Yi
Script details
Section titled “Script details”See all script details: code, region, status and more
| Code | Yiii |
| Script type | syllabary |
| Region | East Asian |
| Status | Current |
| Direction | vertical (RTL) and horizontal (LTR) |
| Baseline | bottom |
| Case | no |
| White space | none |
| Complex behaviors | diacritics, contextual forms |
| OpenType code | yi |
| ISO 15924 Number | 460 (syllabic) |
Script description
Section titled “Script description”The Yi script is used for writing the Tibeto-Burman languages spoken by the Yi tribes of Southwest China - Nuosu (also called Sichuan Yi or Northern Yi), Eastern Yisu (also called Shiping-Jianshui Yi), Wusa Nasu (also called Eastern Yi), Sani, and Mantsu (also called Black Lolo or Flowery Lolo).
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The Yi tribes are geographically disparate, so significant internal variation can be displayed in writing. For example, there are approximately forty forms of the character meaning stomach. However, in 1974 the script was standardized for writing the Liangshan dialect of Nuosu. Efforts are underway to standardize the script across the other Yi languages as a pure syllabary, in which each sign represents all morphemes with the same pronunciation. A distinction is sometimes made between the standardized form, called Yi, and the non-standardized form, called Classic Yi.
Chinese legislation states that standardized Yi is written horizontally, from left to right. However, the traditional form, as used in southern Sichuan, is written in vertical columns from top to bottom and right to left, then rotated 90 degrees anticlockwise for reading, so that it is read in horizontal lines from left to right.
Spoken Yi is largely monosyllabic. Yi characters are syllabic logographs, that is, each sign represents a syllable which is also a morpheme. A spoken Yi syllable is comprised of an optional consonant, a vowel, and a tone. The number of tones distinctive in speech varies from language to language, but only three are marked in writing. These are romanized as t (high tone), x (mid tone) and p (low falling tone), or else using the superscript numbers 55, 33 and 21 respectively. In the Yi script, each character has an unmarked form and three variant forms to indicate each tone. As a result, the sign inventory is large. The proposed standardized variety of the script contains 819 signs.
Yi signs are made from five basic strokes; dot, horizontal line, vertical line, arch and circle. The script does not exhibit any structural influence from either the Chinese script or the alphabetic scripts of neighbouring languages such as Tibetan, Burmese or the Tai languages. It is thought to have developed independently, although its creation has not been attributed to a particular inventor. The script has an attested history of 500 years, but some scholars believe it to have been in use for as long as 5000 years.
Languages that use this script
Section titled “Languages that use this script”| Language | Writing System Code | Writing System Status | SLDR/CLDR locale | Regional variants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lolopo, Southern | ysp-Yiii | unwritten | ysp-Yiii-CN (China) | |
| Mantsi | nty-Yiii | in use | nty-Yiii-VN (Viet Nam) | |
| Nasu, Wumeng | ywu-Yiii | in use | ywu-Yiii-CN (China) | |
| Nasu, Wusa | yig-Yiii | in use | yig-Yiii-CN (China) | |
| Nisu, Eastern | nos-Yiii | in use | nos-Yiii-CN (China) | |
| See complete list | ||||
Unicode status
Section titled “Unicode status”In The Unicode Standard, Yi script implementation is discussed in Chapter 18: East Asia
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Resources
Section titled “Resources”External links
Bibliography
- Chen Shilin (陳士林), et al. Yi yu jian zhi 彝语简志 [Yi language brief description]. Zhongguo Shaoshu Minzu Yuyan Jianzhi Congshu 中国少数民族简志丛书, Minzu Chubanshe 民族出版社, 1985.
- China State Council. “Yiwen Guifan Fang'an 彝文规范方案 [The Scheme for Standard Yi Writing]”. China State Council, 1980-08-01, https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781501511837-020/pdf.
- Dingxu Shi. “The Yi Script”. The World's Writing Systems, edited by Peter T. Daniels and William Bright, Oxford University Press, 1996, pp. 239-241.
- Eatough, Andrew. “Proceeding from syllable inventory to phonemic inventory in the analysis of Liangshan Yi”. Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, vol. 1, no. 41, 2018-09-11, https://commons.und.edu/sil-work-papers/vol41/iss1/1.
- Edmondson, Jerold A., et al. “Nuosu Yi”. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, vol. 47, no. 1, 2017-04-01, pp. 87-97, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025100315000444.
- Liangshan Zhou Yuyan Wenzi Zhidao Weiyuanhui 凉山州语言文字指导委员会 [Liangshan Prefecture Writing Systems Guidance Committee], ed. Yiwen Jian Zi Ben 彝文检字本 [Yi Character Lookup Book]. Sichuan Minzu Chubanshe 四川民族出版社, 1985.
- Li Min 李民 and Ma Ming 马明, eds. Liangshan Yiyu Yuyin Gailun 凉山彝语语音概论. Sichuan Minzu Chubanshe 四川民族出版社, 1983-03-01.
- Ma Linying, et al., eds. Nuosu Yi - Chinese - English Glossary. Nationalities Publishing House, 2007.
- Meletis, Dimitrios and Christa Dürscheid. Writing Systems and Their Use. De Gruyter Mouton, 2022, https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110757835/html#contents.
- Walters, Dennis, et al. “A preliminary study of Nuosu Yi syllable frequency in text”. SIL International, 2015-02-01, https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/61553.
- Weiyuanhui, Bianyi《Han Yi Cidian》《汉彝词典》编译委员会 [Han Yi Dictionary Editorial and Translation Committee], eds. Han Yi Cidian 汉彝词典 [Chinese Yi Dictionary]. Sichuan Minzu Chubanshe 四川民族出版社, 1989-04-01.
- Weiyuanhui, Bianzuan 《Yiyu Da Cidian》《彝语大词典》编纂委员会 [Yi Language Big Dictionary Editorial Committee], ed. nip hxop ddop zhy ap mop ꆀꉙꅇꍝꀋꃀ Yiyu Da Cidian 彝语大词典 [Yi Language Big Dictionary]. Sichuan Minzu Chubanshe 四川民族出版社, 1997-08-01.
- Zhang Yurong 张余蓉 and Zhao Hongze 赵洪泽, eds. Liangshan Yiyu yuyin yu wenzi 凉山彝语语音与文字 [Liangshan Yi Language Sounds and Symbols]. Sichuan Minzu Chubanshe 四川民族出版社, 1986-05-01.