Lai | |
---|---|
Laiholh | |
Native to | Myanmar, India, Bangladesh [1] |
Ethnicity | Chin |
Native speakers | circa 450,000 [1] |
Latin | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | cnh |
Glottolog | haka1240 |
ELP | Hakha Chin |
Lai, Laiholh [lower-alpha 1] , or Pawi [lower-alpha 2] is a Kuki-Chin language spoken in central Chin State in Myanmar, and Lawngtlai district of Mizoram, India. [1] Hakha Chin-speaking minorities are also found in the Sagaing and Magway Regions of Myanmar, [1] and in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of southeastern Bangladesh by the Bawm minority.
There are over 450,000 speakers of this language. [2]
Hakha Chin is the lingua franca in Thantlang and Hakha townships of Chin State.
The Hakha Chin (Lai) speakers are largely in Chin State, Burma and Mizoram in Northeast India, with a sizeable number of speakers in south-eastern Bangladesh. Nowadays, approximately one hundred thousand Hakha Chin speakers are living in the Western countries, such as Canada, Denmark, Germany, Norway, and the United States, as well as Australia and New Zealand.[ citation needed ]
In India, they are a Scheduled Tribe, which means the government recognizes them as a distinct people.
As they mostly live in hilly or even mountainous remote areas, most Hakha-Chin speakers in Chin State, Burma, Mizoram and in Northeast India and south-eastern Bangladesh rely on swidden agriculture. [1] Hakha-Chin speakers are predominantly Christian. [1]
As of 1991, there were 100,000 Hakha-Chin speakers in Burma. [1] Dialects vary from village to village.
The precise count of Hakha Chin speakers in Bangladesh is difficult to ascertain, but it is widely recognized that a significant population residing in the Chittagong Hill Tracts speaks the language.
As of 1996, there were 345,000 Hakha-Chin speakers in India, mostly in the Lawngtlai, Lunglei, and Aizawl districts of Mizoram as well as the southernmost tip of Assam. [1] In India, the language is also known as Lai Pawi and Lai Hawlh and is taught in some primary schools. Most of its younger speakers in India are literate. [1]
Currently, around 100,000 Hakha Chin speakers are living in the Western countries, such as Canada, Denmark, Germany, Norway, and the United States, as well as Australia and New Zealand.[ citation needed ]
Hakha Chin serves as a lingua franca in most parts of Chin State and is a native language in Hakha, Thantlang, and parts of Matupi. Derived from the same Lai dialect and sharing 85% of their phonology, Falam Chin speakers can easily communicate with Hakha speakers. As the capital of Chin State, Hakha provides government employment and business opportunities to people living elsewhere in Chin State. These people live here temporarily or permanently, and their families eventually learn how to speak Lai holh (Hakha).
The Chin people use Latin script (Hakha alphabet) as their writing system.
Words in the Hakha Chin language are predominantly monosyllabic with some sesqui syllables featuring a "reduced syllable". [3] Full syllables are either open or closed with a rising, falling, or low tone.[ citation needed ]
This section needs additional citations for verification .(November 2018) |
The Hakha Chin language differentiates between voiced, voiceless, and voiceless aspirated obstruents. Additionally, two sets of sonorants are realised. [4]
Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
central | lateral | |||||||
Nasal | voiced | m | n | ŋ | ||||
voiceless | m̥ | n̥ | ŋ̊ | |||||
Plosive | tenuis | p | t | ʈ | k | ʔ | ||
aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | ʈʰ | kʰ | ||||
voiced | b | d | ( ɡ ) | |||||
Affricate | tenuis | t͡s | tɬ | |||||
aspirated | t͡sʰ | tɬʰ | ||||||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s | h | ||||
voiced | v | z | ||||||
Liquid | voiced | r | l | |||||
voiceless | r̥ | l̥ | ||||||
Semivowel | w | j |
Consonants allowed in syllable codas are /p,t,k,m,n,ŋ,l,r,j,w/.
Consonants /m,n,ŋ,l,r/ occurring in syllable-final position may also occur as glottalized [mˀ,nˀ,ŋˀ,lˀ,rˀ]. [5]
The unattested parent language, Proto-Chin, featured a voiced velar plosive ɡ. The phoneme itself was lost in all of its daughter languages, due to a spirantisation to ɣ, which a labialisation followed afterwards. [4] Only certain loanwords, not native words, have the voiced velar plosive.
In the Hakha alphabet, ⟨h⟩ transcribes the glottal fricative in initial position, but a glottal stop in coda position. [6] Voiceless approximants are distinguished in writing from their voiced counterparts with a prefixed ⟨h⟩.
The Hakha language features seven vowels which may be long or short. Allophones occur for closed syllables. [4]
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Mid | e | ɔ | |
Open | a |
In final position, /e/ can be heard as [ɛ]. [5]
The Hakha language also features diphthongs. [4]
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | ia iu | ui ua | |
Mid | ei eu | ɔi | |
Open | ai au |
Hakha-Chin is a subject-object-verb (SOV) language, and negation follows the verb.
Literacy rates are lower for older generations and higher in younger generations. [1] The Hakha-Chin language uses the Latin script, unlike most languages of India and Bangladesh which use Devanagari or other Southeast Asian alphabets. Between 1978 and 1999, the Bible was translated into the language. [1]
Primary Language: Hakha Chin is typically the primary language spoken by the Hakha Chin people in their daily lives. It serves as a means of communication within families, communities, and in local institutions.
Language Vitality: Despite the pressures from Burmese, the official language of Myanmar, Hakha Chin continues to be actively used in various domains, including religious ceremonies, cultural events, and community gatherings.
Identity: The Hakha Chin language plays a crucial role in preserving and promoting the cultural identity of the Hakha Chin people. It is used in traditional songs, stories, and religious practices.
Literature and Media: There is a growing body of literature and media produced in Hakha Chin, including books, newspapers, radio broadcasts, and more recently, digital content.
Endangered Status: Like many indigenous languages around the world, Hakha Chin faces challenges from cultural assimilation and globalization. Efforts are underway to promote its use and ensure its survival among younger generations.
Education: There are initiatives to develop educational materials and programs in Hakha Chin to strengthen literacy and language skills among speakers, particularly children and youth.
Overall, Hakha Chin is not just a means of communication but a repository of cultural heritage and identity for the Hakha Chin people. Efforts to document, preserve, and promote the language are crucial for its continued vitality and relevance in the modern world.
In phonology, an allophone is one of multiple possible spoken sounds – or phones – used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, the voiceless plosive and the aspirated form are allophones for the phoneme, while these two are considered to be different phonemes in some languages such as Central Thai. Similarly, in Spanish, and are allophones for the phoneme, while these two are considered to be different phonemes in English.
A fricative is a consonant produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate in the case of German ; or the side of the tongue against the molars, in the case of Welsh. This turbulent airflow is called frication.
Chin State is a state in western Myanmar. Chin State is bordered by Sagaing Division and Magway Division to the east, Rakhine State to the south, the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh to the west, and the Indian states of Mizoram to the west and Manipur to the north. The population of Chin State is about 488,801 according to the 2014 census, and its capital city is Hakha.
Implosive consonants are a group of stop consonants with a mixed glottalic ingressive and pulmonic egressive airstream mechanism. That is, the airstream is controlled by moving the glottis downward in addition to expelling air from the lungs. Therefore, unlike the purely glottalic ejective consonants, implosives can be modified by phonation. Contrastive implosives are found in approximately 13% of the world's languages.
The Mizo people, historically known 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%.
Bhutia is a language of the Tibeto-Burman languages spoken by the Bhutia people in Sikkim in northeast India, parts of Koshi province in eastern Nepal, and Bhutan. It is one of the official languages of Sikkim.
Mizo is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken mainly in the Indian state of Mizoram, where it is the official language and lingua franca. It is the mother tongue of the Mizo people and some members of the Mizo diaspora. Other than Mizoram, it is also spoken in Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, and Assam states of India, Sagaing Region and Chin State in Myanmar, and Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. It is mainly based on the Lusei dialect but it has also derived many words from its surrounding Mizo clans.
Zo is a Northern Kuki-Chin-Mizo language originating in western Burma and spoken also in Mizoram and Manipur in northeastern India.
Thantlang Township is one of the nine townships in Chin State. Thantlang is the administrative town of inclusive nine circles attributed to the geographical and dialectical arrangements of the area. They are Khualhring Tlang, Vanzang Tlang, Zahnak Tlang, Bual Tlang, Vailam Tlang Lautu Tlang, Mara Tlang, Vailam Tlang, Zophei Tlang and Bawipa Tlang. Only four circles speak Lai dialect. Zophei(Zophei and Bawipa circles), Lautu, HawThai speak their tribal language. The other fives circles and in Thantlang town speak Lai dialect. In Thantlang township, Lai dialect is the common use dialect. Lai dialect is also spoken at Hakha township and Falam township.
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.
Lawngtlai is a town located in the southern part of Mizoram, India. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Lawngtlai district and is home to the Pawi people, also known as the Hakha Chin people in Myanmar. Lawngtlai celebrates a variety of indigenous festivals, such as the Hlukhla Kut, similar to that of Chapchar Kut.
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.
The Lai languages or Pawih/Pawi languages are various Central Kuki-Chin-Mizo languages spoken by the Lai people or Pawi. They include “ Laiṭong” (Falam-Chin) spoken in Falam district, Laiholh (Hakha-Chin) spoken around the Haka (Hakha/Halkha) capital of Chin State in Burma (Myanmar) and in the Lawngtlai district of Mizoram, India. In Bangladesh, a related language is spoken by the Bawm people. Other Lai languages are Mi-E, and the Zokhua dialect of Hakha Lai spoken in Zokhua village.
Kensiu (Kensiw) is an Austroasiatic language of the Jahaic subbranch. It is spoken by a small community of 300 people in Yala Province in southern Thailand and also reportedly by a community of approximately 300 speakers in Western Malaysia in Perak and Kedah states. Speakers of this language are Negritos who are known as the Maniq people or Mani of Thailand. In Malaysia, they are counted among the Orang Asli.
Old Mandarin or Early Mandarin was the speech of northern China during the Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty and the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. New genres of vernacular literature were based on this language, including verse, drama and story forms, such as the qu and sanqu.
A voiceless velar implosive is a very rare consonantal sound. The symbol for this sound in the International Phonetic Alphabet is ⟨ɠ̊⟩ or ⟨kʼ↓⟩. A dedicated IPA letter, ⟨ƙ⟩, was withdrawn in 1993.
Shö is a Kuki-Chin language dialect cluster of Burma and Bangladesh. There are perhaps three distinct dialects, Asho (Khyang), Chinbon, and Shendu.
The Chin Association for Christian Communication (CACC) is non-profit, faith-based organization dedicated to the preservation of Chin culture and language. CACC is located in Hakha, Burma. The most well-known projects and activities undertaken by CACC are revising and updating Laiholh. At the moment, CACC is in-charge of standardizing Laiholh, the most widely spoken Chin dialects in Burma. Though there is no common language or official language in Chin State, Laiholh is used as a medium of communication among different Chin groups in Hakha, Thantlang, Matupi, Falam, Burma, and diasporas all over the world.
Ingrian is a nearly extinct Finnic language of Russia. The spoken language remains unstandardised, and as such statements below are about the four known dialects of Ingrian and in particular the two extant dialects.