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 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. ...

spoken in northeastern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, western

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

and southeastern

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. Most speakers of these languages are known as Mizo in

Mizoram Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo", the self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo language means "lan ...

and

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 ...

. Also, as Kukī in Assamese and

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

and as Chin in Burmese; some also identify as Zomi. Mizo is the most widely spoken of the Kuki-Chin languages. Kuki-Chin is sometimes placed under Kuki-Chin–Naga, a geographical rather than linguistic grouping. Most Kuki-Chin languages are spoken in and around

Chin State Chin State (, ) is a state in western Myanmar. The Chin State is bordered by Sagaing Division and Magway Division to the east, Rakhine State to the south, Bangladesh to the south-west, and the Indian states of Mizoram to the west and Ma ...

, with some languages spoken in

Sagaing Division Sagaing Region ( my, စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Sagaing Division) is an administrative region of Myanmar, located in the north-western part of the country between latitude 21° 30' north and lo ...

Magway Region Magway Region ( my, မကွေးတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Magway Division) is an administrative division in central Myanmar. It is the second largest of Myanmar's seven divisions, with an area of . Pa Del Dam (ပဒ� ...

and

Rakhine State Rakhine State (; , , ; formerly known as Arakan State) is a state in Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady Region to the east, the Bay of Ben ...

as well. In

Northeast India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

, many Northern Kuki-Chin languages are also spoken in

State and

State of India, especially in Churachandpur District, Pherzawl District,

Kangpokpi District Kangpokpi district ( Meitei pronunciation: /kāng-pōk-pī/), also known as Sadar Hills district, is one of the 16 districts in the Indian state of Manipur. It was created in December 2016 from areas in the Sadar Hills region which were pre ...

, Senapati District. Northwestern Kuki-Chin languages are spoken mostly in Chandel District, Manipur. Kuki-Chin is alternatively called ''South-Central'' Trans-Himalayan (or ''South Central'' Tibeto-Burman) by Konnerth (2018), because of negative connotations of the term "Kuki-Chin" for many speakers of languages in this group.

Internal classification

The

Karbi language The Karbi language () is spoken by the Karbi (also known as Mikir or Arleng) people of Northeastern India. It belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family, but its position is unclear. Grierson (1903) classified it under Naga languages, Shafer ...

s may be closely related to Kuki-Chin, but Thurgood (2003) and van Driem (2011) leave Karbi unclassified within Sino-Tibetan. The Kuki-Chin branches listed below are from VanBik (2009), with the '' Northwestern'' branch added from Scott DeLancey, et al. (2015), and the '' Khomic'' branch (which has been split off from the ''Southern'' branch) from Peterson (2017). ;Kuki-Chin * Central: Mizo (Duhlian), Bawm (Sunthla and Panghawi),

Falam Falam (, ) is a town in north-western Burma (Myanmar) near Burma's western border with the Indian state of Mizoram. The town was founded by Taisun tribe. The British arrived to Falam in 1892, and became an important base for British rule of the ...

(Hallam, Hauhulh, Simpi, Hualngo,

Chorei 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 C ...

), Tawr, Hmar, Hrangkhol, Biate (Biete), Hakha (Lai/Pawi, Mi-E, Zokhua), Pangkhua, Saihriem, Laizo/ Tlaisun, Khualsim,

Zanniat The Zanniat tribe are people of western Myanmar (Burma) who are a sub-group of the Chin peoples. The Zanniat tribe has fifty-seven sub-groupings and clans. The group's existence was recorded (along with three of its many sub-groups) in Burma's 193 ...

, Zahau * Maraic: Mara (Tlosai , Hawthai , Hlaipao ), Zophei, Senthang, Zotung (Lungngo, Calthawn, Innmai), Lautu * Northern: Suantak-Vaiphei, Zo (Zou), Paite,

Tedim Tedim (, , ( Zo: ''Tedim Khawpi'', pronounced ; is a town in and the administrative seat of Tedim Township, Chin State, in the north-western part of Burma. It is the second largest town in Chin State. The town's four major boroughs (''vengte'') ...

, Thado (Kuki), Gangte, Simte, Vaiphei, Sizang,

Ralte {{unreferenced, date=June 2016 The Ralte tribes were mostly found scattered in the northern part of today's Aizawl, Kolasib and Serchhip Mamit, Lunglei District and all over Mizoram. Tahan (Myanmar) Bangladesh, Tripura, Assam and Manipur India . Th ...

, Ngawn * Southern: Shö (Asho/Khyang, Chinbon), Thaiphum, Daai (Nitu), Mün, Yindu,

Matu The Matu District is a district in Mukah Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. Before Mukah Division was established, Matu was within Sibu Division. There are more than 20 villages in the district, with Melanau Melanau or ''A-Likou'' (meaning River ...

, Welaung (Rawngtu), Kaang, Laitu,

Rungtu Rungtu (Rungtu Chin), also known as Taungtha ( my, တောင်သားဘာသာစကား) is a moribund Kuki-Chin language of Burma spoken by the Taungtha people. It is spoken in 35 villages in Htilin, Kyaukhtu, and Saw townships, Mag ...

, Songlai, Sumtu * Khomic: Khumi (Khumi proper and Khumi Awa), Mro, Rengmitca, etc. * Northwestern ( Southern Naga): Monsang,

Moyon Moyon () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Moyon Villages.Lamkang, Aimol,

Anal Anal may refer to: Related to the anus *Related to the anus of animals: ** Anal fin, in fish anatomy ** Anal vein, in insect anatomy ** Anal scale, in reptile anatomy *Related to the human anus: ** Anal sex, a type of sexual activity involving s ...

, Tarao, Koireng (Kolhreng),

Chiru The Tibetan antelope or chiru (''Pantholops hodgsonii'') (, pronounced ; ) is a medium-sized bovid native to the northeastern Tibetan plateau. Most of the population live within the Chinese border, while some scatter across India and Bhutan in ...

Kom Kom or KOM may refer to: Ethnic groups * Kom people (Afghanistan), a Nuristani tribe in Afghanistan and Pakistan * Kom people (Cameroon), an ethnic group of northwest Cameroon * Kom people (India) a subgroup of the Kuki in north-eastern India * ...

, Chothe, Purum, Kharam, Darlong and Ranglong are unclassified Kuki-Chin language. The recently discovered Sorbung language may be mixed language that could classify as either a Kuki-Chin or Tangkhul language (Mortenson & Keogh 2011).David Mortenson and Jennifer Keogh. 2011.
Sorbung, an Undocumented Language of Manipur: its Phonology and Place in Tibeto-Burman
, in ''JEALS'' 4, vol 1. Anu-Hkongso speakers self-identify as ethnic Chin people, although their language is closely related to Mru rather than to Kuki-Chin languages. The

Mruic languages Mruic or Mru–Hkongso is a small group of Sino-Tibetan languages consisting of two poorly attested languages, Mru and Anu-Hkongso. Their relationship within Sino-Tibetan is unclear. Peterson & Wright (2009)Peterson, David A. and Jonathan Wrig ...

constitute a separate Tibeto-Burman branch, and are not part of Kuki-Chin.

VanBik (2009)

Kenneth VanBik's (2009:23) classified the Kuki-Chin languages based on shared

sound changes A sound change, in historical linguistics, is a change in the pronunciation of a language. A sound change can involve the replacement of one speech sound (or, more generally, one phonetic feature value) by a different one (called phonetic chang ...

(phonological innovations) from Proto-Kuki-Chin as follows. Kuki-Chin * Central: *k(ʰ)r-, *p(ʰ)r- > *t(ʰ)r-; *k(ʰ)l-, *p(ʰ)l- > *t(ʰ)l-; *y- > *z- ** Pangkhua? ** Lamtuk Thet: Lamtuk, Ruavan ** Lai *** Hakha: Hakha,

Thantlang Thantlang (, ; also Thlantlang or Htantlang in Burmese transliteration) is a town and the administrative center of Thantlang Township in Chin State, western Myanmar (formerly Burma). Names Thantlang was formerly known as Thlan Tlang ("Cemete ...

, Zokhua ***

: Bawm, Bualkhaw, Laizo, Lente, Khualsim, Khuangli, Sim, Tlaisun,

** Mizo *** Mizo: Fanai, Hualngo, Lushai, Khiangte *** Hmar: Khosak, Thiek, Lawitlang, Khawbung, Darngawn, Lungtau, Leiri * Maraic: *kr- > *ts-; *-ʔ, *-r, *-l > -Ø; *-p, *-t, *-k > *-ʔ; *θ- > *s- ** Mara ***Tlosai ****Saikao ****Siaha ***Hlaipao ****Heima ****Lialai ****Vahapi/Zyhno ***HawThai ****Sizo *****Ngaphepi *****Sabyu *****Chapi ****Lyvaw *****Lochei *****Tisih *****Phybyu ** Lautu ***Hnaro ***Chawngthia ** Zophei ***Vytu ***Sate/Awsa ** Senthang ***Khuapi ***Surkhua ** Zotung *h- > *f-; *kr- > *r-; *khl- > *kh-, *l-; *c(^h)- > *t(^h)-/*s-; *y- > *z-/*z(^h)-; *w- > *v- ***Calthawng ***Innmai ***Lungngo/Tinpa *Peripheral: *r- > *g- ** Northern: *θ- > *ts-; *kl- > *tl-; *-r > *-k *** Thado/ Kuki,

, Khuangsai, Paite Vuite,

*** Sizang, Guite, Vaiphei,

, ** Southern (Southern Plains): *-r > *-y *** Khumi: Khomi, Wakung *** Cho-Asho ****Asho ****Cho:

; Chinpon; Daai, Nghmoye, Ngmuun, Mkaang

Peterson (2017)

David A. Peterson's (2017:206)Peterson, David. 2017. "On Kuki-Chin subgrouping." In Picus Sizhi Ding and Jamin Pelkey, eds. ''Sociohistorical linguistics in Southeast Asia: New horizons for Tibeto-Burman studies in honor of David Bradley'', 189-209. Leiden: Brill. internal classification of the Kuki-Chin languages is as follows. ;Kuki-Chin * Northwestern: '' Purum (Naga), Koireng, Monsang (Naga)'', etc. *Central ** Core Central ** Maraic *Peripheral **

Northeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

** Khomic: ''Khami/ Khumi, Mro-Khimi, Lemi, Rengmitca'', etc. ** Southern ***''Cho'' ***Daai'' ***''Hyow''/'' Asho'' Peterson's ''Northeastern'' branch corresponds to VanBik's ''Northern'' branch, while Peterson's ''Northwestern'' corresponds to the ''Old Kuki'' branch of earlier classifications.

References

Bibliography

* George van Driem (2001) ''Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region.'' Brill, . * VanBik, Kenneth. 2009. ''Proto-Kuki-Chin: A Reconstructed Ancestor of the Kuki-Chin Languages''. STEDT Monograph 8. .

External links

Tlângsam: Latest News in Hmar language – Mizoram, Manipur, Assam, NE India

Recent Advances in Kuki-Chin Linguistics
{{Languages of Northeast India Languages of India Languages of Bangladesh