Last week’s blog began a discussion on the Yi language, but this week I think you should hear it. Visit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXGHXZ0ZX_M


Picture from YouTube video

In the video, Aku Wuwu reads the poem “Calling Back the Soul of Zhyge Alu” in the Nuosu (Northern) dialect (translated by Mark Bender of OSU, who is not the speaker in the video). He is wearing a traditional wool cape worn by the Yi people in Sichuan.

The poem, when read by Aku Wuwu in the Yi dialect, is so passionate, and although I don’t understand the words, I can sense the emotion from the sound. It would be hard to interpret this poem as a poem of wonder or that it has a sense of peace. Rather, it is a poem of longing and passion.

—Tanna

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