Lisu Language Resource

About the language

Lisu, or Yobin as it is also known in Arunachal Pradesh, is a Trans-Himalayan language of the Lolo-Burmese group (Glottocode lisu1250). In India, Lisu is primarily spoken in the Daodi (Vijaynagar) and Sidi (Gandhigram) regions of Changlang District, Arunachal Pradesh, however Yobin/Lisu speakers identify at least six villages along the Noa Dihing river in which Yobin/Lisu was traditionally spoken, namely Daodi, Achidudi, Gwamidi, Angchido, Yidudi and Sidi. Although these areas are well-known to the Lisu, many of them have been renamed with Indic names (such as Ramnagar for Achidudi and Pritnagar for Yidudi, etc.) following appropriation of these traditionally Lisu lands by the Government of India in the mid-to-late 20th century. Lisu is also spoken in what is today the Yunnan and southern Sichuan provinces of China, as well as in Shan state of Myanmar and in northern Thailand. At present, there are about 5,000 speakers of Yobin/Lisu in Arunachal Pradesh.

About the collection

This project, collected by Lisu speaker Jothisey Yobin, includes nearly seven hours of audio/video files with Yobin/Lisu transcriptions and English translations. The primary aim of this project has been to showcase the remarkable traditional craftsmanship of the Yobin/Lisu community, which reflects a deep and longstanding knowledge of, and resilience within, their traditional home in modern-day Arunachal Pradesh.

This project was funded by a FLICR Fellowship from Centre for Cultural-Linguistic Diversity (Eastern Himalaya), with support from the Firebird Foundation for Anthropological Research.