Mara (Mara reih; pronounced [mərà reɪ], မရာဘာသာစကား; pronounced [mərà bàθàzəɡá]) is a Kuki-Chin language spoken by Mara people, mostly the Tlosai tribe living in 30 villages of Chhimtuipui district, southern Mizoram, India and the adjacent villages in Burma.
| Mara | |
|---|---|
| Mara (Tlosai) | |
| Pronunciation | [mərà] |
| Native to | Mizoram, India; Burma |
| Ethnicity | Mara people |
Native speakers | (ca. 400,000 cited 1994–2011)[1] |
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mrh |
| Glottolog | mara1382 |
| ELP | Mara Chin |
The Mara (Tlosai) languages belong to the Kuki-Chin branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The speakers of the languages are also known as Mara (Tlosais).
Mara is a recognised language in the Mara Autonomous District Council (MADC) school curriculum. Mara is a compulsory subject for all schools up to class VII (middle school) under the Board of School Education, MADC.
Mara is a Kuki-Chin language spoken by Mara people.
Orthography
editMara alphabet (capital letters)
A, AW, Y, B, CH, D, E, F, H, I, K, L, M, N, NG, O, Ô, P, R, S, T, U, V, Z
Mara alphabet (lowercase letters)
a, aw, y, b, ch, d, e, f, h, i, k, l, m, n, ng, o, ô, p, r, s, t, u, v, z
Mara diphthongs
ao, yu, ai, ei, ia, ie, ua
Grammar
editPlurals
editThe plural form of a noun is formed by affixing one of the following terms to the end of the noun:
- zy (zeu)
- zydua (zeu-dua)
- nawh
- sahlao (sha-hlawh)
Today the Mara language has its own alphabet; words inside brackets show author N.E. Parry's transliterations from 1937.
Interrogative words in Mara
edit- What: Khâpa, Khâpa e, Khâpa maw
- Where: Khataih lâ, Khataih liata
- How: kheihta, kheihawhta, Khatluta, Kheihta maw
- How much?: Khazie?
- How long?: Khachâ e, Khachâ maw?
- When: Khatita, Khatita e, Khâpa nota, nota, tita, nahta, pata Conj. thlaita, khati nota
- Why: Khazia, Khazia-e, Khazia maw, Khâpa vâta
- Why not: Khazia a châ vei chheih aw
- Whose: Kheihawhpa, Kheihawhpa he, Kheihawhpa-e, Kheihawhpa maw, ahy he maw
- Which: Kheihawhpa, Kheihawhpa he, Kheihawhpa-e, Kheihawhpa maw, ahy he maw
- Friend: Viasa
- Male Friend: Viasa Paw
- Female Friend: Viasa Nô
- Walk/Go: Sie (Phei ta Sie)
- Run: Arâ, â râ
- Sleep: Amô, Azia, Apazawh, â mô, â zia, â pazawh
- See: Mo, hmô
- Sit: Â tyuh, atyuh
- Stand: Â duah, aduah
- Jump: Â pathluah, apathluah
- Hit: Â chô, achô
- Eat: Nie
- Drink: Doh
Pronouns
editSingular
- 1st person: keima, kei - I
- 2nd person: nâma, na - you
- 3rd person: ano, a or ama' - he, she, it
Plural
- 1st person: eima - we
- 2nd person: nâmo, nâma - you
- 3rd person: âmo - they
Possessive Pronouns
editSingular
- Keima, ei - my
- Keima eih, kei eih - mine
- Nâma, na - thy (you)
- Nâma eih, na eih - thine (yours)
- Ama, a - him, her, it
- Ama eih, a eih - his, hers, its
Plural
- Keimo - our
- Keimo eih - ours
- Nâmo - your
- Ahyrai - anyone
- Ahy tlyma - someone, a certain one
- A tlâhpi - some . . . others
- A hropa - another, others
- Ama zydua ta - all
Phonology
editConsonants
edit| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
(Alveolo-) palatal |
Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t | tɕ | k | (ʔ) |
| aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | tɕʰ | kʰ | ||
| voiced | b | d | dʑ | |||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | h | ||
| voiced | v | z | ||||
| Nasal | plain | m | n | ŋ | ||
| murmured | mʰ | nʰ | ||||
| Trill | voiced | r | ||||
| voiceless | r̥ | |||||
| Lateral | voiced | l | ||||
| voiceless | l̥ | |||||
| Approximant | w | ɹ̥ | j | |||
- A glottal stop [ʔ] may occur in onsets as a result of morphological combinations.
- /t/ can be dental as [t̪] before /ɑ/ or /i/.
- /k/ can also be heard as uvular [q] before /ɑ/ or /i/.
- /s, z/ when preceding /i/ can be heard as alveolo-palatal [ɕ, ʑ].
- Pre-aspiration can also be heard among nasals as [ʱm, ʱn].[2]
Vowels
edit| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | y | ɨ | u |
| i̞ | u̞ | |||
| Mid | e | ø | o | |
| Open | ɑ̝ | |||
| ɑ | ||||
- Sounds /o/ and /ɑ̝/ can be heard in free variation as [ɔ, ɐʊ] and [ʌ].[2]
References
edit- ^ Mara at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b Arden, Michelle J. (2010). A phonetic, phonological, and morphosyntactic analysis of the Mara language. San Jose State University.
External links
edit
- The Mara people
- Maraland: The Home of the Maras on the internet
- A grammar and dictionary of the Lakher language, by Fred W. Savidge (1908) (Scanned at Internet Archive)
- Mara language on Ethnologue