Lisu (Fraser)

Lisu is a member of the Tibeto-Burman language family, and is spoken in parts of China, Burma, Thailand and Laos. It is written in the Fraser alphabet, which was developed by James Fraser, a Scottish missionary, in the 19th century. The Fraser alphabet is an alphabet of 28 letters, which are all based on the Latin alphabet. However, some of the letters are modified to better represent the sounds of the Lisu language. For example, the letter ‘e’ is written as a backwards ‘3’, to represent the sound of the letter ‘e’ in Lisu. Lisu is a tonal language, which means that the meaning of a word can change depending on the tone that is used when pronouncing it. There are four tones in Lisu: high, rising, falling and low. To write Lisu in the Fraser alphabet, each Lisu word is written phonetically, meaning that each letter represents one sound. There are no Lisu words that start with a consonant cluster, so each word always starts with a vowel. Lisu is a very concise language, and as such, there is often more than one way to say the same thing. This can make Lisu quite challenging to learn, but also very rewarding. If you’re interested in learning Lisu, or in writing script, the Fraser alphabet is a great place to start. With a little practice, you’ll be able to write Lisu like a pro!