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The Kuki-Chin–Naga languages are a geographic clustering of languages of the Sino-Tibetan family in James Matisoff's classification used by Ethnologue, which groups it under the non-monophyletic "Tibeto-Burman". Their genealogical relationship both to each other and to the rest of Sino-Tibetan is unresolved, but Matisoff lumps them together as a convenience pending further research.
The Naga languages are a geographic and ethnic grouping of languages under the Kuki-Chin-Naga languages, spoken mostly by Naga peoples.
Thadou is a Sino-Tibetan language of the Northern Kuki-Chin-Mizo linguistic sub branch. It is spoken in the northeastern part of India. It is spoken by the Thadou people. The Thadou language is known by many names, including Thado, Thado-Pao, Thādo, Thadou-kuki, Thado-Ubiphei, Chin and Thādo-pao. There are several dialects of this language : Hangshing, Khongsai, Kipgen, Saimar, Langiung, Sairang, Thangngeo, Haokip, Sitlhou, Singson (Shingsol).The Saimar dialect was reported in the Indian press in 2012 to be spoken by only four people in one village in the state of Tripura. The variety spoken in Manipur has partial mutual intelligibility with the other Mizo-Kuki-Chin languages varieties of the area including Paite, Hmar, Vaiphei, Simte, Kom and Gangte languages. This language is not utilized as much today.
The Purums are an indigenous tribe of Manipur. They are notable because their marriage system is the subject of ongoing statistical and ethnographical analysis; Buchler states that "they are perhaps the most over-analyzed society in anthropology". Purums marry only in selected sibs; the allowed sibs are fixed by traditional customs. The Purums are divided into five sibs, namely, Marrim, Makan, Kheyang, Thao and Parpa. There is no indigenous centralized government.
The Kuki-Chin languages are a branch of 50 or so Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in northeastern India, western Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh. Most speakers of these languages are known as Mizo in Mizoram and Manipur. Also, as Kukī in Assamese and Bengali and as Chin in Burmese; some also identify as Zomi. Mizo is the most widely spoken of the Kuki-Chin languages.
The Kom are one of the oldest among tribes who had settled in Manipur alongside the Meiteis and they are defined later by British Indian government as Naga in their land records (administratively) but later after the entry of kuki from Burma during 1847, the anthropologist and historian considered them linguistically a kin to chin-kuki-mizo group. They are mainly found in Manipur of North-East India. Koms belong to kindred Chin - Kuki Mizo tribes. Even though they are referred as "Kom", among themselves they refer to themselves as Kakom. Kom-rem consist of six subtribes: Chiru, Aimol, Kharam, Purum, Koireng and Kom. Kom-rem are found in the Northeastern states of Manipur and Tripura. The majority of the Kom population reside in Manipur. They are found in almost all the districts of Manipur and concentrated mainly in the districts of Churachandpur, Bishnupur, Chandel, Kangpokpi, Tengnoupal, Thoubal, Kakching and Senapati.
Khumi, or Khumi Chin, is a Kuki-Chin-Mizo language of Burma, with some speakers across the border in Bangladesh.
Sakachep also known as Khelma, is a Central Kuki-Chin-Mizo language of Northeast India. Dialects are Khelma, Thangachep, and Sakachep (Ethnologue). VanBik (2009) classifies Sakachep as closely related to Hmar.
Kom is a Kuki-Chin language of India. Kohlreng is usually considered a dialect of Kom, but may be a distinct language. Speakers of Kom live in the hilly provinces of Northeastern India. The dialect of Manipur has at least partial mutual intelligibility with the other Kuki-Chin dialects of the area, including Thadou, Hmar, Vaiphei, Simte, Paite, and Gangte languages. Aimol, Koireng and Chiru speakers also understand Kom.
Ranglong is a language spoken in some Indian villages. The Ranglong people live in a small and densely-packed area over three federal Indian states.
Aimol, also known as Aimual, is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Aimol people of Manipur, India. It is considered endangered and has less than 9,000 speakers worldwide as per 2011 census.
Chothe is a Southern Naga language of northeastern India. It may be intelligible with Aimol.
Purum is a Southern Naga language of India. Speakers consider themselves to be ethnic Naga people, rather than part of the Kuki and Chin ethnic groups. Peterson (2017) classifies Purum as part of the Northwestern branch of Kuki-Chin. According Ethnologue, Purum shares a high degree of mutual intelligibility with Kharam.
Moyon is a Sino-Tibetan language of Southern Naga linguistic sub branch. It is spoken by the Moyon Nagas in Manipur, India and in Burma.
Mruic or Mru–Hkongso is a small group of Sino-Tibetan languages consisting of two poorly attested languages, Mru and Anu-Hkongso. Their relationship within Sino-Tibetan is unclear.
Zale'n-gam or Zalengam (Thadou-Kuki) dialect for 'land of freedom'), is a proposed state by Kuki people, with the intention of uniting all the Kuki tribes under a single government. The proposed state's main proponents are the Kuki National Organisation and its armed wing, the Kuki National Army.
Southern Naga, also Old Kuki or Northwestern Kuki-Chin, is a branch of Kuki-Chin-Naga languages. Speakers are from Kuki-Chin-Mizos people like Kom tribes such as Aimol, Kom, Koireng and others and Nagas.
Northern Kuki-Chin is a branch of Kuki-Chin languages. It is called Northeastern Kuki-Chin by Peterson (2017) to distinguish it from the Northwestern Kuki-Chin languages. VanBik (2009:31) also calls the branch Northern Chin or Zo.
Southern Kuki-Chin is a branch of Kuki-Chin languages. They are spoken mostly in southern Chin State, Myanmar and in southeastern Bangladesh.
References
- ↑ Kharam at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ↑ Peterson, David. 2017. "On Kuki-Chin subgrouping." In Picus Sizhi Ding and Jamin Pelkey, eds. Sociohistorical linguistics in Southeast Asia: New horizons for Tibeto-Burman studies in honor of David Bradley, 189-209. Leiden: Brill.
Sino-Tibetan branches | |||||
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| Western Himalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim) |
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| Eastern Himalayas (Tibet, Bhutan, Arunachal) | |||||
| Myanmar and Indo-Burmese border |
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| East and Southeast Asia |
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| Dubious (possible isolates) (Arunachal) |
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| Proposed groupings | |||||
| Proto-languages | |||||
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches. | |||||