Unique Lisu Language and Culture

Influenced by different geographical regions, different nationalities have their own languages and characters. China has 56 nationalities and more than 80 languages. As one of the ethnic minorities, Lisu people also have their own language and culture. So, how much do you know about the language and culture of the Lisu people? Next, come with me to learn about the cultural knowledge of the Lisu people!

Lisu people are descendants of Li Qiangren, a branch of Tibetan-Burmese language family. Lisu people also have their own spoken and written languages, and Lisu language belongs to Yi branch of Tibeto-Burman language family of Sino-Tibetan language family. Lisu language is widely used in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture. Lisu people live in scattered areas, so the language is also divided into several dialect areas.

Lisu people have used three languages successively. One is the phonetic symbol created by western missionaries with Latin capital letters and their variants in the early 20th century, which is called "Lao Lisu Wen" and is mainly used by Christians in Nujiang, Baoshan, Dehong and Gengma. The second is the syllabic writing created by Wang Renbo, a Lisu farmer in Weixi. Each character represents a syllable, exceeding 65,438+0,000 characters. This script is mainly used in some areas of Weixi.

Third, experts from China Academy of Sciences created new characters with Latin alphabet 1957 on the basis of many language surveys after the founding of New China. Known as the "new Lisu language", it has been popularized in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province, and textbooks and popular reading materials have been translated and published. Before 1990, the old and new Lisu people were used in parallel, and now the old Lisu people are mainly used to read. Yunnan People's Broadcasting Station1launched a program in Lisu nationality on October 25th, 1957. 65438-0977 The Department of Ethnic Languages and Literature of Yunnan University for Nationalities offered the Lisu language major, and now it has trained undergraduate and master students of Lisu language and literature.