo Lipo 250000 lis Lisu 942700 ycl Lolopo 380000 ysp Southern Lolopo 190000 ymh Mili 23000 yiq Miqie 30000 nuf Nusu 12670 ysn Sani 100000 yta Talu 13600 ytl Tanglang 950 zal Zauzou 2100 yna Aluo 25000 yiu Awu 20000 yyz Ayizi 50 ych Chesu 3300 ygp Gepo 100000 kaf Katso 4000 ylo Naluo Yi 15000 ywu Wumeng Nasu 150000 yig Wusa Nasu 500000 iii Sichuan Yi 2000000 ysd Samatao 400 smh Samei 20000 ysy Sanie 8000 ywq Wuding-Luquan Yi 250000 yif Ache 35000 aub Alugu 3500 yix Axi Yi 100000 aza Azha 53000 yiz Azhe 54000 ybk Bokha 10000 ykt Kathu 5000 ykl Khlula 21000 ykn Kua-nsi 5000 yku Kuamasi 1000 lgh Laghuu 300 nty Mantsi 1100 ymi Moji 2000 ymx Northern Muji 9000 ymq Qila Muji 1500 ymc Southern Muji 26000 ymz Muzi 10000 yso Nisi (China) 36000 nos Eastern Nisu 75000 yiv Northern Nisu 160000 nsf Northwestern Nisu 24000 nsd Southern Nisu 210000 nsv Southwestern Nisu 15000 ypa Phala 12000 ypg Phola 13000 ypo Alo Phola 500 yip Pholo 30000 ypn Ani Phowa 10000 yhl Hlepho Phowa 36000 ypb Labo Phowa 17000 phh Phukha 10000 ypm Phuma 8000 ypp Phupa 3000 yph Phupha 1300 ypz Phuza 6000 ysg Sonaga 2000 ytp Thopho 200 yzk Zokhuo 13000 weu Rawngtu Chin 12400 ahk Akha 563960 bzi Bisu 240 byo Biyo 120000 ycp Chepya 2000 cnc Côông 2030 enu Enu 30000 hni Hani 758620 how Honi 140000 ktp Kaduo 185000 lwm Laomian 1600 lov Lopi not included mpz Mpi 900 ymd Muda 2000 phq Phana' 350 pho Phunoi 35600 pyy Pyen 700 sgk Sangkong 1500 slt Sila 2480 lbg Laopang 9550 ugo Ugong 80 Total 9078770

Names Loloish is the traditional name for the family in English. Some publications avoid the term under the misapprehension that Lolo is pejorative, but it is the Chinese rendition of the autonym of the Yi people and is pejorative only in writing when it is written with a particular Chinese character (one that uses a beast, rather than a human radical, "猓玀"), a practice that was prohibited by the Chinese government in the 1950s..

David Bradley uses the term Ngwi, and Lama (2012) uses Nisoic. Ethnologue has adopted 'Ngwi', but Glottolog retains 'Loloish'. Paul K. Benedict coined the term Yipho, from Chinese Yi and a common autonymic element (-po or -pho), but it never gained wide usage.

Internal classification Bradley (2007) Loloish was traditionally divided into a northern branch, with Lisu and the numerous Yi languages and a southern branch, with everything else. However, per Bradley and Thurgood there is also a central branch, with languages from both northern and southern. Bradley adds a fourth, southeastern branch.

Northern Loloish: Nuosu (2 million), Nasu (1.0 million), etc. Central Loloish: Lisu (940,000)–Lipho (250,000) (incl. Lolopo (570,000), Lalo (320,000)), Micha (50,000), Lahu (600,000), Jinuo (21,000), etc. Southern Loloish: Akha–Hani, Phunoi–Bisu, Pholo and ’Ugong (aberrant; removed in Bradley 1997) Southeastern Loloish: Nisu, Phula, Sani, Azha, Khlula, Muji, Phowa, etc.

Ugong is divergent; Bradley (1997) places it with the Burmish languages. The Tujia language is difficult to classify due to divergent vocabulary. Other unclassified Loloish languages are Gokhy (Gɔkhý), Lopi and Ache.

Lama (2012) Lama (2012) classified 36 Lolo–Burmese languages based on a computational analysis of shared phonological and lexical innovations. He finds the Mondzish languages to be a separate branch of Lolo-Burmese, which Lama considers to have split off before Burmish did. The rest of the Loloish languages are as follows:

The Nisoish, Lisoish, and Kazhuoish clusters are closely related, forming a clade ("Ni-Li-Ka") at about the same level as the other five branches of Loloish. Lama's Naxish clade has been classified as Qiangic rather than Loloish by Guillaume Jacques and Alexis Michaud (see Qiangic languages).

A Lawoish (Lawu) branch has also been recently proposed.

Satterthwaite-Phillips' (2011) computational phylogenetic analysis of the Lolo-Burmese languages does support the inclusion of Naxish (Naic) within Lolo-Burmese, but recognizes Lahoish and Nusoish as coherent language groups that form independent branches of Loloish.

Lesser-known languages

Notes

References