Excerpt from change request document:

Phowa speakers are classified under the Yi nationality officially and are affiliated with the Phula ethnic group historically. Although all varieties of Phowa are closely related, a complex dialect continuum has developed within Phowa which features numerous transitional varieties--not all of which are mutually intelligible (cf. Pelkey forthcoming 2008). The three extremes of this dialect continuum feature varieties which are unintelligible to the majority of the remaining Phowa speaking population, and speakers in these three regions are also offset from each other by three corresponding embedded ethnic identities--each unique: Ani, Labo, and Hlepho. These three distinct identities are recognized by ingroup and outgroup Phowa speakers alike and find expression not only in autonyms but also in material culture as is sometimes reported in Chinese sources such as KYSZ (1996).