Sorbung is a recently discovered
Sino-Tibetan
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. ...
language spoken in
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 ...
, northeastern India. Although the speakers are ethnically
Tangkhul, it appears to be a non-Tangkhulic
Kuki-Chin language
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 spoken in northeastern India, western Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh. Most speakers of the ...
, as it shows strong links with what was called 'Southern Tangkhul' in Brown (1837), which was also a non-Tangkhulic language spoke by ethnic Tangkhul.
[Mortenson, David and Jennifer Keogh. 2011. "Sorbung, an Undocumented Language of Manipur: its Phonology and Place in Tibeto-Burman". In ''JEALS'' 4, vol 1. http://jseals.org/JSEALS-4-1.pdf]
Sorbung is spoken by about 300 people of Sorbung village,
Ukhrul District
Ukhrul district ( Meitei pronunciation:/ˈuːkˌɹəl or ˈuːkˌɹʊl/) is an administrative district of the state of Manipur in India with its headquarters at Ukhrul, that is Hunphun. The district occupies the north-eastern corner of the state ...
,
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 ...
, northeastern India. Sorbung speakers consider themselves to be ethnic Tangkhul.
A language that is unambiguously Tangkhulic is spoken in nearby Tusom village. Kuki (
Thadou) and
Maring are also spoken in neighboring villages.
See also
*
Southern Luhupa language
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 Ch ...
References
Kuki-Chin languages
Tangkhulic languages
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