Ersuic languages
The Ersuic languages are a Qiangic language cluster of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Ersu languages are spoken by about 20,000 people in China as reported by Sun. Muya is reported to be related, but it is not known how it fits in.
Ersuic speakers live in the western part of China's Sichuan province. Most of them are classified by the Chinese government as members of the Tibetan ethnic group, although some also are registered as Han Chinese. Older adults mostly use Ersu, but younger people also use Chinese or Yi.
The Ersu Shaba script of the shābā religious books is a pictographic system of proto-writing. The system, in which the color of the characters has an effect on the meaning, was inspired by Chinese writing and was created in the 11th century.Languages
There are three Ersuic languages.
- Ersu 尔苏 - 13,000 speakers
- Lizu 傈苏, 里汝, 吕苏 - 4,000 speakers ; 7,000 speakers
- Tosu 多续 - 3,000 speakers ; almost none remaining
Yu's classification of Ersu languages is as follows, with defining innovations given in parentheses.
;Proto-Ersuic
- Tosu
- Ersu
- *Hanyuan 汉源
- *Zeluo 则落 / Qingshui 清水
- Lizu
- *Mianning 冕宁
- *Central
- **Naiqu 乃渠
- **Kala 卡拉
- **Kala 卡拉
Grammar
is a subject–object–verb language. It has three tones.
