The Kuki-Chin languages (also called Kuki-Chin-Mizo, Kukish or South-Central Tibeto-Burman languages) are a branch of 50 or so
Sino-Tibetan languages
Sino-Tibetan, also cited as Trans-Himalayan in a few sources, is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 billion native speakers of Chinese languages. ...
spoken in northeastern
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 ...
, western
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 southeastern
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
. Most speakers of these languages are known as Mizo 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 ...
and
Manipur
Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
and as
Chin
The chin is the forward pointed part of the anterior mandible (List_of_human_anatomical_regions#Regions, mental region) below the lower lip. A fully developed human skull has a chin of between 0.7 cm and 1.1 cm.
Evolution
The presence of a we ...
in Burmese; some also identify as Zomi. Mizo is the most widely spoken of the Kuki-Chin languages.
Kuki-Chin is sometimes placed under Kuki-Chin–Naga, a geographical rather than linguistic grouping.
Most Kuki-Chin languages are spoken in and around
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 ...
, with some languages spoken in
Sagaing Division
Sagaing Region ( my, စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Sagaing Division) is an administrative region of Myanmar, located in the north-western part of the country between latitude 21° 30' north and lon ...
,
Magway Region
Magway Region ( my, မကွေးတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Magway Division) is an administrative divisions of Myanmar, administrative division in central Myanmar. It is the second largest of Myanmar's seven divisions, ...
and
Rakhine State
Rakhine State (; , , ; formerly known as Arakan State) is a Administrative divisions of Myanmar, state in Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady R ...
, many Northern Kuki-Chin languages are also spoken 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 ...
State and
Manipur
Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...
State of India, especially in
Churachandpur District
Churachandpur District ( Meitei pronunciation: ''/tʃʊraːˌtʃaːnɗpʊr/''), is one of the 16 districts in the southwestern corner of the Indian state of Manipur that covers an area of . It is named after the Meitei King Churachand Singh ...
Kangpokpi District
Kangpokpi district ( Meitei pronunciation: /kāng-pōk-pī/), also known as Sadar Hills district, is one of the 16 districts in the Indian state of Manipur. It was created in December 2016 from areas in the Sadar Hills region which were pre ...
, Senapati District. Northwestern Kuki-Chin languages are spoken mostly in Chandel District, Manipur.
Kuki-Chin is alternatively called ''South-Central'' Trans-Himalayan (or ''South Central'' Tibeto-Burman) by Konnerth (2018), because of negative connotations of the term "Kuki-Chin" for many speakers of languages in this group.
Internal classification
The
Karbi language
The Karbi language () is spoken by the Karbi (also known as Mikir or Arleng) people of Northeastern India.
It belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family, but its position is unclear. Grierson (1903) classified it under Naga languages, Shafer ...
s may be closely related to Kuki-Chin, but Thurgood (2003) and van Driem (2011) leave Karbi unclassified within Sino-Tibetan.
The Kuki-Chin branches listed below are from VanBik (2009), with the '' Northwestern'' branch added from Scott DeLancey, et al. (2015), and the '' Khomic'' branch (which has been split off from the ''Southern'' branch) from Peterson (2017).
;Kuki-Chin
*
Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
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 ...
(Hallam, Hauhulh, Simpi, Hualngo,
Chorei
Falam Chin, or Lai (Falam Chin), is a Kuki-Chin language in Falam township, Chin State, Myanmar, and also in Mizoram, India.
Falam Chin is closely related to most Central Chin languages, especially Hakha Chin.
The Falam people are primarily C ...
Hmar
Hmar may refer to:
*Hmars or Hmar people
*Hmar language
Hmar language, also known by its endonym Khawsak Ṭawng, belongs to the Kukish branch of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. The speakers of the language are also known as Hmar. Acc ...
Hakha
Hakha (, ; formerly rendered Haka) is the capital of Chin State in Myanmar.
Hakha is located in the northeast of Chin State, with a total area of about . The city of Hakha is more than above sea level, founded on a small highland plateau. Althou ...
Zanniat The Zanniat tribe are people of western Myanmar (Burma) who are a sub-group of the Chin peoples. The Zanniat tribe has fifty-seven sub-groupings and clans. The group's existence was recorded (along with three of its many sub-groups) in Burma's 193 ...
Tedim
Tedim (, , ( Zo: ''Tedim Khawpi'', pronounced ; is a town in and the administrative seat of Tedim Township, Chin State, in the north-western part of Burma. It is the second largest town in Chin State. The town's four major boroughs (''vengte'') ...
Ralte {{unreferenced, date=June 2016
The Ralte tribes were mostly found scattered in the northern part of today's Aizawl, Kolasib and Serchhip Mamit, Lunglei District and all over Mizoram. Tahan (Myanmar) Bangladesh, Tripura, Assam and Manipur India . Th ...
Matu
The Matu District is a district in Mukah Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. Before Mukah Division was established, Matu was within Sibu Division. There are more than 20 villages in the district, with Melanau
Melanau or ''A-Likou'' (meaning River ...
Rungtu
Rungtu (Rungtu Chin), also known as Taungtha ( my, တောင်သားဘာသာစကား) is a moribund Kuki-Chin language of Burma spoken by the Taungtha people. It is spoken in 35 villages in Htilin, Kyaukhtu, and Saw townships, Mag ...
Moyon
Moyon () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Moyon Villages.Lamkang,
Aimol
The Aimol people are an ethnic group living mainly in Manipur and in parts of Mizoram, Tripura,Nagaland
Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the no ...
,
Anal
Anal may refer to:
Related to the anus
*Related to the anus of animals:
** Anal fin, in fish anatomy
** Anal vein, in insect anatomy
** Anal scale, in reptile anatomy
*Related to the human anus:
** Anal sex, a type of sexual activity involvin ...
Chiru
The Tibetan antelope or chiru (''Pantholops hodgsonii'') (, pronounced ; ) is a medium-sized bovid native to the northeastern Tibetan plateau. Most of the population live within the Chinese border, while some scatter across India and Bhutan in ...
,
Kom
Kom or KOM may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Kom people (Afghanistan), a Nuristani tribe in Afghanistan and Pakistan
* Kom people (Cameroon), an ethnic group of northwest Cameroon
* Kom people (India) a subgroup of the Kuki in north-eastern India
* ...
Sorbung
Sorbung is a recently discovered Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Manipur, northeastern India. Although the speakers are ethnically Tangkhul, it appears to be a non-Tangkhulic Kuki-Chin language, as it shows strong links with what was called 'Sou ...
Chin people
The Chin people (, ) are a Southeast Asian people native to Chin State and its neighbouring states of Myanmar.Head, JonathanBurma's 'abused Chin need help' ''BBC News'', Jan 28, 2009, accessed Jan 28, 2009 The Chin are one of the founding groups ...
, although their language is closely related to Mru rather than to Kuki-Chin languages. The
Mruic languages
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.
Peterson & Wright (2009)Peterson, David A. and Jonathan Wrig ...
constitute a separate Tibeto-Burman branch, and are not part of Kuki-Chin.
VanBik (2009)
Kenneth VanBik's (2009:23) classified the Kuki-Chin languages based on shared
sound changes
A sound change, in historical linguistics, is a change in the pronunciation of a language. A sound change can involve the replacement of one speech sound (or, more generally, one phonetic feature value) by a different one (called phonetic chang ...
(phonological innovations) from Proto-Kuki-Chin as follows.
Kuki-Chin
*
Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
Hakha
Hakha (, ; formerly rendered Haka) is the capital of Chin State in Myanmar.
Hakha is located in the northeast of Chin State, with a total area of about . The city of Hakha is more than above sea level, founded on a small highland plateau. Althou ...
:
Hakha
Hakha (, ; formerly rendered Haka) is the capital of Chin State in Myanmar.
Hakha is located in the northeast of Chin State, with a total area of about . The city of Hakha is more than above sea level, founded on a small highland plateau. Althou ...
,
Thantlang
Thantlang (, ; also Thlantlang or Htantlang in Burmese transliteration) is a town and the administrative center of Thantlang Township in Chin State, western Myanmar (formerly Burma).
Names
Thantlang was formerly known as Thlan Tlang ("Cemeter ...
, Zokhua
***
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 ...
Zanniat The Zanniat tribe are people of western Myanmar (Burma) who are a sub-group of the Chin peoples. The Zanniat tribe has fifty-seven sub-groupings and clans. The group's existence was recorded (along with three of its many sub-groups) in Burma's 193 ...
Hmar
Hmar may refer to:
*Hmars or Hmar people
*Hmar language
Hmar language, also known by its endonym Khawsak Ṭawng, belongs to the Kukish branch of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. The speakers of the language are also known as Hmar. Acc ...
Tedim
Tedim (, , ( Zo: ''Tedim Khawpi'', pronounced ; is a town in and the administrative seat of Tedim Township, Chin State, in the north-western part of Burma. It is the second largest town in Chin State. The town's four major boroughs (''vengte'') ...
Chiru
The Tibetan antelope or chiru (''Pantholops hodgsonii'') (, pronounced ; ) is a medium-sized bovid native to the northeastern Tibetan plateau. Most of the population live within the Chinese border, while some scatter across India and Bhutan in ...
Ralte {{unreferenced, date=June 2016
The Ralte tribes were mostly found scattered in the northern part of today's Aizawl, Kolasib and Serchhip Mamit, Lunglei District and all over Mizoram. Tahan (Myanmar) Bangladesh, Tripura, Assam and Manipur India . Th ...
Matu
The Matu District is a district in Mukah Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. Before Mukah Division was established, Matu was within Sibu Division. There are more than 20 villages in the district, with Melanau
Melanau or ''A-Likou'' (meaning River ...
David A. Peterson's (2017:206)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. internal classification of the Kuki-Chin languages is as follows.
;Kuki-Chin
* Northwestern: '' Purum (Naga), Koireng, Monsang (Naga)'', etc.
*Central
** Core Central
** Maraic
*Peripheral
**
Northeastern
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
** Khomic: ''Khami/ Khumi, Mro-Khimi, Lemi, Rengmitca'', etc.
** Southern
***''Cho''
***Daai''
***''Hyow''/'' Asho''
Peterson's ''Northeastern'' branch corresponds to VanBik's ''Northern'' branch, while Peterson's ''Northwestern'' corresponds to the ''Old Kuki'' branch of earlier classifications.
See also
*
Lai languages
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 ...
*
Pau Cin Hau script
The Pau Cin Hau scripts, known as Pau Cin Hau lai ('Pau Cin Hau script'), or Zo tual lai ('Zo indigenous script') in Zomi, are two scripts, a logographic script and an alphabetic script created by Pau Cin Hau, a Zomi religious leader from Chi ...
* George van Driem (2001) ''Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region.'' Brill, .
* VanBik, Kenneth. 2009. ''Proto-Kuki-Chin: A Reconstructed Ancestor of the Kuki-Chin Languages''. STEDT Monograph 8. .
Further reading
*Button, Christopher. 2011. ''Proto Northern Chin''. STEDT Monograph 10. . http://stedt.berkeley.edu/pubs_and_prods/STEDT_Monograph10_Proto-Northern-Chin.pdf
*
*
*Mann, Noel, and Wendy Smith. 2008 Chin bibliography Chiang Mai: Payap University.
*S. Dal Sian Pau. 2014. ''The comparative study of Proto-Zomi (Kuki-Chin) languages''. Lamka, Manipur, India: Zomi Language & Literature Society (ZOLLS). Paite,__Simte,_ Paite,__Simte,_Thangkhal_language">Thangkhal,_Zou_language.html" ;"title="Thangkhal_language.html" ;"title="omparative word list of Paite, Simte, Thangkhal language">Thangkhal, Zou language">Zou,
Kom
Kom or KOM may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Kom people (Afghanistan), a Nuristani tribe in Afghanistan and Pakistan
* Kom people (Cameroon), an ethnic group of northwest Cameroon
* Kom people (India) a subgroup of the Kuki in north-eastern India
* ...
Tedim
Tedim (, , ( Zo: ''Tedim Khawpi'', pronounced ; is a town in and the administrative seat of Tedim Township, Chin State, in the north-western part of Burma. It is the second largest town in Chin State. The town's four major boroughs (''vengte'') ...