Pholo (autonym: ') is an unclassified

Loloish language The Loloish languages, also known as Yi (like the Yi people) and occasionally Ngwi or Nisoic, are a family of 50–100 Tibeto-Burman languages spoken primarily in the Yunnan province of Southwestern China. They are most closely related to Bur ...

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Although culturally associated with the Phula languages, does not consider it to be linguistically related to the Phula languages. Pholo speakers are also referred to as Black Phula and Flowery Phula.

Classification

specifically excludes Pholo, noting that it does not share the defining features of Southeastern Loloish. However, classifies Pholo as a Southeastern Loloish language, and considers it to be most closely related to Zokhuo

Distribution

Pholo speakers are most densely concentrated in: *Aji Township, Yanshan County *eastern Tianxing Township, Qiubei County Other Pholo speakers are found in: *eastern Yanshan County *Pingzhai Township, Qiubei County *western

Guangnan County Guangnan County (; Zhuang languages, Zhuang: ) is located in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China. The seat of Guangnan, known today as Liancheng (), was the heart of the Gouding Kingdom () that lasted approximat ...

*Xinzhai Township, Malipo County

Vocabulary

The following Pholo lexical items along with their Proto-Ngwi (Proto-Loloish) reconstructed proto-forms are from . Most, but not all, of the Pholo words above do not share the following innovations that define Southeastern Ngwi. # Proto-Ngwi * and * > Proto-Southeastern Ngwi * (modern reflexes: tɬ, kɬ, k, t, ɬ, etc.) # Proto-Ngwi * and * > Proto-Southeastern Ngwi * (modern reflexes: tɬʰ, kɬʰ, kʰ, tʰ, ɬ, etc.) # Proto-Ngwi * and * > Proto-Southeastern Ngwi * (modern reflexes: dɮ, ɡɮ, ɡ, d, etc.) # Proto-Ngwi * and * > Proto-Southeastern Ngwi * (modern reflexes: ndɮ, ŋɡɮ, nd, etc.) Other Pholo words from : * (neck) * (pus) * (full) * (long) * (name) * (cooked) More Pholo words are documented in , part of which are quoted in .

Notes

References

* * * (Handwritten Mimeograph). {{Lolo-Burmese languages Loloish languages