Sangtam language

Sangtam
Thukumi, Sangtam Naga
Lophomi
Native to	Nagaland, India
Region	East-central Nagaland, Tuensang and Khiphire districts
Ethnicity	Sangtam
Native speakers	76,000 (2011 census) [1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Central Tibeto-Burman (?) Kuki-Chin–Naga Central Naga Sangtam
Language codes
ISO 639-3	nsa
Glottolog	sang1321

Sangtam, also called Thukumi, Isachanure, or Lophomi, is a Naga language spoken in northeast India. It is spoken in Kiphire District and in the Longkhim-Chare circle in Tuensang district, Nagaland, India.

Dialects

Ethnologue lists the following dialects of Sangtam.

• Kizare
• Pirr (Northern Sangtam)
• Phelongre
• Thukumi (Central Sangtam)
• Photsimi
• Purr (Southern Sangtam)

The standardized dialect of Sangtam is based on the Tsadanger village speech variety.

Phonology

Sangtam is unusual in having two stops with bilabial trilled release, /t̪͡ʙ̥,t̪͡ʙ̥ʰ/, which contrast with each other phonemically. ^{[2] [3]}

Consonants ^{[2] [3]}

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n		ɲ	ŋ [a]
Plosive	plain	p	t̪	ʈʵ	c	k [b]
	aspirated	pʰ	t̪ʰ	ʈʰʵ	cʰ	kʰ
Affricate	plain	t̪͡ʙ̥ [c]	t̪͡s		t͡ʃ
	aspirated	t̪͡ʙ̥ʰ	t̪͡sʰ		t͡ʃʰ
Fricative	voiceless	( f )	s		ʃ	x	h
	voiced	v	z
Approximant			l	ɻ	j

1. The velar nasal /ŋ/ is in free variation with a null realization [ ∅ ] syllable-finally when preceded by a nasalized vowel.
2. The unaspirated velar plosive /k/ is realized as a glottal stop [ ʔ ] in coda position.
3. The trill in unaspirated /t̪͡ʙ̥/ is typically voiced as [ t̪͡ʙ ] when word-medial.

Vowels ^[2]

		Front	Back
Close		i	u
Close-mid		e	o
Open/ Open-mid		a	ʌ

All vowels can have high, mid, or low tone

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. Coupe, Alexander (2015). "Prestopped bilabial trills in Sangtam". Proceedings of the 18th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Glasgow, 10–14 August 2015. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. ISBN   978-0-85261-941-4. Paper no. 0734.1–5.
3. Coupe, Alexander (2020), "Northern Sangtam phonetics, phonology and word list" (PDF), Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area, 43 (1): 148–189, doi:10.1075/ltba.19014.cou