Proto-Loloish language

Proto-Loloish is the reconstructed ancestor of the Loloish languages. Reconstructions include those of David Bradley (1979), James Matisoff (2003), and Ziwo Lama (2012).

Proto-Loloish
Reconstruction of	Loloish languages
Reconstructed ancestor	Proto-Tibeto-Burman

In later publications, in place of Loloish, David Bradley instead uses the term Ngwi based on a conservative autonym in the Sanie language.^[1]

Bradley (1979)

Matisoff (2003)

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
Stops	Voiceless	p		t		ts		tɕ		k		ʔ
	Voiceless aspirated	pʰ		tʰ		tsʰ		tɕʰ		kʰ		h
	Voiced	b		d		dz		dʑ		ɡ
	Prenasalized	mb		nd		ndz		ndʑ		ŋɡ
Fricatives	Voiceless					s				x
	Voiced					z		ʑ		ɣ
Nasals	Voiced	m		n				ɲ		ŋ
Liquids and Semivowels	Voiced	-w-		l		r		-j-

• Vowels (8): /i/, /y/, /ɯ/, /u/, /e/, /o/, /ɔ/, /a/
• Tones (5): 1, 2, 3 (unchecked tones), H, L (checked tones)