Population and Language Naxi

20090526

Population

The Naxi call themselves themselves of several different forms. This fact joined the reality about which they speak at least four different languages and support some other different cultures, makes to think that under the name of Naxi there are included at least 4 villages, which with a common origin, have continued a different cultural and social development during the last 500 years. Of these, which live in the city of Lijiang and the nearby regions, which are called themselves the same Naxi, would be the principal, and most studied nucleus.
The entire population Naxi belonged to approximately 280.000 persons in the year 1990. This includes the Naxi in strict sense, as well as to other already mentioned villages. The population of these can be coded about 60.000 persons, what a population Naxi would leave patrolling 220.000 persons.

Called Mosou, who live in the outskirts of Yongning and of the lake Lugu, have been studied by certain depth in the last years, and they will be presented in another place. About those who are called themselves the same Naru and Naheng, one arranges scarce information

Language

The languages Naxi belong to the branch Yi of the group tibeto-Burmese. Officially it is considered that there are two dialects, that of the West or Naxi and that of the East or Mosou, but they are completely unintelligible between them, therefore it is possible to consider them to be two different languages. The Naxi in turn has three local speech, those of Dayuedian, Lijiang and Baoshan, very similar. The Mosou also considers that it has three speech, that of Yongning, that of Beirang ba, and that of Guabie; very difficult to understand between them, that also they correspond to those that Naru and Naheng autoname Mosou or Na.

Only the Naxi have written language, the only language pictográfico still in use in the Earth, created more than 1000 years ago, it is the Dongba used by the priests, which has 1500 characters pictográficos, phoneticians and assistants. In this language there are written the Writing Dongba, of which there exist more than 20.000 copies that touch the different aspects of the history, religion, myths, medicine, sciences and other areas of the knowledge, in which the Naxi were much turned.
Also they have a syllabic writing called Geba.

There is still another writing more, so in Weixi there is used the Malimasha (distortion of "Mosou de Muli"), since the Naxi of this area came there proceeding from Muli, in the current Sichuan province. And on having seen that they did not have way of writing, they created a piece of news, which at present only approximately 2000 persons use.

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