Proto-Loloish is the reconstructed ancestor of the Loloish languages. Reconstructions include those of David Bradley (1979), James Matisoff (2003), and Ziwo Lama (2012).
In later publications, in place of Loloish, David Bradley instead uses the term Ngwi based on a conservative autonym in the Sanie language.Bradley, David. 2005. "Sanie and language loss in China".International Journal of the Sociology of Language. Volume 2005, Issue 173, Pp. 159–176.
Li (2011) Li Yongsui (2011) reconstructs Proto-Lolo-Burmese (Proto-Mian-Yi 缅彝) based on 30 languages.
Lama (2012) Lama (2012) reconstructs 37 consonants for Proto-Loloish (which he calls Proto-Nisoic), 7 of which (marked in green) can occur as syllable finals. The glides /w/ and /j/ occur medially.
+ Proto-Nisoic consonants (Lama 2012) Labial Dental Alveolar Alveolo-palatal Velar Glottal StopsVoiceless p t ts k ʔVoiceless aspirated pʰ tʰ tsʰ kʰ hVoiced b d dz ɡPrenasalized mb nd ndz ndʑ ŋɡ FricativesVoiceless s xVoiced z ʑ ɣ NasalsVoiced m n ɲ ŋ Liquidsand SemivowelsVoiced -w- l r -j-
Vowels (8): Tones (5): 1, 2, 3 (unchecked tones), H, L (checked tones)
References and notes
Bradley, David. 1979. Proto-Loloish. London: Curzon Press. . Lama, Ziwo Qiu-Fuyuan. 2012. Subgrouping Of Nisoic (Yi) Languages: A Study From The Perspectives Of Shared Innovation And Phylogenetic Estimation . Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas at Arlington. Li Yongsui [李永燧]. 2011. Burmo-Yi Phonology [缅彝语音韵学]. Beijing: China Social Sciences Academy Press. Matisoff, James. 2003. Handbook of Proto-Tibeto-Burman: System and Philosophy of Sino-Tibetan Reconstruction. University of California publications in linguistics, v. 135. Berkeley: University of California Press. .
See also Proto-Tibeto-Burman language Lolo-Burmese languages Loloish languages