| Thadou–Kuki | |
|---|---|
| Thado Chin, Thadou, Kuki | |
| Thadoupao | |
| Native to | India |
| Region | Manipur |
| Ethnicity | Kuki people, natively to theThadou tribe. |
Native speakers | 350,000 (2011–2017)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | tcz |
| Glottolog | thad1238 |
| ELP | Thado Chin |
Thadou,Kuki, orThado Chin is aSino-Tibetan language of theNortheastern sub-branch ofKuki-Chin. It is spoken by theThadou people inNortheast India (specifically inManipur andAssam).[2] The speakers of this language useMeitei language as theirsecond language (L2) according to theEthnologue.[3]
The language is known by many names, includingThado,Thado-Pao,Thado-Ubiphei,Thādo,Thaadou Kuki, or justKuki orChin.
There are several dialects of this language: Hangshing, Khongsai, Kipgen, Saimar, Langiung, Sairang, Thangngeo, Haokip, Sitlhou, Singson (Shingsol).[1] The Saimar dialect was reported in the Indian press in 2012 to be spoken by only four people in one village in the state ofTripura.[4] The variety spoken inManipur has partial mutual intelligibility with the otherMizo-Kuki-Chin languages varieties of the area includingPaite,Hmar,Vaiphei,Simte,Kom andGangte languages.[5]
Thadou is spoken in the following locations (Ethnologue).
Ethnologue lists the following dialects of Thadou, the names of which mostly correspond to clan names. There is high mutual intelligibility among dialects.
The Saimar dialect is only spoken by 4 people in one village, which is located inTripura.[6]
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | k | ʔ | |
| aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | ||||
| voiced | b | d | ɡ | |||
| Affricate | ts | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||
| Fricative | voiceless | s | x | h | ||
| voiced | v | z | ||||
| lateral | ɬ | |||||
| Approximant | w | l | j | |||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Mid | e | ə | o |
| Open | a |
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Sino-Tibetan branches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WesternHimalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand,Nepal,Sikkim) |
|  | |||
| EasternHimalayas (Tibet,Bhutan,Arunachal) | |||||
| Myanmar and Indo- Burmese border |
| ||||
| East andSoutheast Asia |
| ||||
| Dubious (possible isolates,Arunachal) |
| ||||
| Proposed groupings | |||||
| Proto-languages | |||||
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches. | |||||
