Amri Karbi, also known as Plains Karbi, Dumrali, is a

Tibeto-Burman language The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non- Sinitic members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken throughout the Southeast Asian Massif ("Zomia") as well as parts of East Asia and South Asia. Around 60 million people spe ...

spoken in parts of the states of

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 ...

and

Meghalaya Meghalaya (; "the abode of clouds") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeast India. Its capital is Shillong. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the Assam: the United Khasi Hills an ...

Northeast India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...

. Amri Karbi variously treated as a variety of the

Karbi language The Karbi language () is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Karbi (also known as Mikir or Arlêng) people of Northeastern India. It is also called Hills Karbi to differentiate it from Plains Karbi (Amri Karbi) which is variously treated a ...

or as its own language. Amri Karbi is divided into two regional varieties: Upper Amri and Lower Amri. It is distinct from the speech of a group also called Amri Karbi in the west of the

Karbi Anglong district Karbi Anglong district is an District, administrative unit in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Assam. It is an autonomous district administered by the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) according to the provisions ...

in Assam, who speak a Hills Karbi dialect.

Phonology

Consonants

Amri has 23 phonemic consonants. Allophones or alternative pronunciations are included in parentheses in the table below. Alternative realization of /pʰ/ amongst some members of the younger generation. Allophone of /ɟ/.

Vowels

Amri Karbi has 7 vowels, 2 of which are marginal phonemes (included in parentheses in the table below). In addition, there are the diphthongs /ai/ and /ɔi/.

Tone

Three phonemic tones exist in Amri Karbi: low, mid, and high.

Phonotactics

The maximum syllable in Amri Karbi is (C)(C)V(V)(C). A limited number of onset clusters occur, the first element of which is a voiceless stop or the glottal fricative /h/, followed by /l/ or /r/. Depending on the speaker, clusters /hl/ and /hr/ can variably be produced as and or hand h All consonants but /ŋ/ can appear syllable-initially. The only consonants able to occur syllable-finally are nasals /m n ŋ/, liquids /l r/, and voiceless unaspirated /p t k/. The latter three are realized as unreleased ̚ t̚ k̚when syllable-final.

Orthography

Latin script The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae in Magna Graecia. The Gree ...

is used for institutional practice, both Latin and

Assamese script Assamese may refer to: * Assamese people, a socio-ethnolinguistic identity of north-eastern India * People of Assam, multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic and multi-religious people of Assam * Assamese language, one of the easternmost Indo-Aryan language ...

are used in various publications.

Locations

Amri (Karbi) language is spoken in the following locations in India (''Ethnologue''). *

Kamrup district Kamrup Rural district, or simply Kamrup district (Pron: ˈkæmˌrəp or ˈkæmˌru:p), is an administrative districts of Assam, district in the state of Assam in India formed by dividing the Undivided Kamrup district, old Kamrup district into t ...

(south of the

Brahmaputra River The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Southwestern China, Northeastern India, and Bangladesh. It is known as Brahmaputra or Luit in Assamese language, Assamese, Yarlung Tsangpo in Lhasa Tibetan, Tibetan, the Siang/Dihan ...

): Chandubi, Loharghat, Rani block, Jalukbari, Pandu, Basbistha, Panikhaith, Jorabat, Sonapur, Khetri, and Kahi Kusi *

Ri-Bhoi district Ri Bhoi () is an administrative district in the state of Meghalaya in India. The district headquarters are located at Nongpoh. The district occupies an area of 2378 km² and has a population of 258,840 (as of 2011). As of 2011 it is the sec ...

: Nongpoh area, Barni Hat, and Umling

References

Kuki-Chin–Naga languages Languages of Assam Languages of Meghalaya {{st-lang-stub