Languages
The following languages are widely accepted as Central Naga languages: * Ao language ** Chungli Ao ** Mongsen Ao * Sangtam ('Thukumi') * Yimkhiungrü ('Yachumi') * Lotha (Lhota) There are also various undescribed Ao varieties including Yacham and Tengsa, which may turn out to be separate languages (see Mongsen Ao). The following "Naga" languages spoken in and around Leshi Township, Myanmar are classified as Ao languages ("Ao-Yimkhiungrü") by Saul (2005).Saul, J. D. 2005. ''The Naga of Burma: Their festivals, customs and way of life''. Bangkok, Thailand: Orchid Press. * Koki * Makury * Long Phuri * Para Hsiu (2021) places Makury, Long Phuri, and Para into a Greater Central Naga branch, but excludes Koki (Kokak). *Greater Central Naga ** Makury ** Long Phuri ** Para (Jejara) **Central Naga *** Lotha *** Sangtam *** Yimchungrü *** Ao Bruhn (2014:370) also surmises that Makury may be an Ao language. Bruhn (2014) uses the term ''Central Naga'' to refer to all of the languages above, and uses the ''Ao'' to refer to only two languages, namely Chungli Ao and Mongsen Ao. The internal structure of Bruhn's Central Naga group is as follows. ;Central Naga * Lotha * Sangtam * Yimkhiungrü * Ao ** Chungli Ao ** Mongsen Ao Coupe (2023) suggests that Wui, a recently described divergent language of eastern Nagaland, is likely a divergent Aoic (i.e., Central Naga) language.Reconstruction
Proto-Central Naga (Proto-Ao) has been reconstructed by Bruhn (2014). Bruhn (2014:363) identifies the following four sound changes from Proto-Tibeto-Burman (PTB) to Proto-Central Naga (PCN) as sound changes that are characteristic of the Central Naga branch. #PTB *-a(ː)w, *-əw, *-ow, *-u > PCN *-u(ʔ) ‘back diphthong merger’ #PTB *-r > PCN *-n ‘*r-coda nasalization’ #PTB *-s > PCN *-t ‘*s-coda occlusivization’ #PTB *-i(ː)l, *‑al, *‑uːl > PCN *‑ə(ʔ) ‘*l-rime erosion’See also
* Ao Naga * Lotha Naga * Sangtam Naga * T Senka Ao * Yimkhiung NagaReferences
*van Driem, George (2001). ''Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region.'' Leiden: Brill. *Bruhn, Daniel Wayne. 2014.