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Lai, Laiholh, or Pawi is a Kuki-Chin language spoken in central Chin State in Myanmar, and Lawngtlai district of Mizoram, India. Hakha Chin-speaking minorities are also found in the Sagaing and Magway Regions of Myanmar, and in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of southeastern Bangladesh by the Bawm minority.

There are over 170,000 speakers of this language.

Hakha Chin is the lingua franca in Thantlang and Hakha townships of Chin State.

Distribution

The Hakha Chin (Lai) speakers are largely in Chin State, Burma and Mizoram in Northeast India, with a sizeable number of speakers in south-eastern Bangladesh. Nowadays, approximately one hundred thousand Hakha Chin speakers are living in the Western countries, such as Canada, Denmark, Germany, Norway, and the United States, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

In India, they are a Scheduled Tribe, which means the government recognizes them as a distinct people.

As they mostly live in hilly or even mountainous remote areas, most Hakha-Chin speakers in Chin State, Burma, Mizoram and in Northeast India and south-eastern Bangladesh rely on swidden agriculture. Hakha-Chin speakers are predominantly Christian.

Burma

As of 1991, there were 100,000 Hakha-Chin speakers in Burma. Dialects vary from village to village.

Bangladesh

Chin is spoken by roughly half a million people.The precise count of Hakha Chin speakers in Bangladesh is difficult to ascertain, but it is widely recognized that a significant population residing in the Chittagong Hill Tracts speaks the language.

India

As of 1996, there were 345,000 Hakha-Chin speakers in India, mostly in the Lawngtlai, Lunglei, and Aizawl districts of Mizoram as well as the southernmost tip of Assam. In India, the language is also known as Lai Pawi and Lai Hawlh and is taught in some primary schools. Most of its younger speakers in India are literate.

Western Countries

Currently, around 100,000 Hakha Chin speakers are living in the Western countries, such as Canada, Denmark, Germany, Norway, and the United States, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

Mutual intelligibility

Hakha Chin serves as a lingua franca in most parts of Chin State and is a native language in Hakha, Thantlang, and parts of Matupi. Derived from the same Lai dialect and sharing 85% of their phonology, Falam Chin speakers can easily communicate with Hakha speakers. As the capital of Chin State, Hakha provides government employment and business opportunities to people living elsewhere in Chin State. These people live here temporarily or permanently, and their families eventually learn how to speak Lai holh (Hakha).

The Chin people use Latin script (Hakha alphabet) as their writing system.

Phonology

Syllable structure

Words in the Hakha Chin language are predominantly monosyllabic with some sesqui syllables featuring a "reduced syllable". Full syllables are either open or closed with a rising, falling, or low tone.

Consonants

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The Hakha Chin language differentiates between voiced, voiceless, and voiceless aspirated obstruents. Additionally, two sets of sonorants are realised.

Consonants allowed in syllable codas are /p, t, k, m, n, ŋ, l, r, j, w/.

Consonants /m, n, ŋ, l, r/ occurring in syllable-final position may also occur as glottalized .

The unattested parent language, Proto-Chin, featured a voiced velar plosive ɡ. The phoneme itself was lost in all of its daughter languages, due to a spirantisation to ɣ, which a labialisation followed afterwards. Only certain loanwords, not native words, have the voiced velar plosive.

In the Hakha alphabet, ⟨h⟩ transcribes the glottal fricative in initial position, but a glottal stop in coda position. Voiceless approximants are distinguished in writing from their voiced counterparts with a prefixed ⟨h⟩.

Vowels

The Hakha language features seven vowels which may be long or short. Allophones occur for closed syllables.

In final position, /e/ can be heard as .

The Hakha language also features diphthongs.

Grammar

Hakha-Chin is a subject-object-verb (SOV) language, and negation follows the verb.

Literacy and literature

Literacy rates are lower for older generations and higher in younger generations. The Hakha-Chin language uses the Latin script, unlike most languages of India and Bangladesh which use Devanagari or other Southeast Asian alphabets. Between 1978 and 1999, the Bible was translated into the language.

Language Use and Vitality

Primary Language: Hakha Chin is typically the primary language spoken by the Hakha Chin people in their daily lives. It serves as a means of communication within families, communities, and in local institutions.

Language Vitality: Despite the pressures from Burmese, the official language of Myanmar, Hakha Chin continues to be actively used in various domains, including religious ceremonies, cultural events, and community gatherings.

Cultural Significance

Identity: The Hakha Chin language plays a crucial role in preserving and promoting the cultural identity of the Hakha Chin people. It is used in traditional songs, stories, and religious practices.

Literature and Media: There is a growing body of literature and media produced in Hakha Chin, including books, newspapers, radio broadcasts, and more recently, digital content.

Challenges and Preservation Efforts

Endangered Status: Like many indigenous languages around the world, Hakha Chin faces challenges from cultural assimilation and globalization. Efforts are underway to promote its use and ensure its survival among younger generations.

Education: There are initiatives to develop educational materials and programs in Hakha Chin to strengthen literacy and language skills among speakers, particularly children and youth.

Overall, Hakha Chin is not just a means of communication but a repository of cultural heritage and identity for the Hakha Chin people. Efforts to document, preserve, and promote the language are crucial for its continued vitality and relevance in the modern world.

Bibliography

• Peterson, David A. (2003). "Hakha Lai" In Graham Thurgood and Randy J. LaPolla, eds. The Sino-Tibetan Languages, 409–426. London: Routledge

See also

• Lai languages
• Lai people

1. how native Lai speakers call the language
2. the official name of the language given by the Mizoram Government

References

1. ^ Lai at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
2. "Did you know Hakha Chin is threatened?". Endangered Languages. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
3. "Chin Speech and Language Development – Bilinguistics". Retrieved 19 October 2024.
4. "Rhododendron – Page 5 – Chin Human Rights Organization". Retrieved 19 October 2024.
5. "About Chin Languages". Chin Languages Research Project. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
6. asiatrans.net https://asiatrans.net/info.php?idget=235. Retrieved 19 October 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
7. asiatrans.net https://asiatrans.net/info.php?idget=235. Retrieved 19 October 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
8. Hyman, Larry M.; VanBik, Kenneth (2004). "Directional rule application and output problems in Hakha Lai tone" (PDF). Language and Linguistics. 5 (4): 821–861.
9. ^ Khoi Lam Thang (2001). A phonological reconstruction of Proto-Chin (PDF) (MA thesis). Payap University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
10. ^ Lalremzani, C. (2013). Lai phonetics phonology and morphology: a descriptive study. North-Eastern Hill University.
11. Ramoo, Dinesh (29 October 2021). "2.3 Consonants". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
12. "Pronunciation". hobugt.dk.
13. "The Best Way to Learn Hakha Chin". worldschoolbooks.com. 3 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
14. "Chin". EthnoMed. Retrieved 19 October 2024.

External links

• Online English to Chin (Hakha) Dictionary with Audio Pronunciations
• English to Haka Chin Online Dictionary
• Lai Language Resource collection of Hakha Lai language documentation in the Computational Resource for South Asian Languages (CoRSAL) archive

v t e Sino-Tibetan branches
Western Himalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim)	West Himalayish Tamangic Newaric Newar Baram–Thangmi Kiranti Dhimalish Dhimal Toto Lhokpu Lepcha Greater Magaric Magaric Magar Kham Chepangic Chepang Bhujel Raji–Raute Dura–Tandrange
Eastern Himalayas (Tibet, Bhutan, Arunachal)	Bodish Tibetic East Bodish Tshangla Basum Nam? Gongduk ʼOle Tani Chamdo
Myanmar and Indo- Burmese border	Karbi Kuki-Chin Mruic Mru Hkongso Pyu Taman "Naga" Ao Angami–Pochuri Meitei Tangkhulic Zeme Sal Boro–Garo Konyak Jingpho–Luish
East and Southeast Asia	Sinitic Bai Tujia Nungish Karenic Gong Kathu Cai–Long Caijia Longjia Luren Burmo-Qiangic Qiangic Gyalrongic Ersuic Naic Lolo-Burmese Mondzish Burmish Loloish
Dubious (possible isolates) (Arunachal)	Hrusish Hruso Mijiic Kho-Bwa Puroik Miju–Meyor Songlin Greater Siangic Siangic Koro Milang Idu–Taraon
Proposed groupings	Central Tibeto-Burman Kuki-Chin–Naga Macro-Bai Mahakiranti Rung Tibeto-Burman Tibeto-Kanauri
Proto-languages	Proto-Sino-Tibetan Proto-Tibeto-Burman Proto-Loloish Proto-Karenic Proto-Min Proto-Hakka
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches.

• Languages of Mizoram
• Languages of Myanmar
• Languages of Bangladesh
• Kuki-Chin languages
• Subject–object–verb languages