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TheDimasa language is aTibeto-Burman language spoken by theDimasa people of theNortheastern Indian states ofAssam andNagaland. The Dimasa language is known to Dimasas as "Grao-Dima" and it is similar toBoro,Kokborok andGaro languages. The Dimasa language is one of the oldest languages spoken inNorth East India, particularly inAssam,Nagaland.

The wordDimasa etymologically translates toChildren [sa] of the big river [dima]", i.e. the mightyTsang, which is known asBrahmaputra by the Assamese. The Dimasa worddzi/Dí, meaning water, forms the root of the names of many of the major rivers ofAssam and ofNorth East India in general, such asDibang (plenty of water),Diyung (huge river),Dikrang (green river),Dikhow (fetched water), and many others. TheBrahmaputra is known asTsangi (the purifier) andLohit is known asDi Lao (long river) among theDimasas even now.

Many of the important towns and cities inAssam andNagaland received their names from Dimasa words such asDiphu,Maibang,Dimabang (a capital of theDimasa Kingdom) etc. In fact, the Dimasa language is one of the last languages ofNorth East India to retain its original vocabulary without being compromised by foreign languages.^[2]

Dimasa is spoken in:

• Assam:Dima Hasao district (formerly North Cachar Hills district),Cachar district,Karbi Anglong district,West Karbi Anglong district,Nagaon district,Hojai district (formerly a part of Nagaon district)
• Nagaland
• Meghalaya
• Mizoram

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There are six vowels in Dimasa language.

• All vowels can occurs in all three positions, except /ə/ which occurs only medially.

There are sixteen consonants in the Dimasa language.

• The three voiceless aspirated stops, /pʰ,tʰ,kʰ/, are unreleased in syllable final position. Their unaspirated voiced counterparts are released and cannot occur word final position.
• Sometimes /pʰ,tʰ,kʰ,s/ are pronounced as /b,d,g,z/ respectively.
• The consonants /pʰ,b,tʰ,kʰ,m,n,r,l/ can occur in all position.
• The consonants /g,s,s,ɦ/ cannot occur in Dimasa indigenous words, but can occur in loan words.
• The consonants /d,w,j/ cannot appear in word final positions in Dimasa.
• The consonants /ŋ/ cannot appear in word initial positions.

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Dimasa is an inflectional language. The verbs are inflected for number, tense, case, voice, aspect, mood but not for gender and person.

The verb is rarely inflected for person and gender.

Subject–object–verb word order is usual;Object–verb–subject word order also occurs.

Dimasa is written usingLatin script, which has been introduced in the lower primary education system in Dima Hasao District. The main guiding force behind it is the Dimasa Lairidim Hosom, a literary apex body of the Dimasa community.^[3]

TheBengali script is used in Cachar, where the Bengali people live alongside Dimasas.^[4]

• Dimasa people
• Dimaraji
• Dima Hasao
• Busu Dima
• Kachari language

Dimasa language test ofWikipedia atWikimedia Incubator

• Dimasa Language Resource collection of Dimasa language documentation in the Computational Resource for South Asian Languages (CoRSAL) archive

• Sal languages
• Languages of Assam
• Languages of Nagaland
• Endangered languages of India

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from July 2019
• Articles needing additional references from June 2020
• All articles needing additional references
• Use Indian English from July 2019
• All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English
• Articles containing Dimasa-language text
• ISO language articles citing sources other than Ethnologue
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