Hill Miri dialect

Nyishi (Kamle) or Sarak is a Tani language of India. It is spoken in Arunachal Pradesh by an estimated 9,000 people of the Nyishi tribe.[2] It appears to be a dialect of the Nishi language.[3]

Not to be confused with Plains Miri language.
Nyishi (Kamle)
Sarak
RegionArunachal Pradesh
EthnicityNyishi (Kamle) people
Native speakers
10,000 (2008)[1]
Sino-Tibetan
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
Individual code:
mrg – (included under Plains Miri)
GlottologNone
ELPHill Miri
Portrait of a girl of the Nyishi people of Kamle

Though Hili Miri is listed under Mising [mrg] in Ethnologue, Burling and Sun–experts on the Aranuchal Pradesh and Tani languages–treat Hill Miri and Mising as separate and distinct languages belonging to different branches of the Tani subgroup.[1]

Description

Nyishi (muri-mugli) is a member of the Tani branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages and is considered a dialect of the Nishi language. It is spoken by 9,000 people in the northern regions of India by the Nyishi people of Kamle.[1] It is threatened because the younger generation is slowly breaking away from their people's traditions and language.[4][5] Many audio books of gospel narratives in the Nyishi language of Kamle have been collected.

History of scholarship

George Abraham Grierson, in his survey of India regarding its linguistics, researched the Nyishi language and published a record over a century ago.

Phonology

Consonants

The following table includes an inventory of Nyishi (Kamle) consonants.[6]

Labial Alveolar Post-
alveolar		 Velar Glottal
Nasal mnɲ[7]ŋ
Stop voiceless ptc[8]k
voiced bdɟ[9]ɡ
Fricative sʃh
Approximant wlj
Trill? r

Vowels are front /i, e/, central /ɨ, ʉ, ə, a/,[10] and back /u, o/. Vowels occur long and short.

Grammar

The basic Nyishi (Kamle) grammar and basic word order are like those of related Sino-Tibetan languages, similar to that of Nishi.

Numerals
Nyishi (Kamle)
1aken
2eñi
3oum
4epi
5ango/angngo
6ake
7kenne
8pine
9kora
10íri

Personal
SingularPlural
1st personngongu-lu
2nd personnonu-lu
3rd personbu, búbu-lu, bú-lu

References
  1. "Did you know Hill Miri is threatened?". Endangered Languages. Retrieved 2022-12-25.
  2. Moseley, Christopher (2007). Encyclopedia of the world's endangered languages. Routledge. p. 298. ISBN 978-0-7007-1197-0. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  3. Post, Mark W. (2013). Defoliating the Tani Stammbaum: An exercise in areal linguistics. Paper presented at the 13th Himalayan Languages Symposium. Canberra, Australian National University, Aug 9.
  4. Audio
  5. Nabam Tadar Rikam, "Emerging religious Identities of Arunachal Pradesh", Mittal Publications, 2005
  6. Ju Namkung, "Phonological inventories of Tibeto-burman languages", Center for Southeast Asia Studies, University of California, 1996
  7. Value unclear, perhaps [nʲ]?
  8. Value unclear, perhaps [t͡ʃ]?
  9. Value unclear, perhaps [d͡ʒ]?
  10. Transcribed ⟨ɯ, y, ɤ, a⟩ in Namkung

Further reading
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