Wui (autonym: tʰa³³wɛ⁵² ma³³lan⁵², lit. 'crab language') is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Wui village, Noklak District, Nagaland, India (). There are just under 1,000 speakers.
Background Wui is spoken in the single village of Wui, which has about 150 houses. Wui village is situated 10 km west of the India-Myanmar border on the Patsho Range in eastern Nagaland. It is estimated that there are less than 1,000 speakers.
Nearby languages include Tikhir (Aoic) and various Khiamniunganic (Konyakian) varieties. Wui speakers consider themselves to be an ethnic subgroup of the Khiamniungan people and also speak Patsho Khiamniungan. Many Wui people are fluent in Nagamese.
Classification Due to its divergent lexicon and typological features, the classification of Wui is uncertain. Coupe (2023) suggests a divergent Central Naga affiliation. However, Wui lacks rhotics, which are characteristic of most Central Naga languages.
Phonology The phonological inventory of Wui 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 nasal, glottalized mˀ nˀ ŋˀ fricative (v) s ʃ approximant w l j h
+Vowels i ʉ u ɛ ɔ a
There are three phonemic tones in Wui, which are:
high level /55/ mid level /33/ high falling /52/
Pronouns Wui personal pronouns are as follows.
singular dual plural 1st person ŋa⁵² i³³tsai⁵² i³³sɪm³³ 2nd person naŋ⁵² la³³tsaɪ⁵² la³³sɪm³³ 3rd person ta³³pau⁵² tʃaʊ³³ɲɪt³³ tʃaʊ³³la³³
Lexicon Below are some Swadesh list items for Wui as provided in Coupe (2023).Coupe, Alexander R. (2023). "Swadesh 100 list comparisons – Wui v. Aoic & Patsho Khiamniungan". Supplementary material in Preliminary Report on Wui: An Undocumented Language of Eastern Nagaland. 56th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, 10–12 October 2023. Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.
Gloss Wui I ŋa⁵² you (sg.) nâŋ we i³³tsaɪ⁵² this tʃaʊ⁵² that kʰɔ⁵² who? siʊ⁵² what? kaʊ⁵⁵tɔ⁵² all tɛ³³la³³pʊm⁵² many paŋ⁵²nɛ³³ one kʰaʔ³³ two a³³ɲɪt³³ big ta⁵⁵waʔ³³ long ʃi⁵⁵nɛ³³ small a³³laŋ⁵² woman tʰa³³ɲu³³lia⁵² man ta³³pu³³lia⁵² person maiʔ⁵⁵ fish tha³³ŋɔʔ⁵⁵ bird u³³lia⁵² dog haɪ⁵² louse tʃʰɪ⁵⁵paɪ⁵² tree sɪn⁵² seed tʃaɪʔ³³ leaf taʊ³³ɔ⁵² root ta³³lɪn³³ bark siŋ³³kʊap³³ skin tsak³³kʊap³³ flesh ta³³ma³³tɪn⁵⁵ blood tʰaɪʔ³³ bone tă³³lɪt³³ grease ta³³sɛ⁵² egg vɛ⁵⁵la⁵⁵tai³³ horn ta³³la³³tʃaɪ⁵⁵ tail ta³³la³³ma⁵⁵ hair tă³³kɛ³³ɲɪm³³ head tă³³kɛ⁵² ear nʉ³³pʉ³³ eye ɲit³³tsaŋ³¹ nose thă³³no³³ mouth tha³³ɔ⁵² tooth pʰɔ⁵² tongue ma³³la⁵² fingernail mă³³lɪn⁵² foot mă³³pʰɔ⁵² knee ma³³kʰɔk³³ hand kʰɛt³³ belly han⁵² neck ʉ⁵² breasts la³³ɲʉʔ³³ heart tă³³ŋi³³la³³sa⁵² drink ʉʔ⁵⁵ eat tsɔ⁵⁵jaʔ⁵² bite ma³³kăk⁵² see a³³tsaʊ⁵⁵pɛʔ³³ know ma³³tat³³ sleep ip³³ die tă³³saɪ³³wa⁵² kill ta³³lɛ³³sat⁵⁵ swim tɛɪ³³ la³³tʰak⁵⁵ walk a³³pɪaŋ⁵⁵pɛʔ³¹ come lɔʔ³³ sit nuɪʔ⁵⁵ stand jap³³ give lɛ⁵⁵paɪʔ³³ say hɔʔ³³ sun ja⁵⁵ŋaɪ⁵⁵ moon ɔ⁵² star tʃɪ⁵⁵nɛ⁵⁵ water taɪ⁵² rain tɪn³³taɪ⁵² stone loŋ⁵² earth la³³la³³ cloud la³³ma⁵² smoke ma³³ma³³kʰaʊʔ⁵⁵ fire ma⁵² ash laʊ⁵⁵ʊt⁵⁵ path lam⁵² white ma³³ŋi⁵² night tsi³³ɪn³³ full lɛ⁵⁵ta⁵⁵tʃɪ̰n³³ name ɲɪn⁵²
References