The Zemeic, Zeme, or Zeliangrong
[Mortensen, David R. (2003). �]
Comparative Tangkhul
” Unpublished Qualifying Paper, UC Berkeley. languages are a branch of
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 mostly in Indian state of
Nagaland
Nagaland () is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, northeastern 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 ...
,
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
and
Manipur
Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a States and territories of India, 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 ...
in
northeast India
, native_name_lang = mni
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, image_map = Northeast india.png
, ...
. It may have close relationship with other
Naga languages
The Naga languages are a geographic and ethnic grouping of languages under the Kuki-Chin-Naga languages, spoken mostly by Naga peoples.
Northern Naga languages do not fall within the group, in spite of being spoken by Naga groups; instead, th ...
pending further research. The corresponding ethnic group is the
Zeliangrong
Zeliangrong people are one of the major indigenous Naga communities living in the tri-junction of Assam, Manipur and Nagaland in India. They are the descendants of
Nguiba. The term "Zeliangrong" refers to the Zeme, Liangmai and Rongmei Nag ...
people. There were 63,529 Zeliang-speaking people in India in 2011.
''Ethnologue'' gives the name ''Western Naga'' for the Zeme languages.
Languages
The Zemeic languages are:
*
Zeme
*
Liangmai
*
Rongmei Rongmei may refer to:
* Rongmei people, an ethnic group of north-eastern India
* Rongmei language, the Sino-Tibetan language they speak
See also
*Kabui Naga language (disambiguation)
{{Disambiguation
Language and nationality disambiguation pa ...
*
Mzieme (Northern Zeme)
*
Puiron
*
Khoirao (Thangal)
*
Maram Maram may refer to:
* Maram people, tribals of northeast India
** Maram language, a Naga language of India
* Maram language (Austroasiatic), also of India
* Maram (horse) (2006–2012), an American female Thoroughbred racehorse
* Maram (drum), a pe ...
The Zeme and Rongmei language clusters are close enough to sometimes be considered dialects of a single ''Zeliang'' language.
Van Driem (2011) lists the varieties, from south to north, as:
:Mzieme, Khoirao, Maram, Puiron, Zeme (also known as Empeo Naga, Kacha Naga, Kochu Naga), Nruanghmei (also known as Rongmei, Kabui), Liangmai (also known as Kwoireng)
(
Inpui and
Puimei, which are sometimes listed, are not distinct.)
References
* George van Driem (2001) ''Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region.'' Brill.
*
Languages of India
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