Idu Mishmi language

The Idu Mishmi language is a small language spoken by the Mishmi people in Dibang Valley district, Lower Dibang Valley district, Lohit district, East Siang district, Upper Siang district of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and in Zayü County of the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. There were 8569 speakers in India in 1981 and 7000 speakers in China in 1994. It is considered an endangered language.

Not to be confused with Idun language.
Idu Mishmi
Diorama and wax figures of Mishmi people in Jawaharlal Nehru Museum, Itanagar
RegionIndia: Assam; Arunachal Pradesh: Dibang Valley district, Lower Dibang valley, Lohit; East Siang District; Upper Siang. China: southeastern Tibet Autonomous Region: Nyingchi Prefecture: Zayü County; western Yunnan
EthnicityMishmi people (categorized as Lhoba and Mishmi)
Native speakers
11,000 (2001 census)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3clk
Glottologidum1241
ELPIdu-Mishmi
Idu Mishmi is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Locations

In China, Idu Mishmi is spoken in Xiba village 西巴村, which has just over 40 residents and is located at the foot of Xikong Mountain 习孔山. Xiba village is located 10 kilometers from the nearest administrative center, namely Migu village 米古村 (Jiang 2005:4).[2] The Idu live in the Danba River 丹巴江 and E River 额河 watersheds in Zayü County, Tibet. They are officially classified by the Chinese government as ethnic Lhoba people.

In India, the Idu are found in Arunachal Pradesh.

Script

The Idu Mishmi people did not usually have a script of their own. When needed Idu Mishmis tended to use the Tibetan script. Currently the Idu Mishmi have developed a script known as "Idu Azobra".

Alternative names

The Idu Mishmi language is also referred to as:

  • Kera’a[3]
  • Sulikata by the indigenous Assamese people of the Assam Plains.
  • Idu in general.
  • Yidu may be used in China.
  • Midu, Mindri and Mithu (also called Bebejias by the indigenous Assamese ethnicities) are subclassifications within the Idu tribe based on the pitch and pronunciation of certain words. However, Idu people prefer the ethnonym "Kera-Ah" (children of Kera)[4]

Dialects
Dialect name Alternative name (if any) Area spoken
Mindri Anini area
Mithu Bebejia Hunli, Desali, Koronu, Abango, Bhismaknagar,
Midu Roing, Dambuk, Aohali, Injonu
Mihi Ahi valley (Anelih)

Registers

Idu has various registers that are used in different situations. These include:[5]

  • shamanic register, known as Igu[6]
  • hunting register
  • cursing register
  • mediation register
  • mourning register
  • babytalk register
  • humorous register

References
  1. Idu Mishmi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Jiang Huo. 2005. Yiduyu Yanjiu. Beijing: Minzu University Press.
  3. CULHANE, Kirsten & PECK, Naomi & BOUAZIZ, Wifek & REINÖHL, Uta. 2023. The loss of word-initial consonants in Kera’a: A challenge for phonological theory. 26th Himalayan Languages Symposium, 4-6 September 2023. Paris: INALCO.
  4. Idu
  5. Blench, Roger. 2022. Why would a language with 5000 speakers have seven registers? Register-flipping in the isolates of Northeast India compromises the unitary concept of language. Cambridge: Kay Williamson Education Foundation.
  6. REINÖHL, Uta. 2023. Shamanic languages and their potentials for understanding language history, genealogy and contact – The case of Igu. 26th Himalayan Languages Symposium, 4-6 September 2023. Paris: INALCO.

Further reading
  • Blench, Roger. 2017. A dictionary of Idu, a language of Arunachal Pradesh. Roing, Arunachal Pradesh: Mishmi Publishing House.
  • Blench, Roger. 2016. Attempts to write the Idu language and a proposal for a modern orthography.
  • Blench, Roger. 2016. Hunting among the Idu, a people of Arunachal Pradesh.
  • Blench, Roger, Mite Linggi, Hindu Meme, and Apomo Linggi. 2016. Reading and writing Idu: a book of letters. Roing, Arunachal Pradesh: Idu Language Development Committee.
  • Preliminary notes on the phonology of Ida Mishmi
  • Discovery - Endangered Languages
  • Idu Mishmi alphabet
  • Liu, Bin 刘宾 (2019). Xizang Chayu Yidu yu 西藏察隅义都语. Beijing: The Commercial Press. OCLC 1153187238.
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