Mizo languages
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Central Kuki-Chin is a branch of the
Kuki-Chin languages 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 spoken in northeastern India, western Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh. Most speakers of the ...
. Central Kuki-Chin languages are spoken primarily 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 other parts of
North East India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...
and also in
Hakha Township Hakha Township ( my, ဟားခါးမြို့နယ်) is a township of Hakha District in the Chin State of Burma. It surrounds the city of Hakha, the state capital. It became part of Falam District until Hakha District was formed by ...
and Falam Township of
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 ...
,
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 ...
.


Official use

Mizo is the
official language An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...
of
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 ...
State, India.


Classification

VanBik (2009:23) classifies the Central Kuki-Chin languages as follows. ;Central Kuki-Chin * Pangkhua? * Laamtuk Thet (Tawr): Laamtuk, Ruavaan dialects * Lai languages ** Hakha cluster: Halkha, Farrawn,
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 ...
, Mi-E, Zokhua **
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 ...
cluster: Bawm, Bualkhaw, Laizo, Lente, Khualsim, Khuangli, Sim, Tlaisun,
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 ...
* Mizo languages ** Mizo cluster: Fanai, Hualngo,
Lusei The Mizo people (Mizo: ''Mizo hnam'') are an ethnic group native to the Indian state of Mizoram and neighbouring regions of Northeast India. The term covers several related ethnic groups or clans inside the Mizo group. All Mizo tribes and clan ...
, Khiangte, Renthlei ** Hmar cluster: Hmar, Biete , Hrangkhol , Sakachep ,Zote ,Thiek , Saihriem(Faihriem) ,etc VanBik (2009) is unsure about the classification of Pangkhua, and tentatively places it within Central Kuki-Chin.


Sound changes

VanBik (2009) lists the following sound changes from Proto-Kuki-Chin to Proto-Central Chin. *Proto-Kuki-Chin *k(ʰ)r-, *p(ʰ)r- > Proto-Central Chin *''t(ʰ)r''- *Proto-Kuki-Chin *k(ʰ)l-, *p(ʰ)l- > Proto-Central Chin *''t(ʰ)l''- *Proto-Kuki-Chin *y- > Proto-Central Chin *''z''-


See also

*
Lai languages The Lai languages or Pawih/Pawi languages are various Central Kuki-Chin-Mizo languages spoken by the Lai people or Pawi. They include “ Laiṭong” ( Falam-Chin) spoken in Falam district, ''Laiholh'' ( Hakha-Chin) spoken around the Haka (Hakha ...


References

*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. *VanBik, Kenneth. 2009. ''Proto-Kuki-Chin: A Reconstructed Ancestor of the Kuki-Chin Languages''. STEDT Monograph 8. . {{Kuki-Chin–Naga languages *