Tangsa | |
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𖪰𖩵𖪂𖪫𖩸 | |
Native to | Burma, India |
Ethnicity | Tangsa people |
Native speakers | 110,000 (2010-2012) [1] |
Sino-Tibetan
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Dialects |
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Latin alphabet, Tangsa alphabet | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Variously: nst – Tangsa (multiple varieties) nqq – Kyan-Karyaw nlq – Lao Naga |
Glottolog | tang1379 Tangsa |
Tangsa, also known as Tase and Tase Naga, is a Sino-Tibetan language or language cluster spoken by the Tangsa people of Burma and north-eastern India. Some varieties, such as Shangge (Shanke [2] ), are likely distinct languages. There are about 60,000 speakers in Burma and 40,000 speakers in India. The dialects of Tangsa have disparate levels of lexical similarity, ranging from 35%–97%. [3]
Tangsa is spoken in the following locations of Myanmar: [1]
In India, Tangsa is spoken in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. Below are locations for some varieties of Tangsa.
Ethnologue also lists the following languages: [1]
There are four principal varieties:
Within Tangsa, the Pangwa group has about 20 subgroups in India. The Pangwa had migrated from Myanmar to India in the 20th century (Morey 2017). Pangwa subgroups are listed below, with autonyms listed in parentheses, where superscript digits are language-specific tone-marks. [8]
The Tikhak group consists of: [8]
Other subgroups that do not belong to either the Pangwa or Tikhak groups are: [8]
Besides Pangwa and Tikhak, other Tangsa groups are: [9]
Lann (2018:8) classifies the Tangsa language varieties as follows, and recognizes 11 subgroups. [10] IPA transcriptions for dialect names are also provided (Lann 2018:4-6), where superscript digits are language-specific tone-marks. [11]
Lann (2018:4) lists the Aktung, Angsü-Angsa, Giiyii, Gawngkaq, Khangcyu, Khangdo, Kumgaq, Punlam, Nukyaq, and Vangtak-Vangkaq dialects as being extinct or nearly extinct. [12]
Kaisan is a Northern Naga language variety spoken in several villages (including the village of Kaisan Chálám) in the Patkai area of Sagaing Region, Myanmar, as well as in Arunachal Pradesh, India. [13]
Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
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Nasal | m | (n̪) | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
Plosive | voiceless | p | t̪ | t | k | ʔ | |
aspirated | pʰ | t̪ʰ | tʰ | kʰ | |||
voiced | b | d | ɡ | ||||
Affricate | voiceless | t͡s | t͡ɕ | ||||
aspirated | t͡ɕʰ | ||||||
Fricative | voiceless | s | ʃ | x | h | ||
voiced | β ~ w | ʒ ~ j | (ɣ) | ||||
Approximant | central | ɹ | |||||
lateral | l |
Front | Central | Back | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Close | i | ɯ | u | |
Close-mid | e | ə | ɤ | o |
Open-mid | ɔ | |||
Open | a |
There are 12 diphthongs, noted as: /ui/; /ɯi, ɯu/; /əi, əu/; /oi/; /ɔə, ɔəi/; /ɤi, ɤu/; /ai, au/. [14]
Front | Central | Back | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Close | i | ɨ | u, uː | |
Close-mid | e | |||
Open-mid | ɛ | ʌ | ɔ, ɔː | |
Open | a |
Tangsa | |
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Script type | |
Creator | Lakhum Mossang |
Published | 1990 |
Languages | Tangsa |
ISO 15924 | |
ISO 15924 | Tnsa(275),Tangsa |
Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Tangsa |
U+16A70–U+16ACF |
In 1990, Mr. Lakhum Mossang from Namphai Nong, Arunachal Pradesh in India created an alphabet for the Tangsa language. He taught the alphabet in public events and festivals, and promoted the script with community organisations and schools. In 2021, there were about 100 people who are using the script. [16] The Tangsa Script Development Committee was founded in 2019 and continues development of the script after the passing of Lakhum Mossang in order ensure accommodation to the wide range of Tangsa varieties spoken in the region. The script has not yet gained widespread adoption.
Beyond the use of Lakhum Mossang's script, Tangsa varieties are generally written in the Latin alphabet with multiple different spelling conventions in use. One such Roman orthography is that for Mossang, designed by Reverend Gam Win and used in the Mossang translation of the Bible. Different Roman orthographies are in use among different subtribes, often with considerable variation. These differences tend to follow Christian denominational divisions.
The Gam Win Romanization for Mossang is as follows:
Each vowel of the Tangsa alphabet notes a combination representing one of 11 phonemic base vowels: [17]
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modified by one of four distinctive vocalic tones (noted in Latin transcriptions by trailing consonnants appended after the base vowel):
-c | [˦] | thuic tsanz (voice-hard) - mid-high level or rising |
-x | [˧] | thuic hvlz (voice-middle) - mid-high falling |
-z | [˩] | thuic nyenz (voice-soft) - low falling with creaky phonation |
-q | [ˀ] | thuic htaq (voice-break/cut) - short, final glottal stop [17] |
As well, the Tangsa alphabet includes a few additional separate letters for distinctive tonal vowels :
-ng | [ŋ] | (final) - modifier written after the base vowel+tone |
awx | [ɔ̆˧] | (short variant) - usually not distinguished in Latin transcriptions |
uex | [ɤː˧] | (long variant) - usually not distinguished in Latin transcriptions |
uez | [ɤ̆˩] | (short variant) - usually not distinguished in Latin transcriptions |
Unlike Brahmic-derived abugidas most often used for languages in India and Burma, the 31 consonants of the Tangsa alphabet (used to write Sino-Tibetan languages and not Brahmic-based languages) don't carry any inherent vowel: [17]
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The Tangsa alphabet was added to the Unicode Standard in September, 2021 with the release of version 14.0.
The Unicode block for Tangsa is U+16A70–U+16ACF. The 48 base vowels (with tones) are encoded in U+16A70–U+16A9F, the 31 base consonants are encoded in U+16AA0–U+16ABE, and ten decimal digits are encoded in U+16AC0–U+16AC9:
Tangsa [1] [2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
U+16A7x | 𖩰 | 𖩱 | 𖩲 | 𖩳 | 𖩴 | 𖩵 | 𖩶 | 𖩷 | 𖩸 | 𖩹 | 𖩺 | 𖩻 | 𖩼 | 𖩽 | 𖩾 | 𖩿 |
U+16A8x | 𖪀 | 𖪁 | 𖪂 | 𖪃 | 𖪄 | 𖪅 | 𖪆 | 𖪇 | 𖪈 | 𖪉 | 𖪊 | 𖪋 | 𖪌 | 𖪍 | 𖪎 | 𖪏 |
U+16A9x | 𖪐 | 𖪑 | 𖪒 | 𖪓 | 𖪔 | 𖪕 | 𖪖 | 𖪗 | 𖪘 | 𖪙 | 𖪚 | 𖪛 | 𖪜 | 𖪝 | 𖪞 | 𖪟 |
U+16AAx | 𖪠 | 𖪡 | 𖪢 | 𖪣 | 𖪤 | 𖪥 | 𖪦 | 𖪧 | 𖪨 | 𖪩 | 𖪪 | 𖪫 | 𖪬 | 𖪭 | 𖪮 | 𖪯 |
U+16ABx | 𖪰 | 𖪱 | 𖪲 | 𖪳 | 𖪴 | 𖪵 | 𖪶 | 𖪷 | 𖪸 | 𖪹 | 𖪺 | 𖪻 | 𖪼 | 𖪽 | 𖪾 | |
U+16ACx | 𖫀 | 𖫁 | 𖫂 | 𖫃 | 𖫄 | 𖫅 | 𖫆 | 𖫇 | 𖫈 | 𖫉 | ||||||
Notes |
Arunachal Pradesh is a state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and largest town. It borders the Indian states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares international borders with Bhutan in the west, Myanmar in the east, and a disputed 1,129 km border with China's Tibet Autonomous Region in the north at the McMahon Line. Arunachal Pradesh is claimed by China as part of the Tibet Autonomous Region; China occupied some regions of Arunachal Pradesh in 1962 but later withdrew its forces.
The Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh has a total population of roughly 1.4 million on an area of 84,000 km2, amounting to a population density of about 17 pop./km2. The "indigenous groups" account for about two thirds of population, while immigrants, mostly of Bengali/Hindi belt origin, account for the remaining third.
Changlang district (Pron:/tʃæŋˈlæŋ/) is located in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, located south of Lohit district and north of Tirap district. Naga people reside here. As of 2011 it is the second most populous district of Arunachal Pradesh, after Papum Pare. It has become one of the major districts in the area owing to the presence of crude oil, coal and mineral resources other than tourism and hydropower.
The Tangshang people or Tangsa Naga, are of Tibeto-Burmese ethnic group of the Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. They also reside in Sagaing Region and parts of Kachin State of Myanmar. In Myanmar they were formerly known as Rangpang, Pangmi, and Haimi. They speak their own language Tangsa.
Tirap district (Pron:/tɪˈɹæp/) is a district located in the southeastern part of the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India. It shares a state border with Assam, an international border with Myanmar and a district border with Changlang and Longding.
Lisu is a tonal Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Yunnan, Northern Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand and a small part of India. Along with Lipo, it is one of two languages of the Lisu people. Lisu has many dialects that originate from the country in which they live. Hua Lisu, Pai Lisu and Lu Shi Lisu dialects are spoken in China. Although they are mutually intelligible, some have many more loan words from other languages than others.
Pangsau Pass or Pan Saung Pass, 3,727 feet (1,136 m) in altitude, lies on the crest of the Patkai Hills on the India–Myanmar border. The pass offers one of the easiest routes into Burma from the Assam plains. It is named after the closest Burmese village, Pangsau, that lies 2 km beyond the pass to the east. To the east of Pangsau Pass, India's undisputed easternmost point "Chaukan Pass" lies and to the east of Vijaynagar in the Changlang district.
The Konyaks are a major Naga ethnic group native to the Northeast Indian state of Nagaland. They inhabit the Mon District, which is also known as The Land of the Anghs. The Anghs/Wangs are their traditional chiefs whom they hold in high esteem. Facial tattoos were earned for taking an enemy's head.
Jairampur is a census town in Changlang district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.
The Tutsa people, also known as the Tutsa Naga, are a Tibeto-Burmese ethnic group inhabiting the western parts of Changlang and Khimiyong circles and the eastern part of Tirap districts of the Northeast Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Ethnically, the Tutsa are closely related to the Tangsa and were classified as members of the Tangsa in all census records until 1981. As of 2001 their population stood at 25,000.
Singpho is a dialect of the Jingpho language spoken by the Singpho people of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, India. It is spoken by at least 3,000 people. "Singpho" is the local pronunciation of "Jingpho," and the dialect shares 50% lexical similarity with Jingpho.
Kharsang is a small town located in the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh, India. It serves as an administrative sub-division of the district.
The Konyak languages, or alternatively the Konyakian, Northern Naga, or Patkaian languages, is a branch of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken by various Naga peoples in southeastern Arunachal Pradesh and northeastern Nagaland states of northeastern India. They are not particularly closely related to other Naga languages spoken further to the south, but rather to other Sal languages such as Jingpho and the Bodo-Garo languages. There are many dialects, and villages even a few kilometers apart frequently have to rely on a separate common language.
Sherdukpen is a small language of India. It is one of the Kho-Bwa languages. There are two distinct varieties, Mey of Shergaon and Mey of Rupa. The name Sherdukpen comes from the words Shergaon and Tukpen. The language is known to speakers as Mey nyuk.
Nocte is a Northern Naga language of northeastern India. Alternate names include Borduria, Jaipuria, Mohongia, Namsangia, Nocte, Nokte, and Paniduria (Ethnologue).
Nampong is a census town in the Changlang District in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It is located close to the Pangsau Pass, being the last town on the Indian side, at an elevation of 308 metres. Nampong is one of the 60 constituencies of Arunachal. Name of current MLA (August-2016) of Nampong constituency is Laisam Simai.
The Aiton language or Tai Aiton language is spoken in Assam, India, in the Dhonsiri Valley and the south bank of the Brahmaputra. It is currently classified as a threatened language, with fewer than 2,000 speakers worldwide. Its other names include Aitonia and Sham Doaniya.
The Phake language or Tai Phake language is a Tai language spoken in the Buri Dihing Valley of Assam, India. It is closely related to the other Southwestern Tai languages in Assam: Aiton, Khamti, Khamyang, and Turung.
Wancho (वांचो) is a Konyak language of north-eastern India. Wancho is spoken in 36 villages of southeastern Longding district, Tirap district, Arunachal Pradesh, as well as in Assam and Nagaland (Ethnologue). Alternate names include Banpara Naga, Joboka, Jokoba.
Tangsa is a Unicode block containing characters of the alphabet designed by Mr. Lakhum Mossang for writing the Tangsa language of India and Myanmar.