Nasu, or Nasu proper, is a Loloish language spoken by a quarter million Yi people of China. Nasu proper and Wusa Nasu are two of six Yi languages recognized by the government of China. Unlike most written Yi languages, Nasu proper uses the Pollard script. A distinct form of the Yi script was traditionally used for Wusa, though few can still read it.
Names
According to the Guizhou Ethnic Gazetteer, Yi autonyms include Nasu 哪苏, Tusu 兔苏, Lagou 腊勾, Guo 果, and so forth. Most of Yi people of the Luquan area do not have the autonym Luoluo and Nasu means "black", hence the Black Yi, though Black Yi is an aristocratic caste distinction among the Yi People, and Black Yi Script was a Latin script for Yi introduced by missionaries.
Classification
Chen (1985)
Chen, et al. recognizes 3 major varieties of Eastern Yi that are spoken in Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, namely Dianqian 滇黔, Pan 盘县, and Diandongbei 滇东北. Autonyms include ', ', ', and '.
Dianqian 滇黔次方言: 4 dialects
*Shuixi 水西土语: spoken in Bijie, Qianxi, Dafang, Zhijin, Nayong, Qingzhen, and Zhenxiong counties
*Wusa 乌撒土语 : spoken in Weining, Shuicheng, Hezhang, Nayong, Yiliang, Huize, and Xuanwei counties
*Mangbu 芒部土语: spoken in Zhenxiong and Hezhang counties
*Wumeng 乌蒙土语 : spoken in Zhaotong and Yongshan counties
Pan 盘县次方言: spoken in Xingren, Pu'an, Qinglong, Shuicheng, Fuyuan, and Luoping counties
Diandongbei 滇东北次方言: 5 dialects
*Luquan 武禄土语: spoken in Wuding, Luquan, Yuanmou, Xundian, Lufeng, and Huize counties
*Qiaowu 巧武土语 : spoken in Qiaojia, Wuding, Luquan, Yuanmou, and Huize counties
*Wuding 武定土语: spoken in Wuding, Yongren, and Lufeng counties
*Xundian 寻甸土语: spoken in Xundian, Luquan, Huize, Songming, Luxi, Shizong, Luoping, and Mile counties
*Kun'an 昆安土语 : spoken in Anning and Lufeng counties
Huang (1993)
In his description of the Yi script Huáng Jiànmíng holds that the Nasu variety of Yi script is used by the groups speaking languages of the Nasu language cluster of Northern Yi in south-eastern Sìchuān, eastern Yúnnán, Gùizhōu, as well as in Guǎngxī. He distinguishes two sub-groups. Nasu proper used in Wuding, Luquan and the suburbs of Kunming, and Wusa used in Guizhou and the bordering areas of Eastern Yunnan.
Bradley (1997)
David Bradley distinguishes three main dialects of Nasu:
Southeastern : 150,000 speakers in southwestern Guizhou
Northeastern : 300,000 speakers, comprising most of the other Nasu speakers of Guizhou, and some in extreme northeastern Yunnan and southeastern Sichuan
*Shuixi subdialect 水西土语
*Wusa subdialect 乌撒土语
*Mangbu subdialect 芒部土语
*Wumeng subdialect 乌蒙土语
Western : 250,000 speakers all in north-central Yunnan; Black and Red subdialects
Lama (2012)
Lama determined that Nasu is more closely related to Gepo than it is to the others:
