Khiamniungan language

Khiamniungan, also known as Khiamniungan Naga, is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Khiamniungan people in Noklak district of Nagaland, easternmost part of India. The location to be bordering Myanmar in the East, Tuensang to the West, Mon to the North, and Kiphire in the South. There are numerous local tongues varied from village to village or to geographical ranges, such as Patsho, Thang, Peshu, Nokhu and Wolam.^[2]

Khiamniungan
Native to	Nagaland, India
Ethnicity	Khiamniungan
Native speakers	61,983 (2011 census)[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Brahmaputran Konyak Konyak–Chang Khiamniungic Khiamniungan
Language codes
ISO 639-3	kix
Glottolog	khia1236
ELP	Khiamniungan Naga

In general, it is divided into two dialect groups, Northern Khiamniungan Naga and Southern Khiamniungan Naga.

Names

Alternate names for Khiamniungan include Aoshedd, Khiamnga, Kalyokengnyu, Khiamngan, Khiamniungan, Nokaw, Tukhemmi, and Welam (Ethnologue).

Distribution and status

There are approximately 50,000 speakers of Khiamniungan. There are an estimated 29 Khiamniungan villages in India and 132 in Burma.^[3] "Khiamniungan" is the autonym for the language, which means "the source of water" or "water people", whereas Kalyokengnyu is an exonym meaning "dwelling in stone", given to the group by European anthropologists after the slate roof houses the people lived in.^[4] The low number of speakers of Khiamniugan makes it vulnerable, but it is taught in schools and supported by the government through cultural programs.^[5]

Classification

Khamniungic fits into the following language branches, as proposed by van Dam (2023).^[6]

• Patkaian (= Northern Naga)
  • SE Patkaian: Khamniungic, Lainong, Ponyiu-Gongwan, Makyam
    • Khamniungic: Thang, Patsho, Wolam (but not Lainong or Makyam)

Writing system

Like most languages spoken in Nagaland, Khiamniungan is written in a Latin alphabet, due to the early Christian missionary presence in the region.^[7]

History of scholarship

Most of the information of Khiamniungan comes from its inclusion in studies of the Naga or Konyak languages by the Central Institute for Indian Languages in Mysore. There is also a Khiamniungan vocabulary published in 1974 by Nagaland Bhasha-Parishad.^[8]

See also

• Khiamniungan people

References

1. "Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
2. "Pathso range students lauds Khiamniungan Tribal Council for promoting linguistic diversity-RRSU lauds KTC". chungtimes.com. 15 July 2024.
3. Pillai, S.K. (2001). The Water People: a Khiamniungan landscape. India International Centre Quarterly, Vol. 27/28, Vol. 27, no. 4/Vol. 28, no. 1: The Human Landscape, 95–108. Retrieved from JSTOR.
4. Matisoff, J. (1996). Languages and dialects of Tibeto-Burman (2nd ed., p. 76). Berkeley: STEDT.
5. Khiamniungan language at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
6. van Dam, Kellen Parker; Thaam, Keen (2023). A First Description of Wolam Ngio, a Khiamniungic Language of Nagaland and Myanmar. 56th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, 10-12 October 2023. Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.
7. Minahan, J. (2012). Nagas. In Ethnic Groups of South Asia and the Pacific: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO.
8. Kumāra, B. Bihārī. (1975). Hindi khiyamanna Angreji sabda-suci = Hindi Khiamngan English Vocabulary. Kohima: Nagaland Bhasha Parishad

External links

• Khiamniungan Naga at the Endangered Languages Project