Falam Chin, or Lai (Falam Chin), is a
Kuki-Chin language in
Falam
Falam (, ) is a town in north-western Burma (Myanmar) near Burma's western border with the Indian state of Mizoram. The town was founded by Taisun tribe. The British arrived to Falam in 1892, and became an important base for British rule of the ...
township,
Chin State
Chin State (, ) is a state in western Myanmar. The Chin State is bordered by Sagaing Division and Magway Division to the east, Rakhine State to the south, Bangladesh to the south-west, and the Indian states of Mizoram to the west and Manipur t ...
,
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
, and also in
Mizoram
Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
Falam Chin is closely related to most Central Chin languages, especially
Hakha Chin
Hakha Chin, Laiholh, or Pawi is a Kuki-Chin languages, Kuki-Chin language spoken in central Chin State in Myanmar, and Lawngtlai district of Mizoram, India. Hakha Chin-speaking minorities are also found in the Sagaing and Magway Regions of Mya ...
.
The Falam people are primarily Christian and have translated the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
into Falam Chin.
Dialects
''
Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...
'' lists the following dialects of Falam.
*Tlaisun (Shunkla, Sunkhla, Taishon, Tashom, Tashon)
*Laizo (Laiso, Laizao, Laizo-Shimhrin)
*Zahao (Lyen-Lyem, JaHau Yahow, Zahau, Zahau-Shimhrin, Za-How)
*Sim
Falam was a village name founded by the Tlaisun (also known as Tashon in English) tribe and Tashon was the original language spoken in Falam. Falam became increased in population from the surrounding tribes from Sunthla (also recorded as Sunkhla), Sim and Zahau (also recorded as Zahao) that created a new language based on these three tribes which are very different from Tlaisun language and this language was later popularly known as Laizo language. Laizo language was recorded as the first language used in the official radio broadcasting dialect of Chin in
Myanmar (Burma)
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
. In order to be inclusive in Laizo language this language was later changed to Falam language although its official name recorded in the government is Laizo.
Rupini and Koloi are also reported to be quite different.
Dialects once misleadingly called Southern
Luhupa are actually Northern Kuki-Chin, and evidently Falam.
''Ethnologue'' reports the following speaker populations of Falam dialects as of 1983: 9,000 Taisun, 16,000 Zanniat, 7,000 Khualsim, 4,000 Lente, 14,400 Zahau, 18,600 Laizo.
Written/Spoken Falam Chin
This is a sample of written Falam Chin:
Falam Chin is written in romanized form, or in the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, with the exception of the letters Q, Y, J and X. However, the consonant ''ṭ'' (t with dot), ''ng'' (Guttural sound), and ''aw'' vowel (
IPA
IPA commonly refers to:
* India pale ale, a style of beer
* International Phonetic Alphabet, a system of phonetic notation
* Isopropyl alcohol, a chemical compound
IPA may also refer to:
Organizations International
* Insolvency Practitioners ...
[] or []) are frequently used in both Chin literature and speaking.
Falam Chin Characters
Consonants
b c d f g h j k l m n p r s t ṭ v z
Vowels
a .... as in amphibious
aw.... as in omega (Long vowel)
e .... as in example
i .... as in interesting
o .... as in son (Short vowel)
u .... as in due
The Falam language has five spoken vowels, but in writing, six are used. Of the five spoken, three of them, /u/, /a/, and /ɔ/ are spoke from the back of the mouth, /i/ is spoken from the top of the mouth, and /e/ is spoken from the middle. /ɔ/ can be pronounced as aw or o.
,
References
Further reading
*Dum, James Qial; Van Kyi; S Hrang Kap Hnin (eds). 2009.
Mirang—Lai (Falam) dictionary / Mirang Ca Zirpawl hrang'. Lailun Foundation.
*Bibles International. 2009. ''Falam primer''. Bibles International: The Bible Society of Baptist Mid-Missions.
*Bibles International. 2008.
Falam writers' handbook'. Bibles International: The Bible Society of Baptist Mid-Missions.
*Bibles International. 2009.
Chin Cangantui Kutkaih / Chin Writers' Handbook - Falam'. Bibles International: The Bible Society of Baptist Mid-Missions.
{{Languages of Northeast India
Kuki-Chin languages
Languages of Mizoram