| Anu-Hkongso | |
|---|---|
| Anu | |
| Native to | Burma |
| Region | Paletwa Township |
| Ethnicity | Hkongso, Anu |
Native speakers | 4,000 (2008)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | anl |
| Glottolog | anuu1241 |
Anu-Hkongso (also spelledAnu-Khongso) is aSino-Tibetan language spoken between the Kaladan and Michaung rivers inPaletwa Township,Chin State, Burma. It is closely related toMru, forming theMruic language branch, whose position within Sino-Tibetan is unclear. It consists of two dialects, Anu (Añú) and Hkongso (Khongso, Khaungtso).
Hkongso and Anu speakers self-identify as ethnicChin people, although the Anu-Hkongso language is not classified as aKuki-Chin language.[3] Most Anu and Hkongso speakers can also speakKhumi.[4] Anung has 72-76% lexical similarity withMro-Khimi although mutual intelligibility is low, and 23-37% lexical similarity with neighbouring Chin languages.[5]
A written orthography for Khongso was created in 2014 by Rev. Kyaw Kyaw and the Language and Social Development Organization.[6]
Hkongso andAnu are mutually intelligible, and the languages 96-98%lexical similarity with each other.[5] TheKasang claim to be Hkongso, and live in a small area just to the south of the main Hkongso area, in the villages of Lamoitong and Tuirong. TheAnu live in scattered areas to the west of the main Hkongso area.[4] Anu villages include Bedinwa, Onphuwa, Payung Chaung, Yeelawa, Daletsa Wa, Ohrangwa, Tuikin Along, and Khayu Chaung (Wright 2009:6).
The Anu people consider themselves to consist of 4 subgroups, namelyHkum,Hkong (Hkongso),Som, andKla. However, the Hkongso maintain that they are an ethnic group equal to the Anu, but are not a subgroup of the Anu.[4]
TheKasang (also known as Khenlak, Ta-aw, Hkongsa-Asang, Hkongso-Asang, Asang, and Sangta) consider themselves as ethnic Hkongso, but their language is intelligible withKhumi rather than Anu.[4] Kasang villages include Lamoitong and Tuirong.
TheMru language is also closely related to Anu and Hkongso. The Mru had migrated to theChittagong Hills from theArakan Hills.[4]
Hkongso is spoken in the following villages of Paletwa Township.[4]
Hkongso subgroups (clans) are Htey (Htey Za), Kamu, Ngan, Gwa, Hteikloeh, Ngai, Rahnam, Kapu, Kasah, Namte, Krawktu, and Namluek.[4]
Leimi, Asang, and Likkheng are other languages spoken in the Paletwa Township area.[4]
Hkongso has minor syllables (also knownsesquisyllables), which are typical of Mon-Khmer languages (Wright 2009:12-14).
Unlike theKuki-Chin languages, Hkongso (kʰɔŋ˥˩sʰo˦˨) has no verb stem alternation and has SVO word order (Wright 2009).[4] Also, unlike Mru and the Kuki-Chin languages, Hkongso has Neg-V word order (pre-verbal negation) instead of the V-Neg order (post-verbal negation) found in surrounding languages.
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Sino-Tibetan branches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WesternHimalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand,Nepal,Sikkim) |
|  | |||
| EasternHimalayas (Tibet,Bhutan,Arunachal) | |||||
| Myanmar and Indo- Burmese border |
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| East andSoutheast Asia |
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| Dubious (possible isolates,Arunachal) |
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| Proposed groupings | |||||
| Proto-languages | |||||
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches. | |||||