The Kuki-Chin–Naga languages are a geographic clustering of languages of the
Sino-Tibetan family in
James Matisoff
James Alan Matisoff ( zh, , t=馬蒂索夫, s=马蒂索夫, p=Mǎdìsuǒfū or zh, , t=馬提索夫, s=马提索夫, p=Mǎtísuǒfū; born July 14, 1937) is an American linguist. He is a professor emeritus of linguistics at the University of Cal ...
's classification used by ''
Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' 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 comprehensive catalogue of languages. It w ...
'', which groups it under the non-
monophyletic
In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria:
# the grouping contains its own most recent co ...
"Tibeto-Burman".
[SIL ''Ethnologue'']
/ref> Their genealogical relationship both to each other and to the rest of Sino-Tibetan is unresolved, but Matisoff lumps them together as a convenience pending further research.
The languages are spoken by the ethnically related Naga people
Nagas are various Tibeto-Burman languages, Tibeto-Burman ethnic groups native to northeastern India and northwestern Myanmar. The groups have similar cultures and traditions, and form the majority of population in the Indian state of Nagaland ...
of Nagaland
Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern 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 Naga Sel ...
, the Chin people of Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
, and the . The larger among these languages have communities of several tens of thousands of native speakers, and a few have more than 100,000, such as Mizo (674,756 in India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
as of 2001), Thadou (350,000) or Lotha language (180,000).
"Kuki" and "Chin" are essentially synonyms, whereas the Naga speak languages belonging to several Sino-Tibetan branches.
Languages
The established branches are:
* Kuki-Chin
** Northwestern / Southern Naga
** Northern
** Central
** Maraic
** Khomic
** Southern
* Naga
** Ao, in north-central Nagaland
Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern 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 Naga Sel ...
** Angami–Pochuri, in southern Nagaland
Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern 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 Naga Sel ...
** Tangkhul-Maring, in eastern Manipur
Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...
** Zeme, in northwestern Manipur
Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...
* Meitei, the official language of Manipur
Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...
* Karbi, in Karbi Anglong, Central Assam
Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...
The Konyak languages of Nagaland, also spoken by ethnic Naga, are not grouped within Kuki-Chin–Naga, but rather within Brahmaputran ( Sal).
''Ethnologue'' adds Koki, Long Phuri, Makuri, and Para, all unclassified, and all distant from other Naga languages they have been compared to. Koki is perhaps closest to (or one of) the Tangkhulic languages, and the other three may belong together.
Classification
Scott DeLancey (2015) considers Kuki-Chin–Naga to be part of a wider Central Tibeto-Burman group.
The following is a preliminary internal classification of the Kuki-Chin–Naga languages by Hsiu (2021).
References
Reconstructions
*Bruhn, Daniel W. 2014.
A phonological reconstruction of Proto-Central Naga
'. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.
*Mortensen, David R. 2012. ''Database of Tangkhulic Languages''. (unpublished ms. contributed to STEDT).
*VanBik, Kenneth. 2009.
Proto-Kuki-Chin: A reconstructed ancestor of the Kuki-Chin languages
'. STEDT Monograph Series 8. Berkeley, CA: STEDT.
*Khoi Lam Thang. 2001.
A phonological reconstruction of Proto Chin
'. M.A. Dissertation, Payap University.
*Button, Christopher. 2011.
Proto Northern Chin
'. STEDT Monograph Series 10. Berkeley, CA: STEDT.
External links
Kuki-Chin-Naga
(Sino-Tibetan Branches Project)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuki-Chin-Naga languages
br:Yezhoù koukiek-tchinek