Chakpa language

"Loi language" redirects here. Loi is also the name of a dialect of the Ngiri language of Congo.

Chakpa (Meitei) is a Sino-Tibetan language that was spoken in the Imphal valley of Manipur, India. It belonged to the Luish branch of the Sino-Tibetan family. Chakpa speakers have been shifted to that of Meitei language.^[2] Varieties of the language included Sengmai and Andro.^[3]

Chakpa
Loi
Native to	India
Region	Manipur
Extinct	since the 1950s[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Sal Jingpho–Luish Luish Chakpa
Dialects	Andro Sengmai (Sekmai) Phayeng Chairel Khurkhul
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	andr1245

Chakpa was spoken in villages such as Andro, Sekmai (Sengmai), Phayeng, Khurkhul and Chairel, all of which are now Meitei-speaking villages.^[2]

Other names

Further information: Loi

Loi (or Lui; hence "Luish") is a Meitei exonym that includes Chakpa. Although Chakpa are typically considered to be Loi, not all Loi are Chakpa. For example, Kakching and Kwakta are Loi villages that are not Chakpa.^[2]

Documentation

Chakpa is preserved in written manuscripts that are recited by religious scholars during traditional ceremonies, such as those of the Lai Haraoba festival.^[2]

Chakpa word lists can be found in McCulloch (1859)^[4] and Basanta (1998).^[5]

The Chairel variety is documented in a word list by McCulloch (1859).^[4]