Paite language

Paite
Paite
Paite
Pronunciation	Pai-te
Native to	India
Region	Assam, Manipur
Ethnicity	Paite
Native speakers	79,507 (2011 census)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Kuki-Chin Northern Paite; ; ;
Writing system	Roman alphabet/Latin alphabet, Pau Chin Hau script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	pck
Glottolog	pait1244
ELP	Paite Chin

Paite is a Zomi-Chin language spoken by the Paite people. There are different Paite dialects. The language exhibits mutual intelligibility with the other languages of the region including Thadou, Hmar, Vaiphei, Simte, Kom, Gangte and other languages.^[2] The name Paite literally means 'Go-people' and can be translated as 'Leavers' , 'Marchers' or 'simply the people who went.'

Paite alphabet (Paite laimal)

The alphabet is propounded by Shri T Vialphung in 1903 which is extract from the Roman alphabets and has 18 consonants and 6 vowels. Out of 18 consonant phomemes in Paite, 11 of them are glottal stops, 4 fricatives, 2 nasal and 1 lateral.

This version of the Paite alphabet is called 'Paite Laimal'. This alphabet is used since 1903 to till today.

Letter	a	aw	b	ch	d	e	f	g	ng	h	i	j	k
Letter	l	m	n	o	p	r	s	t	u	v	z

Consonants	b	ch	d	f	g	ng	h	j	k	l	m	n	p	r	s	t	v	z

Vowels	a	aw	e	i	o	u

Diphthongs

High-front-oriented	ei	ai	ui	oi

High-back-oriented	au	iu	eu	ou

Low-central-oriented	ia	ua

'iai'(yai) and 'uau'(wao) are the Triphthongs of Paite language.

S

Numbers

Paite	English	Meitei
Bial	Zero	Phun
Khat	One	Ama
Nih	Two	Ani
Thum	Three	Ahum
Li	Four	Mari
Nga	Five	Manga
Guk	Six	Taruk
Sagih	Seven	Taret
Giat	Eight	Nipal
Kua	Nine	Mapal
Sawm	Ten	Tara
Sawmlehkhat	Eleven	TaraMathoi
Sawmlehkua	Nineteen	TaraMapal
Sawmhni	Twenty	Khun
Sawmthum	Thirty	KhumThra
Sawmkua	Ninety	MariPhuTara
Za	Hundred	ChaAma
Zanga	Five hundred	ChaManga
Saang(khat)	One thousand	Lishing
Siing(khat)	Ten thousand
Nuai(khat)	Hundred thousand/One lakh
Maktaduai	Million
Vaibelsia	Ten million
Vaibelsetak	Hundred million
Tuklehdingawn	Billion
Tuklehdingawn sawm	Ten billion
Tuklehdingawn za	Hundred billion

Sample text

The following is a sample text in Paite of the Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Paite pau	English
Mi tengteng zalena piang ihi ua, zahomna leh dikna tanvou ah kibangvek ihi. Sia leh pha theihna pilna neia siam ihihziakun imihingpihte tungah unauna lungsim feltak iputngai ahi.	All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience. Therefore, they should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

There are two major dialects of Paite in Manipur, namely Lousau, Lamjang and Dapjar.^[3]

Grammar

Paite grammar is fairly complex because of a number of word modification and a bit complex noun structure.

Word order

Paite's declarative word structure is Object-subject-verb.

Vasa bird	ka I	mù see	Vasa Ka mu I see a bird
Sing firewood	a he	puá carries	Sing a puá He carries wood

But even if the word order and grammar isn't followed, sentences and phrases do not lose their meaning.

Example: "Lai a gelh", which means "He writes", can also be written as "Gelh a Lai" without losing its meaning.

Five prominent tones in Paite are rising (Tungkal)(á), rising-falling (Tungkal-niamkiak)(â), falling (Niamkiak)(à), falling-rising (Niamkiak-tungkal)(ã), and flat/levelled (Pheipai)(ā). The number of tones varies with variations in region and dialect.

Geographical distribution

Paite is spoken mainly in the following locations (Ethnologue).

Manipur: CCpur Bazar(Lamka Bazar), Khuga valley(Lamka phaizang), Churachandpur district
Mizoram: 20 villages of Champhai subdivision, Aizawl district
Tripura
Assam
Meghalaya
Nagaland
ChinState , Myanmar
Nor

References

^ "Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
^ Singh, Chungkham Yashawanta (1995). "The linguistic situation in Manipur" (PDF). Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area. 18 (1): 129–134. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
^ Singh, Naorem Saratchandra Singh (2006). A Grammar of Paite. Mittal Publications. p. xviii. ISBN 978-8183240680. Retrieved 29 October 2016.

Singh, Naorem Saratchandra. 2006. A grammar of Paite. New Delhi: Mittal Publications.