Zotung (Zobya) is a language spoken by the Zotung people, in the town of Rezua, Chin State, Burma. It is a continuum of closely related dialects and accents. The language does not have a standard written form since it has dialects with multiple variations on its pronunciations. A written script for Zotung was created in 1933 by Paw Khaw Ming (Siabawi Khuamin).
Phonology
Zo alphabet (Zoccaw) Aa AWaw Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Yy Zz
Vowels MonophthongsDiphthongs and triphthongsvowelstrong formweak formvowelstrong formweak form -a/a/~/ɔː/~/aʊː/ -ae/æ/~/ɛː/ -ai/aiː/~/æ/ -au/aʊː/~/oʊ/ -aw/ɔː/~/auː/ -awi/ɔiː/~/oɪ/~/ʏi/ -awe/ʊeː/~/øː/~/œː/ -e/eː/~/ɛ/~/œ/ -ei/eɪ/~/e/~/eiː/ -eu/eʊː/~/œ/ -i/iː//ɨ/ -ia/iːɑ/~/iɑ/~/ja/~/jɛ/ -o/o/~/oʊː/~/ə/ -oi/ɔiː/~/oiː/~/ʏː/ -ou/ə/~/œː/~/ʌː/ -u/uː/~/ʊ/ -ua/uaː/~/ʋa/~/uə/ -ue/ueː/~/ʋe/ -ui/uiː/~/iː/~/ʏː/ -y/ɪ/~/ɨː/~/ʏː/ Etymologically, the long vowel counterparts of /aː/, /eː/, /iː/, /oː/, /ɔː/, and /uː/ have mutated or shifted towards several new vowels. Vowels such as /æː/, /ɔː/, /aʊː/, /ɛiː/, and /œː/ correspond to a single vowel /aː/ or /ɒː/ in more conservative Kuki-Chin languages. For instance, where Mizo and Laizo have mál [maːl], râlkap [raːlkap], nâsa [naːʂaː], pakhat [paˈkʰaːt], and sazûk [saˈzuːk], the correspondents in Zotung would be mæl [mæːl], rolkaw [rɔːlko], náwsaw [naʊːʂɔ], can-kheit [θaːn χɛiːt], and sazúk [sœˈzuːk].
Consonants Zotung has the following consonants, with the first symbol being its orthographical form and the second one its representation in the IPA:Weidert, Alfons, Component Analysis of Lushai Phonology, Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and History of Linguistic Science, Series IV – Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, volume 2, Amsterdam: John Benjamins B.V., 1975. LabialDentalAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottalmedianlateralPlosivevoicelessp t k aspiratedph []th []kh []voicedb d g Affricatevoicelessc aspiratedch []Fricativevoicelessf c s [s]si, se, sc, sh [ʃ]kh, h [x]h voicedv c z [z]z, j [ʒ]Approximantvoicelesshl, l [l̥]voicedl [l]z, j [j]Nasalvoicelesshm, km [m̥]hn, kn, gn [n̥]voicedm n ni [ɲ]ng Trillvoicelesshr, r [r̥]voicedr
C before a, aw, o, u, and y is pronounced like a dental fricative /θ/~/ð/. C and s are palatalized before e and i resulting in words like ciate [tsʲaːte] and seryn [ʃɛˈɾœn]. H is not pronounced in some dialects in certain words, for example: mango thæhai [tʲæˈʔæː]. T is rhotacized in some dialects that results in words like khate [kʰatɛ] and tukiaccu [tˠuˈkʲeðu] being pronounced [kʰaˈɾɛ] and [təˈkeirʊ]. Z has a very wide pronunciation range. It can be pronounced like the voiced fricative /ʒ/ /z/ /j/ or the English /dʒ/.
Digraphs The digraphs in Zotung are ch-, kh-, ph-, hr-, rh-, and th-.
Ch- is seldom used in native words other than family or clan names. Ch- evolved from the palatalized soft t that preceded the vowels e and i. For example, chihno (death) was originally thihna or thihnak. Kh- in formal speech is a palatalized k sound. However, it is pronounced as /x/~/χ/ in informal speech. Hr- is a rare digraph representing /r̥/. It has evolved into /ɦ/ or /ʀ/ in some dialects. Rh- is not used in vernacular writing.
Zotung is rich with consonant clusters that have etymologically remained the same, but are written with schwas or other vowels to make a disyllable. They are found in native words such as tynkrin (firmly), cintling, ablyn (all), sparo as well as in loan words like Biathlam (Revelation), Kris (Christ), naiklab (nightclub), Griekram (Greece), and Bethlem (Bethlehem).
Distribution In 2009 VanBik lists the following Zotung villages: Aika, Lotaw, Lovaw, Ccangho, Pangva, Ramcci, Sihanthung, Zawngnak, Angraw, Polei, Vuakkhipaw, Lavoikum, Darcung, Khawboi, Setlai, Lungkhin, Leipi, Calthawng, Langly, Sensi, Khawtua, Tuinia, Rovaw, Rezua, Ccawtui, Ransae, Etang, Thandya, Tuibyn, Hrinthang, Siangaw, Lungthlialia, Thawlang, Hunglei, Raso, Tuilaw, Tingsi, Zesaw, Thesi, Lungring, Sungpi, Votui, Kailung, Belae, Lungngo, Sempi, Tuphae, Lungdua, Suiton, Daidin, Din, Voiru, Narbung.VanBik, Kenneth. 2009. Proto-Kuki-Chin: A Reconstructed Ancestor of the Kuki-Chin Languages. STEDT Monograph 8. .
Grammar Zotung grammar (Zotung: ) is the study of the morphology and syntax of Zotung, a Kuki-Chin language spoken in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Zotung is an agglutinative language with some elements of fusionality. It has become more innovative as fusional elements have increased. Its synthetic nature allows for free word order, although the dominant arrangement is subject-object-verb. There are definite articles and a morphological indefinite article depending on the source. Subject pronouns and object pronouns are often dropped due to its polypersonal agreements found in the plural conjugation of verbs.
Syntax
The primary word order is subject-object-verb. However, almost all nouns undergo declension, resulting in a fairly free word order. For example, the sentence "Kae beikinnka hlaw kasak" () can also be ordered as "Kae kasak hlaw beikinnka" () without losing its original meaning. Sentences in Zotung can be formed in many different ways, the most common being dative constructions. This construction uses the dative case of nominals and pronominals. Dative constructions can occur with almost all verbs. An example is given below:
Kae θu kakía / Kae kakía nynn ("I am cold") Ynkía (literally means, "cold is to/on me")
The first example implicates that the speaker has a cold personality or a body that is cold all around, rather than feeling physically cold. The subject on the first sentence is in the nominative case. The second sentence uses a dative polypersonal conjugation without the transient copula verb thuavo. This construction is always used to mean one feels physically. It is still a productive construction that can be used with almost all verbs. Its use is a bit different in set proverbs like "namo nih kezym" ("I trust in you", ).
Nouns
Gender
Some nouns have gender; however, nouns with gender are usually sex specific nouns such as animals or natural landscapes like hills, caves, or species of organisms. Most of these nouns have endings like -nung, -pi, -paw, -ly that tell if they are feminine or masculine, such as luikunung (name of a hill), saepaw (elephant), sapi (female offspring of an animal). Agreement in gender for adjectives can be observed such as with the neuter adjective ahoy—it has two other forms namely, masculine and common gender hoivo and feminine hoino; the initial a- indicates the common or neuter gender and -p- and -n- indicate masculine and feminine gender.
Animacy and inanimacy are distinguished in the various usages of certain pronouns. The third person accusative amo cannot be used with inanimate nouns so therefore the pronoun is dropped and the clitic a- conjugation is used for both the nominative and accusative cases. This is also true to some extent for the second person personal pronouns. The animate determiner pronoun hom- cannot be used for inanimate nouns. Pawmou, ymmo, and vavoma are used with inanimate nouns instead.
Initial a-
The initial a- is found in some nouns: arak (ale), amyn (scent), arran (branch), askare (wing). It is used on a very limited number of nouns that are inanimate and cannot stand alone without the prefix. When it is used with a noun that can stand alone, it denotes the genitive case and shows belonging of the object to a person, such as in arru (its bone), amitàe (its eyes), alemæ (its tail). The prefix can also be used to show definiteness in a very limited number of nouns, as in:
The prefix is also used to form the adjectival form of verbs:
khyapaw (to be bitter), akhak (bitter) niapaw (drink), anian (oily) thopaw (to be fatty), atho (fat/fatty)
Vowel harmony
To some extent, Zotung uses vowel harmony when endings are attached to words. For example, one of the most common endings in the language is -traw, a diminutive/comparative ending. When a word with closed and/or mid vowel uses the ending -traw, it changes to -tri as in imonuntri (newborn girl) and syntri (a little while). Some nouns with a closed vowel change to have a more open vowel. An example is zawngpo / zongpaw (ape), which changes to zuapo / zuapaw in some dialects retaining the difference. Another example is vo / vaw (stream); when the augmentative ending -pii is added, the root changes to va-, resulting in vapii (river).
Verbs Zotung verbs are heavily inflected and are highly irregular with many exceptions. They consist of a stem or base and various conjugation endings indicating person, tense, aspect, mood, and more. One way for fusional inflection in verbs is through a process known as stem alternation (Zotung: ). Each verb has at least two stems, formally named stem I, stem II, and so on. Each stem differs from each other by apophony, vowel length, consonant voicing or devoicing, the addition of a consonant, or entirely changing the lexicon. Since there has not been extensive research done on Zotung, verbs have yet to be grouped into conjugation classes.
Stem alternation Like the other Kuki-Chin languages, Zotung utilizes apophony as a grammatical inflection. It is used for various purposes such as grammatical moods and distinction between noun and verb forms. The most common type of apophony is the Kuki-Chin-specific vowel stem alternation wherein the stem vowel of a verb changes to inflect its mode. These alternations are grouped into Form I, Form II, Form III, and so on. However, there is not a universally accepted way of categorizing them. Examples of vowel stem alternations are given below:
+Vowel stem alternationsVerbForm IForm IIForm IIIniapaw (to drink)nia-nei-nek chiapo (to kill)chia-chiáhtheit bepo (to greet)bei-bekbeik
An example of a clause using Forms I, II, and III is given below for the verb niapaw (to drink):
Negation Negation usually follows the verb. There are many words to denote negation, the most common being lei, khy, nan, and lou. Lei is an auxiliary adverb that is commonly used as a compound negator, similar to the French pas. Khy is a simple negator used in declarative sentences such as khocci khy meaning "it is not cold". Nan is used as an imperative negator such as in innlae pae nan meaning "do not go out". Lou is used as an auxiliary as in khuara lou khy meaning "it has not rain". Additionally, some determiner pronouns in the Lungngo and Calthawng dialects have a negative form leading to some instances of double negation. An example is the word for "what"—its lemma form is pawmou in the standard language, ymmo in the northern dialects, and vavoma in the Rezua dialect; the corresponding negative forms are pawmak and ymma (this form is absent in the Rezua dialect due to a series of vowel mergers and a simplification of grammar in regions with more trade and contact).
Noun derivation
There are many endings attached to words to convey a slightly modified meaning. They may also be realized as grammatical cases. The most common are -no, -zia, -po, and -tu. The ending -no is used to nominalize verbs while -zia is for adjectives and occasionally nouns. The ending -po could be a masculine ending or an infinitive ending; when -po is an infinitive ending, the word is stressed at the last syllable. The ending -tu is used to modify verbs to become a noun in the accusative case. For example,
riapo (v. to read) → rianaw (n. reading as in scripture) hmuipo (v. to see) → muihnaw (n. sight, vision) sei (v. to sin) → seino (n. sin) umtu (n. an attitude) → umtuzia (n. desired attitudes) phuapo / phan (v. to compose) → phuatu / phantu (n. composer)
Cases