Tangkhul (Tangkhul Naga) is a

Sino-Tibetan language 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. ...

of the Tangkhulic branch. It is spoken in 168 villages of

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 ...

, India, with speakers scattered in

Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...

and

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the east a ...

as well. Within

, Tangkhul is spoken in the villages of Hundung,

Shiroi is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 63,190 in 26,204 households and a population density of 1800 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The name of the city comes from the word for ...

, Langdang, Lamlang Gate,

Litan Litan (died 900) was abbot of Tuam. Litan was the fifth known abbot of Tuam, County Galway, but nothing else appears to be known of him. He was the apparent successor of Cormac mac Ciaran but because the sabbatical succession of Tuam is f ...

, Yangangpokpi, and other locations (Arokianathan 1995). Tangkhul is not close to other

Naga languages The Naga languages are a geographic and ethnic grouping of languages under the Kuki-Chin-Naga languages, spoken mostly by Naga peoples. Northern Naga languages do not fall within the group, in spite of being spoken by Naga groups; instead, th ...

. It is a

dialect continuum A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of Variety (linguistics), language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulat ...

, in which speakers from neighboring villages may be able to understand each other, but a dialect farther north or south will be less easily understood, if at all. The ''

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...

'' is the Hunphun (

Ukhrul Ukhrul/Hunphun ( Meitei pronunciation:/ˈuːkˌɹəl or ˈuːkˌɹʊl/) is a town in the state of Manipur, India. Ukhrul is the home of the Tangkhul Nagas. It is the administrative headquarter of the Ukhrul district. There are also four sub-div ...

) dialect. Languages in the northern villages of

Chingjaroi Chingjaroi, originally known Asinei or Asewnei alternatively called Zingchui/Zingjui by the tangkhul, Shomai by the Poumai and khatchomi by the Chakhesangs is a large village located in northern Ukhrul district, Manipur state, India and bordered ...

Razai Arzaai or Razai ( Hindustani: रज़ाई, رزائی; Punjabi: ਰਜ਼ਾਈ, ; bn, রেজাই, rezāi) is a bedding (quilt) very similar to, if not a type of, duvet or comforter, used in Afghanistan, Pakistan, North India, Banglades ...

Jessami Jessami is a village in Ukhrul district, Manipur, India. Jessami is a border village in the extreme north of Manipur State and borders with Meluri, a border village of Nagaland State. Being nearer to Nagaland, the town used to get electricity fr ...

and Soraphung have languages under the Angami–Pochuri group of languages. The language

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

spoken by the people of Hunphun (the traditional name of Ukhrul) became the most common dialect among the Tangkhuls because the British set up their administration in Ukhrul. The American Baptist missionary Rev. William Pettigrew translated the Bible into the Hunphun dialect.

Phonology

Consonants

* Stop sounds /p t tʃ k/ may have voiced allophones d dʒ ɡin free variation. * /m/ may be heard as �when preceding /f/ or /ʋ/. * /r/ can be heard as or �in free variation.

Vowels

* /i e a u/ can have allophone sounds of � ɛ ɐ ɯin free variation.

References

{{Languages of Northeast India Tangkhulic languages Languages of Manipur Languages of Nagaland