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Ethnologue > Web version > Country index > Asia > China > Nisu, Eastern

Nisu, Eastern

A language of China

ISO 639-3: nos

Population	75,000 (2004), decreasing.
Region	Yunnan, Jianshui, Tonghai, Gejiu, Kaiyuan, Mengzi, Pingbian, Hekou counties.
Language map	Southwestern China
Alternate names	Nisu, Shiping-Jianshui Nisu, Shiping-Jianshui Yi
Classification	Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Burmic, Ngwi, Northern
Language use	Language is active in areas with high concentrations of Nisu. However, there is increasing borrowing of lexical items from Chinese. Code switching between Nisu and Chinese is common. Many working age males and females spend at least part of the year working in the towns or cities that are predominantly inhabited by Chinese. Mainly adults. Neutral attitude. Also use Chinese [cmn] or Northern Nisu [yiv].
Language development	There is a traditional orthography for Nisu, related to but distinct from the traditional orthographies used by some other Yi languages. Few people nowadays can read this orthography.
Writing system	Yi script.
Comments	Classified as Yi nationality. Agriculturalists; some animal husbandry. Polytheist, traditional religion.

Entries from the SIL Bibliography about this language:

Academic Publications

BAI Bibo; CHAN, Ken; YANG Liujin, authors. 2006. Language use and language attitudes among rural Nisu.

BAI Bibo; CHAN, Ken; YANG Liujin, authors. 2008. "Language use and language attitudes among rural Nisu."  

FINE, Cathryn, author. 2009. "Nisu dialect geography."