Patsho Khiamniungan or Khiamniungan is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Noklak district in the state of Nagaland, India. It serves as the predominant spoken variety across most Khiamniungan villages.
Alphabet The Patsho Khiamniungan alphabet consists of the following letters: +Patsho Khiamniungan AlphabetAll caps A Ch E H I J K KH L M N NG NY O P PH S SH T TH TS TSH U Ü V W YCapital lettersAChEHIJKKhLMNNgNyOPPhSShTThTsTshUÜVwYSmall lettersachehijkkhlmnngnyopphsshtthtstshuüvwyIPAa a̯tʃʰe ɛ ɛ̯ hi i̯ ɪ̯ ɪtʃkkʰlmnŋɲo o̯ ɔ̯ ɔppʰʃʃʰttʰtstsʰu ʊ u̯ ʊ̯ə ɜ̯vwj Patsho Range Students' Union (2023): Patsho Khiamniungan Orthography : Published by Patsho range students' Union in collaboration with Patsho Khiamniungan dictionary team
This makes for 27 letters in Patsho Khiamniungan.
Background Patsho denotes both an indigenous Tibeto-Burman language of the Kuki-Chin-Naga cluster and its associated ethnolinguistic community, primarily centered in eastern Nagaland, India. The term exhibits referential polysemy: it functions as a toponym for Patsho Village—a high-population settlement in Noklak District serving as the community’s cultural heartland; a demonym for the village-originating ethnic group; and a glossonym for their native tongue. While the village anchors Patsho identity geographically and demographically, the label extends secondarily to diaspora populations maintaining linguistic and cultural ties to this nucleus.
Typology Patsho Khiamniungan is a Sino-Tibetan, compound of two words. Patsho is a village in Nagaland and Khiamniungan refers to one of the major tribes in Nagaland.
Phonology The phonological inventory of Patsho Khiamniungan is as follows: +Consonants labial/labiodental dental palatal/palato-alveolar velar glottal stop, unasiprated p t k ʔ stop, aspirated pʰ tʰ kʰ affricate, unaspirated ts tʃ affricate, aspirated tsʰ tʃʰ nasal m n ɲ ŋ fricative (v) s ʃ approximant w l j h
Vowels +Vowels a e i o u ü
Phonemic tones There are four phonemic tones in Patsho,
high level /55/ mid level /33/ high falling /52/ low /31/
Monophthongs Front Central Back Close i , u , , Mid e , , o , Open a , ü ,
Diphthongs Patsho Khiamniungan has the following diphthongs:
Starting with aStarting with e Starting with i Starting with o Starting with u ai (, or ) ei (, or ) ie () ou () ui () au () eu (, ) iu ( or ) oi () ua ()
Triphthongs Patsho Khiamniungan has the following triphthongs: iai, as in hiai, iau as in hiauh, kiau, uai, as in huai,kuai, üie, as in khǖîe uau, as in liuau, uou, as in Tiuou, oua, as in touap,
Grammar
Case marking èi sōih-à jǖ-shíu-shī-ê.
1sg.ABS go.away-INF NEG-be.able-RSMPT-IRR
‘I won't be able to go away again.’
(AC4-20170109_KIX1-002)
ngǖ-ōh yôh nǜ hâkūtî vâuh tèu-nyê.
1SG-ERG pig DEM large rear keep-REAL
I am rearing a large pig
(AC4-20050127_KIX1_001)
nyǖ-ōh ātsòu èi jūa-ê tə)náihtǖ,
2SG-ERG really 1SG.ABS call-IRR COND
nyǖ-ōh ā-jāmsǖkōuh mèi-kǖ ā-hīe.
2SG-ERG 2SG.POSS-household good-SIM IMP-make
If you really plan to call me (to marry), then you set your
Verbs
Conjugation The verbs are not conjugated as in languages such as English and French by changing the desinence of words, but the tense (in a sentence) is clarified by the aspect and the addition of some particles, such as -e (Irrealis mood suffix -encoding a hypothetical or predicted situation. ), For example: Ei phu-e/I will come nye (Realis mood - used to encode actualized events and states), For example: Ei khu nye/I went -shī (resumptive aspect-nominal suffix), For example: Lü khushi/go again(lü-imperative prefix/mood)(authoritative command) nyü (Prohibitive mood), For example: Nyü khu/Don't go ie (nominal suffix. reciprocal suffix), For example: Nyü vei-ie/Don't fight
Pluralisation Nouns are pluralized by suffixing -hoi, for example: NounPluralsMeaningKhèunyòh Mīetshōu JāmkèiKhèunyòhhōiMīetshōuhóiJāmkèihōi khēunyòh – humanhoi-beings or group/mīetshōuhói – kids or children/jāmkèihōi- vehicles
Negation For declarative sentences, negation is achieved by adding the particle jü (not) in the beginning or middle of a sentence. For example, SentenceNegationLàmnyù shî jēLamnyu is comingLàmnyù jǖshîLamnyu did not comeSǖmīeh nòng òh lǖvòk nǜ tsīe-īe jéThree divides sixSǖmīeh nòng òh lǖvòk nǜ jǖtsīe-īe jéThree does not divide sixLàmnyù shî jēLamnyu is coming jǖshî Làmnyù tōLamnyu is not coming -
Replication and transfer(cognitive schemas) (1). “Standard” Nagamese (Indo-Aryan): kana hik-i-bole song learn-EP-INF6
‘to learn a song’
Patsho Khiamniungan (Konyakian): tsūihāng līam-ā song search-INF
‘to learn a song’
Nagamese of Patsho Khiamniungan speakersː kana pisar-i-bole song search-EP-INF
‘to learn a song
(2)
Mongsen Ao (Indo-Burmic):
tāŋ%āɹ tʃū nə) tə)-pāʔ khə) tə)-jā nə)t other DIST AGT RL-father CONJ RL-mother two tāŋ tʃū nə) wā-ə+ɹ, SIDE DIST ALL go-SEQ
‘Others went to the mother and father,…’
(lit. to the mother and father's side), (Coupe 2017, p. 290)
Patsho Khiamniungan (Konyakian):
lōhō mīe-nyù nǖ tōŋ-lè khù-shī-nyè. again girl-F DEM SIDE-LOC go-RPET-REAL
‘Again he went to the girl.’ (lit. … to the girl's side’)
Syntax Patsho Khiamniungan is a tonal, agglutinative and SOV language with postpositions. Adjectives, numerals and demonstratives comes after the nouns they modify, whilst relative clauses may be either externally or internally headed. Interrogative such as ateitsoh? appears after the noun or subject but the word mou? usually comes at the end, transforming the sentence into question.
Example of interrogative?
Example of numeral
Example of noun
Example of demonstrative Demonstratives seems to appear either before noun or after, shown by the example given below.
Language development It has undergone systematic orthographic development using the Latin script, resulting in published standardized writing conventions. This orthography serves as a foundation for pedagogical resources (e.g., primers, grammatical descriptions) and a lexicographic corpus (notably a descriptive dictionary), collectively constituting a language documentation and revitalization framework.
Writing system The Patsho Khiamniungan orthography employs a Latin-based script comprising twenty-seven graphemes. This system exhibits shallow orthographic depth, with grapheme-phoneme correspondences maintained through both monographic and multigraphic representations. Crucially, multigraphs function as single orthographic units despite comprising multiple glyphs: Basic Latin characters (e.g., t,s,h) represent distinct phonemes as monographs. The trigraph <tsh>, constitutes a single complex grapheme, representing a unitary phoneme (likely a voiceless alveolar affricate with aspiration /tsʰ/).Patsho Range Students' Union (2023): Patsho Khiamniungan Orthography : Published by Patsho range students' Union in collaboration with Patsho Khiamniungan dictionary team In Khiamniungan Naga, the phonemic value of the letter h varies by position. It is not realized as a glottal when it occurs medially or elsewhere within the body of a word. However, word-final h consistently represents a glottal articulation.
Sample texts The following is a sample text in Patsho Khiamniungan of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: or
Patsho KhiamniunganEnglishKhèunyòh tshòu ápèm môngthàhkǖ kīhìe-à nǜhè āví nǖ kòu tshàh nyē. Āshèuh nòng ālìanghìe à shīukô nǜhè ātshǖmûajǖn nǖ kòu òk kìuh nyè. Nòngtèiphìe, tsāk héi tsāk ājūjīe ā-îekǜ nǜhè têisǜnîu tǜ kīhìe à āpōutíng nòi nyē.All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience. Therefore, they should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Basic vocabulary Patsho Khiamniungan English Thēumêi Thank You Āmêi hǜnī? How are you? Āmêi. I am fine. Khìam Water Tshīh (cooked) rice Ngòuh nyèih fish (meat) Vèu nyèih chicken (meat) Yōh nyèih pork (meat) Jâng nyèih beef (meat) Ūo nyèih mutton (meat) Kīe nyèih-kìe/sāngô) dish (meat/vegetable) Sāng-ô (kīesāngô) vegetable Nāgā chǖ-ùm lentils Tsēm salt Lūtsôutsòh (Chauchau ko) less Pǖ-ìuh chilli Jūjīelīankó āshūa kìuhshī Please give again (serve again). Têitsòh enough Khìam nǜ āshêu kìuh. Please give water. Tsīh nü ākhém kíuh. Please give food (rice). Jūjīelīangkó kîemāu nǖhéikǖ ākīuh. Please give (side dish) vegetable / meat. ātéi yèuh jē? What do you want? Atéi? What? Āvàih? Ātéi nāi-òh? When? Ātéi lé? Where? Ātéi ālì? How? Āshēu āmēi. Good Night. Shīemông lǜ āléu óh phù jè? How do I go to Shiemong? Nòngnī ātēitsǜh mâi nò? What is the price of this? Mêikǖ lǜ-īu. Happy journey. mônglīngkǖ lǖnôi. Stay happy.
Numbers in Patsho Numerals Hauvi Tone(Shangliak) IPA 0 wa wà wa³¹ 1 tsak tsāk tsak³³ 2 lümih lǖmīeh lə³³.mɪʔ³³ 3 sümieh sǖmīeh sə³³.mɪəʔ³³ 4 pülie pǖlīe pə³³.lɪə³³ 5 müngou mǖngōu mə³³.ŋɒu³³ 6 lüvok lǖvòk lə³³.vɒk³³ 7 tshünyieh tshūnyìeh tsʰə³³.ɲɪɛʔ³³ 8 püjeih pǖjèih pə³³.tʃɛʔ³³ 9 lükau lǖkàu lə³³.kɒu³³ 10 tshie tshìe tsʰɪɛ³³ 20 khei khèi kʰɛɪ³¹ 30 ausam āusám ɑu³³sɑm⁵⁵ 40 aupülie àupǜlīe au̯³¹pə³¹liɛ̯³³ 50 aumüngou àumǜngōu au̯³¹məŋ³¹ou̯³³ 60 aulüvok àulǜvòk au̯³¹lə³¹vok³² 70 autshienyieh àutshǜnyìeh au̯³¹tsʰə³¹ɲiɛ̯ʔ³² 80 aupüjeh àupǜjèih au̯³¹pə³¹tʃɛi̯ʔ³² 90 aulükau àulǜkàu au̯³¹lə³¹lau̯³¹ 100 tsum tsak tsūm tsāk tsum³³.tsak³³ 200 tsum lümieh tsūm lǖmīeh tsum³³.lə³³ mɪʔ³³ 300 tsum sümieh tsūm sǖmīeh tsum³³.sə³³ mɪəʔ³³ 400 tsum pülie tsūm pǖlīe tsum³³.pə³³.lɪə³³ 500 tsum müngou tsūm mǖngōu tsum³³.mə³³.ŋɒu³³ 600 tsum lüvok tsūm lǖvòk tsum³³.lə³³.vɒk³³ 700 tsum tshünyieh tsūm tshūnyìeh tsum³³.tsʰə³³.ɲɪɛʔ³³ 800 tsum püjeih tsūm pǖjèih tsum³³. pə³³.tʃɛʔ³³ 900 tsum lükau tsūm lǖkàu tsum³³.lə³³.kɒu³³ 1000 ka tsak ká tsāk ka⁵⁵.tsak³³ 10,000 ka tshie ká tshīe ka⁵⁵.tsʰɪɛ³³ 100,000 tsang tsak tsāng tsāk tsaŋ³³.tsak³³ 10000000 pei tsak péi tsāk pei⁵⁵.tsak³³ 1000000000 iuh tsak ìuh tsāk iuʔ³¹.tsak³³ 100000000000 em tsak ēm tsāk em³³.tsak³³
See also Khiamniungan language Khiamniungan people Patsho Nütsah Phie Pou Mount Khülio-King
References
External links