Tangkhul language

Tangkhul is a Sino-Tibetan language of the Tangkhulic branch, spoken in different villages of Ukhrul district, Manipur, India. The term "Tangkhul" is derived from the Meitei language terms, tāng (ꯇꯥꯡ, 'scarce') and khūl (ꯈꯨꯜ, 'village').^[2] According to another theory, the term "Tangkhul" is derived from "Thankhul", meaning "Than village" in Meitei language.^[3][4][5]

Tangkhul
Luhupa
Tangkhul written in Meitei script
Native to	India
Region	Manipur, Nagaland
Ethnicity	Tangkhul people
Native speakers	140,000 (2001)[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Central Tibeto-Burman (?) Kuki-Chin–Naga Tangkhul–Maring Tangkhulic Tangkhul
Dialects	Ukhrul Kupome (Luhupa) Phadang
Writing system	Latin script Meitei script (to lesser extent)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	nmf
Glottolog	tang1336
ELP	Tangkhul Naga

Tangkhul became a written language for the first time in the year 1897, when William Pettigrew compiled "Tangkhul Primer and Catechism", during his Christian missionary activities.^[6]

The Department of Language Planning and Implementation of the Government of Manipur offers a sum of ₹5,000 (equivalent to ₹8,500 or US$100 in 2023), to every individual who learns Tangkhul language, under certain terms and conditions.^[7]

Tangkhul shares 93%–94% lexical similarity with the Somra variety of Tangkhul, 31% with Tangkhul Naga spoken in India, 51%–52% with Akyaung Ari Naga, and 29%–32% with Koki Naga.^[8]

Phonology

Consonants

		Bilabial	Labio- dental	Dental/ Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	p		t		k	ʔ
	aspirated	pʰ		tʰ		kʰ
Affricate					tʃ
Fricative	voiceless		f	s			h
	nasalized			s̃
	voiced			z
Nasal		m		n		ŋ
Rhotic				r
Lateral				l
Approximant		w	ʋ		j

• Stop sounds /p t tʃ k/ may have voiced allophones [b d dʒ ɡ] in free variation.
• /m/ may be heard as [ɱ] when preceding /f/ or /ʋ/.
• /r/ can be heard as [r] or [ɾ] in free variation.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ɨ	u
Mid	e	ə	o
Open	a

• /i e a u/ can have allophone sounds of [ɪ ɛ ɐ ɯ] in free variation.^[9]