Notes About the Lisu Language and Its Usage

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Notes About the Lisu Language and Its Usage The Lisu people living in China, Thailand, Myanmar, or India speak various dialects of the Lisu language, which is part of the Tibeto-Burman language family. While the Lisu language has some structural similarities to Chinese, particularly in terms of tones and particles, it is its own distinctive language unique to the Lisu people. The basic unit of the Lisu language is the syllable. Each syllable starts with one of many consonant sounds (thirty) and ends with one of fewer vowel sounds (ten). No syllable ends with a consonant. The Fraser Script, the written orthography for the Lisu language used in the translation of the Bible and the hymnbook, uses the syllable as its central organizing feature; it ties each syllable up neatly into its own morpheme bundle. Because of this precise match between the written script and its oral forms, it is easy for most Lisu to learn to read once they are exposed to the Fraser Script. In the Fraser Script, which is used across all the borders that divide the Lisu people into various countries, all forty letters are written as upper case Roman letters, fifteen of which are inverted. As more syllables end in an “-ah” sound than any other, this sound is omitted altogether in the written form. For example, ꓐ is pronounced “bah,” ꓐ. ꓐꓽ ꓪꓴ‐ꓢ is pronounced “bah bah voo sah” and means Father God, the name by which the Lisu most commonly address God. The Lisu language is tonally complex with six tones, annotated by various punctuation marks, and another eight tone combinations. In prac- ticality, tone marks, even in the Bible and the hymnbook, are often not used unless necessary to distinguish meaning. In the Nujiang Valley, the Lisu use birth-order names. The oldest daughter in a family is called A-na (ꓮ-ꓠꓸꓹ), and the second oldest A-ni (ꓮ-ꓠꓬ ꓲ). The oldest son is called A-phu ꓮꓸ( ꓒꓴ), and the second oldest A-deh (ꓮ-ꓓꓶ.). There are unique terms all the way to the ninth daughter and the ninth son. In the Lisu Christian tradition, Bible teachers and pastors are given a Bible name in addition to their Lisu birth order name. Ma-pa (ꓟꓸ ꓒꓽ) means male teacher in the Lisu language. Ma-ma (ꓟꓸ ꓟꓸ) means female teacher. These appellations are often attached to their Bible names. Now that most Lisu attend Chinese schooling, by school age they are assigned Notes About the Lisu Language and Its Usage a Chinese name as well. Thus, a Lisu Christian might go by three different names: their birth-order name, their Bible name, and their Chinese name. xx In this account, I refer to the Lisu by their birth-order names or, if they are a teacher or pastor, by their Bible name. In all cases, unless they are public figures such as Ma-pa Jesse, these are pseudonyms..

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