Hill Miri dialect

Nyishi (Kamle)
Nyishi (Kamle)
Sarak
Region	Arunachal Pradesh
Ethnicity	Nyishi (Kamle) people
Native speakers	10,000 (2008)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tani West Tani Nyishi Nyishi (Kamle); ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis); Individual code:; mrg – (included under Plains Miri)
Glottolog	None
ELP	Hill Miri

Portrait of a girl of the Nyishi people of Kamle

Nyishi (Kamle) or Sarak is a Tani language of India. It is spoken in Arunachal Pradesh by an estimated 9,000 people of the Nyishi tribe.^[2] It appears to be a dialect of the Nishi language.^[3]

Though Hili Miri is listed under Mising [mrg] in Ethnologue, Burling and Sun–experts on the Aranuchal Pradesh and Tani languages–treat Hill Miri and Mising as separate and distinct languages belonging to different branches of the Tani subgroup.^[1]

Description[edit]

Nyishi (muri-mugli) is a member of the Tani branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages and is considered a dialect of the Nishi language. It is spoken by 9,000 people in the northern regions of India by the Nyishi people of Kamle.^[1] It is threatened because the younger generation is slowly breaking away from their people's traditions and language.^[4]^[5] Many audio books of gospel narratives in the Nyishi language of Kamle have been collected.

History of scholarship[edit]

George Abraham Grierson, in his survey of India regarding its linguistics, researched the Nyishi language and published a record over a century ago.^{[citation needed]}

Phonology[edit]

Consonants[edit]

The following table includes an inventory of Nyishi (Kamle) consonants.^[6]

		Labial	Alveolar	Post- alveolar	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ɲ^[7]	ŋ
Stop	voiceless	p	t	c^[8]	k
Stop	voiced	b	d	ɟ^[9]	ɡ
Fricative			s	ʃ		h
Approximant		w	l	j
Trill?			r

Vowels are front /i, e/, central /ɨ, ʉ, ə, a/,^[10] and back /u, o/. Vowels occur long and short.

Grammar[edit]

The basic Nyishi (Kamle) grammar and basic word order are like those of related Sino-Tibetan languages, similar to that of Nishi.

Numerals[edit]

	Nyishi (Kamle)
1	aken
2	eñi
3	oum
4	epi
5	ango/angngo
6	ake
7	kenne
8	pine
9	kora
10	íri

Pronouns[edit]

Personal[edit]

	Singular	Plural
1st person	ngo	ngu-lu
2nd person	no	nu-lu
3rd person	bu, bú	bu-lu, bú-lu

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c "Did you know Hill Miri is threatened?". Endangered Languages. Retrieved 2022-12-25.
^ Moseley, Christopher (2007). Encyclopedia of the world's endangered languages. Routledge. p. 298. ISBN 978-0-7007-1197-0. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
^ Post, Mark W. (2013). Defoliating the Tani Stammbaum: An exercise in areal linguistics. Paper presented at the 13th Himalayan Languages Symposium. Canberra, Australian National University, Aug 9.
^ Audio
^ Nabam Tadar Rikam, "Emerging religious Identities of Arunachal Pradesh", Mittal Publications, 2005
^ Ju Namkung, "Phonological inventories of Tibeto-burman languages", Center for Southeast Asia Studies, University of California, 1996
^ Value unclear, perhaps [nʲ]?
^ Value unclear, perhaps [t͡ʃ]?
^ Value unclear, perhaps [d͡ʒ]?
^ Transcribed ⟨ɯ, y, ɤ, a⟩ in Namkung

External links[edit]

[endangeredlanguages-1] "Did you know Hill Miri is threatened?". Endangered Languages. Retrieved 2022-12-25.

[Moseley2007-2] Moseley, Christopher (2007). Encyclopedia of the world's endangered languages. Routledge. p. 298. ISBN 978-0-7007-1197-0. Retrieved 1 April 2012.

[3] Post, Mark W. (2013). Defoliating the Tani Stammbaum: An exercise in areal linguistics. Paper presented at the 13th Himalayan Languages Symposium. Canberra, Australian National University, Aug 9.

[4] Audio

[5] Nabam Tadar Rikam, "Emerging religious Identities of Arunachal Pradesh", Mittal Publications, 2005

[6] Ju Namkung, "Phonological inventories of Tibeto-burman languages", Center for Southeast Asia Studies, University of California, 1996

[7] Value unclear, perhaps [nʲ]?

[8] Value unclear, perhaps [t͡ʃ]?

[9] Value unclear, perhaps [d͡ʒ]?

[10] Transcribed ⟨ɯ, y, ɤ, a⟩ in Namkung

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v t e Tani languages
Eastern	Bori Siang (Adi) Mising (Plains Miri) Bokar
Western	Apatani Damu Tangam Bangni-Tagin Na Nishi Hill Miri (Sarak) Yano Gallong