Author Description

Lisu is one of the most important and viable Loloish languages, with nearly a million speakers, but until recently comparative Loloish studies have been hampered by the lack of a comprehensive dictionary of the language. David Bradley, who has already done much to clarify the interrelationships among the Lolo-Burmese languages as a whole, has been working to fill this lexicographical lacuna for more than a decade. In 1994, he published a concise 257-page dictionary of Northern Lisu. The present work treats the Southern dialect. The front matter includes an informative introduction about the Lisu people and their dialectal subdivisions, and a brief sketch of Lisu syntax. The body of the 346-page Southern Lisu Dictionary is carefully arranged, with clear glosses for both the lemmata and the subentries, providing intriguing glimpses into Lisu culture.