Khumi, or Khumi Chin, is a Kuki-Chin-Mizo language of Myanmar (Burma), with some speakers across the border in Bangladesh. Khumi shares 75%–87%

lexical similarity In linguistics, lexical similarity is a measure of the degree to which the word sets of two given languages are similar. A lexical similarity of 1 (or 100%) would mean a total overlap between vocabularies, whereas 0 means there are no common words. ...

with Eastern Khumi, and 78-81% similarity with Mro-Khimi. A written script for Khumi was created between 1930–1949 by E.W. Francis.

Geographical distribution

Khumi proper is spoken in the following townships of Myanmar (''

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 ...

''). *

Kaladan river The Kaladan (, ) or Kissapanadi River (, ), also known as the Beino, Bawinu and Kolodyne, is a river in the eastern Mizoram, Mizoram State of India, and in Chin State and Rakhine State of western Myanmar. The Kaladan River is called the Chhimtuip ...

area in Paletwa township,

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

*A few villages in

Kyauktaw Kyauktaw ( ) is a town in northern Rakhine State, in the westernmost part of Myanmar. The famous Mahamuni Buddha image, currently at Amarapura, was originally situated near Kyauktaw, in the ruins of the old city of Dhanyawadi. The town was captur ...

township,

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

. Eastern Khumi (Khami) is spoken in the following townships of Myanmar (''

''). The Eastern Khumi dialects have a high degree of mutual intelligibility, with all dialects sharing at least 74% lexical similarity, although there are strong attitudes against sharing the same literature. In terms of

, Nisay, Nideun, and Khongtu dialects share 92%–97% while the Khenlak and Asang dialects also share 92%–97%. The Likhy variety of Eastern Khumi shares 86%–90% lexical similarity with Mro-Khimi Chin. * Matupi township,

(in 4 villages) *Sami subtownship, Paletwa township,

(in 85 villages)

Dialects

''Ethnologue'' lists the following dialects. *Khumi **Pi Chaung **Kaladan **Eastern Kaladan **Southern Paletwa *Eastern Khumi (Khami) **Nisay (Nise, Palyng, Tao Cha) **Nideun (Amlai, Ghu, Laungtha, Maru, Paru, Tahaensae, Taheunso, Uiphaw) **Lemi (Akelong, Aki Along, Kaja, Kajauk) **Khongtu **Likhy (Likhaeng) **Rengcaa (Namboi, Nangbwe) **Khenlak **Asang (Kasang, Sangtha) The Kasang (also known as Khenlak, Ta-aw, Hkongsa-Asang, Hkongso-Asang, Asang, and Sangta) consider themselves as ethnic Hkongso, but their language is intelligible with Khumi rather than Anu or Hkongso (Wright 2009).Jonathan Michael Wright. 2009.
Hkongso Grammar Sketch
'. MA thesis, Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics. Kasang villages include Lamoitong and Tuirong.

References

*Herr, Kristen. 2011.
The Phonological Interpretation of Minor Syllables, Applied to Lemi Chin
'. Master’s thesis. *Lung, K Nu San. 2017.
Vitality of Language and Music among the Lemi People In Southern Chin State of Myanmar
'. Master’s Thesis. *Peterson, David A. 2012. ''The Khumi cluster and its place in Kuki-Chin-Mizo''. Paper presented at ICSTLL 45, Singapore. {{Languages of Burma Kuki-Chin languages Languages of Bangladesh Languages of Myanmar