Paite language

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Paite
Paite
Native to India, Myanmar
Region Manipur, Mizoram, Assam, Chin State
EthnicityPaite/ Paite te
Native speakers
1,00,000+ [1] [2]
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3 pck
Glottolog pait1244
ELP Paite Chin

Paite is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Paite people. There are different Paite dialects; some notable Paite dialects are Bukpi, Lousau, Valpau, Dapzal, Tuichiap, Sukte, Dim, Lamzang and Sihzang. The language exhibits mutual intelligibility with the other languages of the region including Thadou, Hmar, Vaiphei, Simte, Kom, Gangte and other languages. [3] The name Paite could translate to 'the people who went', 'a group of people marching'. Paite refers to a group of people who enter today Manipur and Mizoram (india) crossing the run river(a rive separating the two countries of India and Burma) during the pre colonial era, so the word Paite itself means "those who went out".... It is fairly necessary to note that there are amongst those group of people who do not leave today Burma and still settle there. They cannot be called Paite since they do not leave or set out, So to put an umbrella term on all the ethnic groups between two international countries the word "Zomi" is unifiedly used. They are a part of the Chin/Kuki/Mizo/Zomi (CHIKIMZO) [4]

Contents

The Paites in India have Shape and influence many langauge and words used in Mizo/Duhlian/lusei langauge(Official language of Mizoram state) this is because the Mizo royal clan namely the Sailo clan are their decent. So the Sailo clan being Paite decent which through them shape the Mizo society to what it is today in culture, music, weaving patters, words similarity in languages and religion, superstition etc.all this during the Sailo reigning period. Another credit goes to major tribes like the Hmar, lai, lusei...etc..

Sample text

The following is a sample text in Paite of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Paite pauEnglish
Mi tengteng zalen a piang ihi ua, zah-omna leh dikna tanvou ah kibangvek ihi. Sia leh pha theihna pilna nei a siam I hih ziak un I mihinpihte tungah unauna lungsim feltak I put ngai ahi.All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience. Therefore, they should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. [5]

There are two major dialects of Paite spoken in Manipur: Lamjang and Dapjal; and 4 minor dialects which are Songtal, Bukpi, Lousau & Kangkap. [6]

Education and Academic

Paite language can now be taken up as one of the MIL subjects offered in the Three-Year Degree course in Manipur University. The Academic Council of the university in its meeting held on April 22, 2004 gave its approval for the inclusion of Paite as one of the MIL subjects after considering recommendation by the Board of Studies of the School of Humanities, and also in recognition of the richness of the language and its literature including creative writing. [7] [ better source needed ][ verification needed ]

Related Research Articles

Hmar people are a scheduled tribe ethnic group from the states of Manipur, Mizoram, Assam, and Meghalaya in Northeast India. They use the Hmar language as their primary language.

The Hmar language belongs to the Mizo language branch of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. The speakers of this language use Mizo language as their second language (L2).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mizo people</span> Ethnic group native to northeastern India

The Mizo people, historically recorded as the Lushais, are an ethnic group native to the state of Mizoram in India and neighbouring states of Northeast India. They speak the Tibeto-Burman language of Mizo, the official language and lingua franca of Mizoram. The state is the second most literate state in India, at more than a rate of 90%.

The Paite people are an ethnic group in Northeast India, mainly living in Manipur and Mizoram. The Paites are recognized as a scheduled tribe in these two states. They are part of the Kuki-Zo people, but prefer to use the Zomi identity. "Guite" is a major clan of the Paite people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Mizoram</span>

The history of Mizoram encompasses the history of Mizoram which lies in the southernmost part of northeast India. It is a conglomerate history of several ethnic groups of Chin people who migrated from Chin State of Burma. But information of their patterns of westward migration are based on oral history and archaeological inferences, hence nothing definite can be said. The recorded history started relatively recently around the mid-19th century when the adjoining regions were occupied by the British monarchy. Following religious, political and cultural revolutions in the mid-20th century majority of the people agglomerated into a super tribe, Mizo. Hence the officially recognised settlement of the Mizos became Mizoram.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jampui Hills</span>

Jampui Hills is a part of the Mizo hills range located in the North Tripura district in the north eastern part of the Indian state of Tripura. The average altitude of the hill range is approximately 1000 metres above sea level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zou people</span> Ethnic group living in Myanmar and Northeast India

The Zou people Is are an ethnic group, that is an indigenous community living along the frontier of India and Burma, they are a sub-group of the Kuki people/Zo people. In India, they live with and are similar in language and habits to the Thadou people and Paite and the Simte peoples. In Burma, the Zou are counted among the Chin people. They are a hill people, "Zou" may plainly means "Hills" denoting the Zous are "people of the hills" or "of the hills", and "Zou" has also a different meaning in Zou language that is "complete" or another word for it is "finish". But, the Zou people believed that they incepted the name 'Zou' from their forefather 'Zou' or 'Zo', believed to be the progenitor of the broad Chin-Kuki-Mizo people.

Hauzel is a clan found to be within the Paite group of the Zos Zomi tribe popularly known as Zomi and Mizo by different clans of the tribe particularly in Manipur and Mizoram areas, northeast of India. They are also found in the Chin State of Burma as a Tedim-Chin sub-clan. The Hauzel are mostly concentrated in Lamka, the second largest town of Manipur state, India and many of them are living in Mizoram. Hauzel are mostly highly educated and they are known for their education and general administration skills.

Zo is a Northern Kuki-Chin-Mizo language originating in western Burma and spoken also in Mizoram and Manipur in northeastern India.

Guite is the progenitor clan of Zomi people, also called Chin in Myanmar, Mizo, or Paite, or even Kuki in India. According to Zam, Nigui Guite is the elder brother of the ancestral fathers of the Thadou people, namely Thangpi, Sattawng, and Neirawng. This genealogy was recently inscribed on the tribal memorial stone at Bungmual, Lamka in the presence of each family-head of the three major clans, Doungel, Kipgen, and Haokip, on August 7, 2011. Some historians, like Shakespeare, assumed Lamlei was the Nigui Guite himself but the Guites themselves recounted Tuahciang, the father of Lamlei, as the son of Nigui Guite instead, in their social-religious rites. Regarding Guite as the born son of Songthu and his sister, Nemnep, it was the practice of ancient royalty to issue royal heir and also to keep their bloodline pure instead. Depending on local pronunciation, the clan was also called by different names such as Nguite or Vuite, Gwite, Nwite, Paihte by the Lushei. In accord with the claim of their solar origin, the Guite clan has been called nampi, meaning noble or major or even dominant people, of the region in local dialect in the past.

The Lai people mainly inhabit the southern parts of Chin Hills in Myanmar's Chin State, in the townships of Falam, Thantlang and Hakha. They are also found in the Lawngtlai district of Mizoram, India, where they have been granted the Lai Autonomous District Council. Outside this area they are scattered in Mizoram and in Manipur. Their languages "Laizo Lai" and "Hakha Lai" are classified as Central Kuki-Chin languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zogam</span> Area in Asia

Zogam known as Zoland, Zoram, Lushai Hills, Kuki Hills, lies in the northwest corner of the Mainland Southeast Asia landmass. This is the traditional ancestry homeland of the Zo people or Zomi who lived in this area before the colonial period under British rulership.

The Kuki-Chin languages are a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family spoken in northeastern India, western Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh. Most notable Kuki-Chin-speaking ethnic groups are referred to collectively as the Zo people which includes: the Mizo of Mizoram, the Kuki of Manipur, Assam, Nagaland, Tripura and Bangladesh and the Chin of Chin State, Myanmar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zomi Revolutionary Army</span> Nationalist insurgent group

The Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) is an armed Zomi nationalist militant group formed in 1997, following an increase in ethnic tensions between the Kuki people and the Paites tribe in Churachandpur district of Manipur, India. Its parent organisation, the Zomi Re-unification Organisation, was founded in April 1993.

The Zo people is a term to denote the ethnolinguistically related speakers of the Kuki-Chin languages who primarily inhabit northeastern India, western Myanmar, and southeastern Bangladesh.

Vaiphei is a Sino-Tibetan language belonging to the Kuki-Chin linguistic subbranch of the Tibeto-Burman group of languages. It is spoken mainly in the Myanmar minutely in Manipur-KukiZogam, Mizoram, Assam, Meghalaya, and Tripura. The dialect spoken in Myanmar exhibits a least partial mutual intelligibility with the other Mizo/Kukish dialects of the area including Thadou, Hmar, Paite, Simte, Kom and Gangte languages.

The Zomi people are one of the main groups of the Zo (Kuki-Chin-Mizo) tribes. They live in mostly the India–Myanmar border, as well as in Bangladesh. The Zomi encompasses the various tribes like Paite and Chin, and the Zomi tribe that is called Chin is the Tiddim/Tedim. They call themselves Zomi and they speak their own language. The Zomi language is basically the language of the Tedim/Tiddim and is related to the Paite language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neihsial</span> Ethnic group

The Neihsial is an ethnic group found in northeastern India and parts of Myanmar. Members of this group are largely concentrated in the Churachandpur, Senapati, Chandel District and Tamenglong district of the Indian state of Manipur. There is also a sizable population in the neighboring Chin State of Myanmar.

Varte is a surname of a clan under the Hmar tribe of Northeast India especially in the states of Mizoram, Manipur and Assam. However, the surname "Varte" is not limited to the Hmar tribe as people with the same surname are also found among the Paite tribe with slight variation in pronunciation and spelling where the 'r' is spelt and pronounced as 'l'. Also, the surname appears to be used by some people other than Hmar or Paite tribe. Notable among these people is Rosy Varte (1923–2012), a French actress who was of Armenian descent. The surname may have little or no connection to the Sanskrit "Vartee" or "Varte" which means "Sovereign King".

The culture of the Mizo people has been heavily influenced by Christianity. Mizo culture is rooted in the arts and ways of life of Mizos in India, Bangladesh and Myanmar

References

  1. "Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  2. "Religion Data of Census 2011: XXXI Mizoram Manipur and Nagaland".
  3. Singh, Chungkham Yashawanta (1995). "The linguistic situation in Manipur" (PDF). Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area. 18 (1): 129–134. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  4. "Who are Paites?". Paite Nampuan | www.paite.org. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  5. "Universal Declaration of Human Rights". www.un.org. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  6. Singh, Naorem Saratchandra Singh (2006). A Grammar of Paite. Mittal Publications. p. xviii. ISBN   978-8183240680 . Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  7. "Paite in MIL list : 06th may04 ~ E-Pao! Headlines". www.e-pao.net. Retrieved 19 September 2023.

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