Andro dialect () is a geographical and social dialect of the Meitei language, a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Northeast India, primarily spoken by the Chakpa community of Andro, Imphal East, Manipur. Because it developed outside the primary socio-political center of the Imphal capital region, it preserves Ancient Meitei phonological structures and vocabulary, that have been altered or lost in the standard language.Yashwanta Singh, Chungkham. Manipuri Grammar. India: Rajesh Publications, 2000. p. 3. It is one of several Chakpa or Loi dialects, along with Phayeng and SekmaiKhwairakpam, Biren., Chingakham, Dinachandra. The Lai of Manipur: Andro and Sengmai. 2018.Manipur. India: Anthropological Survey of India, 1998. p. 110. which are distinct from Standard Meitei (the Imphal dialect).
Classification and context Within the dialectological classification of Meitei (Manipuri), Phayeng is identified as a peripheral dialect. Despite exhibiting systematic phonological, lexical, and morphosyntactic divergences from Standard Meitei, it maintains a high degree of mutual intelligibility, indicating sustained structural convergence within the Meitei dialect continuum. Historically, the speech community is affiliated with the Chakpa settlements, representing one of the older ethnolinguistic strata of the Meitei population. The community's prolonged geographical separation from the sociocultural and linguistic innovations centered in the Imphal region appears to have constrained the diffusion of lexical borrowings associated with Indo-Aryan contact. Consequently, the Phayeng dialect preserves a comparatively conservative lexicon, exhibiting a lower incidence of Sanskrit- and Bengali-derived loanwords than Standard Meitei.
Comparison with standard dialect Andro dialect Imphal dialect (Standard Meitei)English lamp depth, height bulbul chameleon house lizard giant danio a type of sword a type of snail ditch sixty eagle a type of fruit
Archaic vocabulary retention In contrast to Standard Meitei, whose lexicon underwent extensive Indo-Aryanization following the institutionalization of Hinduism within the Imphal politico-cultural nucleus, the Andro lect exhibits a markedly higher degree of lexical conservatism, retaining a substantially greater proportion of inherited Tibeto-Burman etyma. Its lexicon preserves numerous archaic lexical roots and morpholexical units that have undergone obsolescence, lexical replacement, or complete attrition in contemporary Standard Meitei, thereby constituting a significant repository of pre-Indo-Aryan linguistic strata.
See also Amailon Thougallon Khuman language Moirang language Medieval Meitei language Modern Meitei language Kakching dialect Kwatha dialect
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