View source for Ersuic languages

{{Short description|Qiangic language cluster of China}}
{{Infobox language family
| name          = Ersuic
| speakers      = 20,000
| date          = 1982<!--Ethnologue's figures from 2002 are republished from 1983-->
| ref           = e25
| familycolor   = Sino-Tibetan
| fam2          = [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman]]
| fam3          = [[Qiangic languages|Qiangic]]
| iso3          = ers
| glotto        = ersu1242
| glottorefname = Ersuic
| region        = [[China]]
| child1        = [[Ersu language|Ersu]]
| child2        = [[Lizu language|Lizu]]
| child3        = [[Tosu language|Tosu]]
| map           = Ersuic map.jpg
}}

The '''Ersuic languages''' ({{zh|尔苏}}, ''Ersu''; also called '''Duoxu''' or '''Erhsu''') are a [[Qiangic languages|Qiangic]] language cluster of the [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan language family]]. Ersu languages are spoken by about 20,000 people in [[China]] as reported by 
{{harvcoltxt|Sun|1982}}.<ref name="ersuyu">{{Cite web |title=Ěrsūyǔ |script-title=zh:尔苏语 |trans-title=Ersu Language |url=http://www.ethnic-languages.org.cn/ersuyu.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426072145/http://www.ethnic-languages.org.cn/ersuyu.htm |archive-date=2012-04-26 |website=Zhōngguó mínzú yǔyán yánjiū wǎng |language=zh |script-website=zh:中国民族语言研究网}}</ref> [[Muya language|Muya]] (alternatively Menia or Menya) 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 (several counties within the [[Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture]], [[Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture]], and the [[prefecture-level city]] of [[Ya'an]]).<ref name=ersuyu/> Most of them are [[List of ethnic groups in China|classified by the Chinese government]] as members of the [[Tibetan people|Tibetan ethnic group]],<ref name=e25/><ref name=ersuyu/> although some also are registered as [[Han Chinese]].<ref name=e25/> Older adults mostly use Ersu, but younger people also use [[Chinese language|Chinese]] or [[Yi language|Yi]].

The [[Ersu Shaba script]] of the ''shābā'' religious books is a [[pictograph]]ic 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.{{sfnp|Yu|2012}}

*[[Ersu language|Ersu]] 尔苏 (Eastern Ersu) – 13,000 speakers{{sfnp|Sun|1982}}
*[[Lizu language|Lizu]] 傈苏, 里汝, 吕苏 (Western Ersu) – 4,000 speakers;{{sfnp|Sun|1982}} 7,000 speakers{{sfnp|Chirkova|2008}}
*[[Tosu language|Tosu]] 多续 (Central Ersu) – 3,000 speakers;{{sfnp|Sun|1982}} almost none remaining{{sfnp|Chirkova|2008}}

{{harvcoltxt|Yu|2012}} classifies Ersu languages as follows, with defining innovations given in parentheses.

;Proto-Ersuic
*[[Tosu language|Tosu]]
*[[Ersu language|Ersu]] (''ja''- adjective prefix)
**Hanyuan 汉源
**Zeluo 则落 / Qingshui 清水 (*ui- > ri-, *tɕ- > ts-, etc.)
*[[Lizu language|Lizu]] (*j- > ɲ-, *Ke > Kɯ, *riu > ri)
**Mianning 冕宁 (alveopalatal split)
**Central (*st- > k-, *HC- > C-)
***Naiqu 乃渠
***Kala 卡拉 (from {{harvcoltxt|Chirkova|2008}})
***Kala 卡拉 (from {{harvcoltxt|Huang|Renzeng|1991}})

==Grammar==
[[Ersu language|Ersu]] is a [[subject–object–verb]] language. It has three tones.

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
*{{Cite JIPA|author=Chirkova, Katia and Wang, Dehe and Chen, Yiya and Amelot, Angélique and Kocjančič Antolík, Tanja|title=Ersu|volume=45|issue=2|pages=187&ndash;211|doi=10.1017/S0025100314000437|printdate=2015-08|soundfiles=yes}}
{{refend}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Works cited==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Citation |last=Chirkova |first=Katia |title=Essential Characteristics of Lizu, a Qiangic Language of Western Sichuan |date=2008 |publisher=Workshop on Tibeto-Burman Languages of Sichuan, November 21–24, 2008 |mode=cs1}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Huang |first1=Bufan 黄布凡 |title=Zàng-Miǎnyǔ shíwǔ zhǒng |last2=Renzeng |first2=Wangmu 仁增旺姆 |date=1991 |publisher=Yanshan chubanshe |editor-last=Dai |editor-first=Qingxia 戴庆厦 |location=Beijing |pages=132–152 |language=zh |script-title=zh:藏缅语十五种 |trans-title=Fifteen Tibeto-Burman Languages |chapter=Lǚsūyǔ |script-chapter=zh:吕苏语 |trans-chapter=The Lǚsū Language |display-editors=etal}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Sun |first=Hongkai 孙宏开 |date=1982 |title=Ěrsū (Duōxù) Huà jiǎnjiè |script-title=zh:尔苏（多续）话简介 |trans-title=A Brief Introduction to Ersu (Doshu) |journal=Yǔyán yánjiù |language=zh |volume=3 |pages=241–264 |script-journal=zh:语言研究}}
* {{Cite thesis |last=Yu |first=Dominic |title=Proto-Ersuic |date=2012 |degree=Ph.D. |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |url=https://linguistics.berkeley.edu/~dom/proto-ersuic.pdf}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* ELAR archive of [http://elar.soas.ac.uk/deposit/0316 Ersu language documentation materials]
* [[Wiktionary:Appendix:List of Proto-Ersuic reconstructions|List of Proto-Ersuic reconstructions]] (Wiktionary)

{{Sino-Tibetan languages}}
{{Na-Qiangic languages}}

[[Category:Qiangic languages]]
[[Category:Endangered Sino-Tibetan languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Sichuan]]