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Dimasa | |
---|---|
Grao-Dima গ্ৰাউ-ডিমা | |
Native to | India |
Region | Assam, Nagaland |
Ethnicity | Dimasa |
Native speakers | 137,184 (2011 census (Dima Hasao)) [1] |
Latin script, Eastern Nagari | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | dis |
Glottolog | dima1251 |
ELP | Dimasa |
The Dimasa language is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Dimasa people of the Northeastern Indian states of Assam and Nagaland. The Dimasa language is known to Dimasas as "Grao-Dima" and it is similar to Boro, Kokborok and Garo languages. The Dimasa language is one of the oldest languages spoken in North East India, particularly in Assam, Nagaland.
The word Dimasa etymologically translates to "Son(s) [sa] of the big river [dima]", i.e. the mighty Brahmaputra. The Dimasa word di, meaning water, forms the root of the names of many of the major rivers of Assam and of North East India in general, such as Dibang (plenty of water), Diyung (huge river), Dikrang (green river), Dikhow (fetched water), and many others. The Brahmaputra is known as Dilao (long river) among the Dimasas even now.
Many of the important towns and cities in Assam and Nagaland received their names from Dimasa words such as Diphu, Dimapur (a capital of the Dimasa Kingdom), Hojai, Khaspur, etc. In fact, the Dimasa language is one of the last languages of North East India to retain its original vocabulary without being compromised by foreign languages. [2]
Dimasa is spoken in:
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There are six vowels in Dimasa language.
Front | Central | Back | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IPA | ROM | Script | IPA | ROM | Script | IPA | ROM | Script | |
Close | i | i | u | u | |||||
Close-mid | e | e | o | o | |||||
Mid | ə | ə | |||||||
Open | a | a |
i | e | o | u | |
---|---|---|---|---|
i | iu | |||
e | ei | eo | ||
a | ai | ao | ||
o | oi | |||
u | ui | |||
ə | əo |
There are sixteen consonants in the Dimasa language.
Labial | Alveolar | Dorsal | Glottal | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IPA | ROM | Script | IPA | ROM | Script | IPA | ROM | Script | IPA | ROM | Script | ||
Nasal | m | m | n | n | ŋ | ng | |||||||
Stop | aspirated | pʰ | ph | tʰ | th | kʰ | kh | ||||||
voiced | b | b | d | d | ɡ | g | |||||||
Fricative | voiceless | s | s | ||||||||||
voiced | z | z | ɦ | h | |||||||||
Trill/Flap | r~ɾ | r | |||||||||||
Approximant | voiced | w | w | j | y | ||||||||
lateral | l | l |
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Dimasa is an inflectional language. The verbs are inflected for number, tense, case, voice, aspect, mood but not for gender and person.
Singular | Plural | |
---|---|---|
First person | ang | jing |
Second person | ning | nisi |
Third person | bo | bunsi |
The verb is rarely inflected for person and gender.
Subject–object–verb word order is usual; Object–verb–subject word order also occurs.
Dimasa is written using Latin script, which has been introduced in the lower primary education system in Dima Hasao District. The main guiding force behind it is the Dimasa Lairidim Hosom, a literary apex body of the Dimasa community. [3]
The Bengali-Assamese script is used in Cachar, where the Bengali people live alongside Dimasas. [4]
Dima Hasao district, is an administrative district in the state of Assam, India. As of 2011, it is the least populous district of Assam.
Diphu is the headquarter of Karbi Anglong district in the state of Assam in India. This small town is a popular tourist hill station for people of nearby cities.
The Karbis or Mikir are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group in Northeast India. They are mostly concentrated in the hill districts of Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong of Assam.
The Dimasa Kingdom was a late medieval/early modern kingdom in Assam, Northeast India ruled by Dimasa kings. The Dimasa kingdom and others that developed in the wake of the Kamarupa kingdom were examples of new states that emerged from indigenous communities in medieval Assam as a result of socio-political transformations in these communities. The British finally annexed the kingdom: the plains in 1832 and the hills in 1834. This kingdom gave its name to undivided Cachar district of colonial Assam. And after independence the undivided Cachar district was split into three districts in Assam: Dima Hasao district, Cachar district, Hailakandi district. The Ahom Buranjis called this kingdom Timisa.
The Dimasa people or Dimasa Kachari people are an ethnolinguistic community presently inhabiting in Assam and Nagaland states in Northeastern India. They speak Dimasa, a Tibeto-Burman language. This community is fairly homogeneous and exclusive, with members required to draw from both parents' separate clans. Dimasa kingdom, one of many early states in Assam following the downfall of Kamarupa kingdom, was established by these people. The Dimasas were till recently agricultural, centering on shifting agriculture; but in recent times this has changed with profound changes in the community. Following political problems in the 18th century, the Dimasa ruler moved further south in the plains of Cachar and there took place a division among them–with the hills Dimasa maintaining their traditional living and political exclusiveness, the plains Dimasas have made no attempt to assert themselves.
This article discusses the geological origin, geomorphic characteristics, and climate of the northeastern Indian state of Assam. Extending from 89° 42′ E to 96° E longitude and 24° 8′ N to 28° 2′ N latitude, it has an area of 78,438 km2, similar to that of Ireland or Austria.
Kachari is a Sino-Tibetan language of the Boro-Garo branch that is spoken in Assam, India. With fewer than 60,000 speakers recorded in 1997, and the Asam 2001 Census reporting a literacy rate of 81% the Kachari language is currently ranked as threatened. Kachari is closely related to surrounding languages, including Tiwa, Rābhā, Hajong, Kochi and Mechi.
Dima Halam Daogah was an Indian extremist group operating mainly in Assam and Nagaland. The group laid down their arms in January 2013, and claimed to represent the Dimasa and their goal to create a Dimaland or Dimaraji in the two states.
Karbi Longri N.C. Hills Liberation Front was a militant group operating in Karbi Anglong district and Dima Hasao district of Assam, India. Thong Teron was the general secretary of KLNLF. Karbi Anglong NC Hills People's Resistance was the armed wing of the organization. KLNLF emerged from the United People's Democratic Solidarity, being against the peace talks between the UDPS and the government. After the split, there has been turf wars between the two groups.
The Karbi language is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Karbi people of Northeastern India.
Some Dimasa-Cachar people of northeast India have been demanding a separate state called Dimaraji or "Dimaland" for several decades. It would comprise the Dimasa-inhabited areas, namely Dima Hasao district, parts of Cachar district, parts of Nagaon district, Hojai district and Karbi Anglong district in Assam together with part of Dimapur district in Nagaland.
Assam – 16th largest, 15th most populous and 26th most literate state of the 28 states of the democratic Republic of India. Assam is at 14th position in life expectancy and 8th in female-to-male sex ratio. Assam is the 21st most media exposed states in India. The Economy of Assam is largely agriculture based with 69% of the population engaged in it. Growth rate of Assam's income has not kept pace with that of India's during the Post-British Era; differences increased rapidly since the 1970s. While the Indian economy grew at 6 percent per annum over the period of 1981 to 2000, the same of Assam's grew only by 3.3 percent.
The West Karbi Anglong district is an administrative unit in the Indian state of Assam. It is a relatively new district formed out of the existing Karbi Anglong district in 2016. The administrative headquarters of the district is located at Hamren. The district is a part of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council and is administered according to the provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
Hojai District is a district in Assam, India. It was formed on 15 August 2015. The headquarters of the district is situated at Sankardev Nagar, which is about 8 km away from Hojai town. Hojai District was formed from three tehsils of Nagaon District, namely Hojai, Doboka and Lanka. Hojai was a part of undivided Nowgong district of then Assam Province.
Central Assam is an administrative division of Assam under the jurisdiction of a Division Commissioner, who is officially stationed at Nagaon. It consists of the following districts: Dima Hasao, Karbi Anglong, West Karbi Anglong, Hojai, Nagaon and Marigaon.
Barman Thar, where “thar” means language, is a highly endangered language. It is a Tibeto-Burman language that belongs to the Boro–Garo sub-group. The population of the Barman Kachari community is 24,237, according to a 2017 census. However, only a small part of this population speaks the language.
The Dimasa Kachari plains tribe of Cachar are known as Barman, forming one of the indigenous tribes of undivided Cachar. The Dimasas, inhabiting in the Cachar district are officially recognized as one of the Scheduled Tribes under the plains category in Assam in the name called “Barmans in Cachar”.
Dimasa is section of Kachari community. It belongs to Boro-Garo language family. It is mother tongue to around 500,000 Dimasa population. Large section of Sanskritised Dimasa speak Assamese language e.g. Sonowal Kachari, Thengal Kachari, Moran Kachari, Matak Kachari.