The Mizo language, or Mizo ṭawng, is a Kuki-Chin-Mizo language belonging to the Tibeto-Burman family of languages, spoken natively by the Mizo people in the Mizoram state of India and Chin State in Myanmar. The language is also known as Duhlian and Lushai, a colonial term, as the Duhlian people were the first among the Mizos to be encountered by the British in the course of their colonial expansion. The Mizo language is mainly based on Lusei dialect but it has also derived many words from its surrounding Mizo sub-tribes and sub-clan. Now, Mizo language or Mizo ṭawng is the lingua franca of Mizoram and its surrounding areas and to a lesser extent of Myanmar and Bangladesh and in India in some parts of Assam, Tripura and Manipur. Many poetic languages are derived from Pawi, Paite, and Hmar, and most known ancient poems considered to be Mizo are actually in Pawi. Mizo is the official language of Mizoram, along with English, and there have been efforts to have it included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India.
History
The Mizo language belongs to the Kuki-Chin-Mizo branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The numerous clans of the Mizo had respective dialects, amongst which the Lusei dialect was the most common, and evolved with significant influenced from Hmar, Lai and Paite, etc. to become the Mizo language and the lingua franca of the Mizo peoples due to its extensive and exclusive use by the Christian missionaries and the later young generation.
Cardinal numbers
They are as follows: 1, pa -khat. 2, pa -hnih. 3, pa-thum, 4, pa -li. 5, pa-nga. 6, pa-ruk. 7, pa -sari. 8, pa- riat. 9, pa -kua. 10, sawm.
Writing system
The Mizo alphabet is based on the Roman script and has 25 letters, namely:
| Letter | a | aw | b | ch | d | e | f | g | ng | h | i | j | k |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name |  listen |
listen |
listen |
listen |
listen |
listen |
listen |
listen |
listen |
listen |
listen |
listen |
listen |
| Letter | l | m | n | o | p | r | s | t | ṭ | u | v | z |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | listen |
listen |
listen |
listen |
listen |
listen |
listen |
listen |
listen |
listen |
listen |
listen |
In its current form, it was devised by the first Christian missionaries of Mizoram, Rev. J.H.Lorrain and Rev. F.W.Savidge based on Hunterian system of transliteration.
A circumflex ^ was later added to the vowels to indicate long vowels, viz., â, ê, î, ô, û, which were insufficient to fully express Mizo tone. Recently, a leading newspaper in Mizoram, Vanglaini, the magazine Kristian Ṭhalai, and other publishers began using á, à, ä, é, è, ë, í, ì, ï, ó, ò, ö, ú, ù, ü to indicate the long intonations and tones. However, this does not differentiate the different intonations that short tones can have.
Relation with other languages
The Mizo language is related to the other languages of the Sino-Tibetan family. The Kuki-Chin-Mizo languages (which native Mizo speakers call Zohnahthlâk ṭawngho/Mizo ṭawngho) have a substantial number of words in common.
Mizo and Sino-Tibetan languages
The following table illustrates the similarity between Mizo and other members of the Sino-Tibetan family. The words given are cognates, whose origins could be traced back to the proto-language Proto-Sino-Tibetan (given in the first column of the table).
| Proto-Sino-Tibetan | Mizo/Duhlian/Lusei language | Khawsak-Hmar language | Zote-Hmar language | Standard Chinese character (Pīnyīn) | Early Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Written Tibetan | Written Burmese | Written Sgaw Karen | Bodo | Tripuri (Kokborok) | Meitei language | Trung | English meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *tujH | tui | tui | tui | 水(shuǐ) | – | – | – | – | htee | døi | twi/tui | ishing | water | |
| *sĭj(H) (? / ś-) | thi | thi/famchang | famchang/thi | 死 (sǐ) | si’ | sjid | shi-ba | se | thee | thøi | thwi/thui | shi | ɕi | die |
| *ghāH | khà | kha | khak | 苦 (kǔ) | kʰɔ’ | khag | kha | khâ | khá | khá | Kwkha/Kha | kha | Kha(salty) | bitter |
| *sĭŋ | thing | thing | thin | – | sin | sjin | shing | sac | tháe | – | Buphang/Waphang | – | wood/tree | |
| *miǝ̆ŋ | hming | hming | hming | 名 (míng) | mjiajŋ | mjing | ming | mung | mï | – | Bumung/mung | ming | muŋ | name |
| *paH | pa | pa | zuopa | 爸 (bà) | – | – | – | – | pa | afah | Apha/Bupha | ipa | – | father |
| *ŋāH | (pa-)nga | panga | panga | 五 (wǔ) | ŋɔ’ | ngag | lnga | ŋ̩â | yëh | ba | Ba | manga | pəŋ-ŋà | five |
| *rŭk | (pa-)ruk | paruk | paruk | 六 (liù) | luwk | ljəkw | drug | khrok | xu | doh | Dok | taruk | khlu | six |
| *nă- | nang | nang | nangma | 汝 (rǔ) | ȵɨʌ | naʔ | – | – | na | nøng | nung/nwng | nang | nǎ | thou (you) |
| *nĭj | ni | ni/sun/nisa | nisa | 日 (rì) | ȵiɪt | njiɡ | – | – | mu ni/mu | shan | Sal | nì | day/sun | |
| *ma | em | mäw | am | 吗 (ma) | – | – | – | – | ma | – | – | bara | – | ?(final interrogative particle) |
| *nu- | nù | nuhmei | nuhmei | 女 (nǚ) | – | – | – | – | – | – | Bwrwi/ti | – | female | |
| *- | chaw ei | bu fak | bu bak | 吃饭 (chi fan) | – | – | – | – | – | – | Cha | chak cha | – | eat rice |
| *druaŋ | lai | lailung | malai | 中(zhōng) (middle) | ṭüŋ ṭǜŋ | truŋ truŋs | gźuŋ | ǝtwaŋh | khuh tha | – | Kwchar | matai/manak | a3-tuŋ1 (middle) | middle |
| *tī̆kʷ | tâwk | huntawk | hunchat | 淑 (shú, shū, chù) | – | – | sdug (pretty, nice) | thǝuk (be worth, have certain value; be lucky) | – | – | – | enough, sufficient | ||
| *- | hmang zo | hmang zo/hmang ral | inthām/inral | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Leng | – | – | use up, exhaust |
| *ra | ṭha | ṭha | ṭha | – | – | – | – | – | ghay | – | Kaham/Cha | pha | – | good |
| *chēŋ (green) | hring | hring | hring | 青 (qīng) | chieŋ | shēŋ | – | – | – | – | Kwkhwrang/Kukhurang | – | – | green |
| *cht | sât | sat/chan/tan | vat/tan/sat | 切 (qiē, qiè) | chiet | shīt | zed | ćhać | – | – | tan-di/Hra-di(‘di’ is suffix to denote ‘to’ here) | – | to cut |
- References for the above table:
Mizo and Burmese
The following few words suggest that Mizo and the Burmese are of the same family: kun (“to bend”), kam (“bank of a river”), kha (“bitter”), sam (“hair”), mei (“fire”), that (“to kill”), ni (“sun”), hnih (“two”), li (“four”), nga (“five”) etc.
Phonology
Vowels
Monophthongs
The Mizo language has eight tones and intonations for each of the vowels a, aw, e, i and u, four of which are reduced tones and the other four long tones. The vowel o has only three tones, all of them of the reduced type; it has almost exactly the same sound as the diphthong /oʊ/ found in American English. However, the vowels can be represented as follows:
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i , , | u , , | |
| Mid | e , , | aw , , | |
| Open | a , , , , | ||
Diphthongs
| Starting with a | Starting with e | Starting with i | Starting with u |
|---|---|---|---|
| ai (/aɪ̯/, /ɑːi/ or /ai/) | ei (/eɪ̯/, /ɛi/ or /ɛɪ̯/) | ia (/ɪə̯/ /ɪa/, /ja/ or /ɪa̭/) | ua (/u̯a/ or /ua̭/) |
| au (/aʊ̯/, /ɑːʊ̯/) | eu (/ɛu/, /eʊ/ or /eʊ̯/) | iu (/ɪʊ̯/ or /iw/) | ui (/ɥi/ or /ʔwi/) |
Triphthongs
Mizo has the following triphthongs:
- iai, as in iai, piai
- iau as in riau ruau, tiau tuau etc.
- uai, as in uai, zuai, tuai, vuai
- uau, as in riau ruau, tiau tuau, suau suau
Consonants
Mizo has the following consonants, with the first symbol being its orthographical form and the second one its representation in the IPA:
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | lateral | ||||||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | k | h 1 | ||
| aspirated | ph | th | kh | ||||
| voiced | b | d | |||||
| Affricate | voiceless | ch | tl | ||||
| aspirated | chh , | thl | |||||
| flap | ṭ | ||||||
| aspirated flap | ṭh | ||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | h | |||
| voiced | v | z | l | ||||
| Nasal | plain | m | n | ng | |||
| aspirated | hm | hn | ngh | ||||
| Liquid | plain | r | l l | ||||
| aspirated | hr | hl | |||||
| glottalized1 | rh | lh | |||||
- The glottal and glottalised consonants appear only in final position.
Tone
As Mizo is a tonal language, differences in pitch and pitch contour can change the meanings of words. Tone systems have developed independently in many daughter languages, largely by simplifications in the set of possible syllable-final and syllable-initial consonants. Typically, a distinction between voiceless and voiced initial consonants is replaced by a distinction between high and low tone, and falling and rising tones developed from syllable-final h and glottal stop, which themselves often reflect earlier consonants.
The eight tones and intonations that the vowel a (and the vowels aw, e, i, u, and this constitutes all the tones in the Mizo language) can have are shown by the letter sequence p–a–n–g, as follows:
- long high tone: páng as in páng là (which has the same intonation as sáng in the sentence Thingküng sáng tak kan huanah a ding).
- long low tone: pàng as in Tui a kawt pàng pâng mai (which has the same intonation as vàng in the word vànglaini).
- peaking tone: pâng as in Tui a kawt pàng pâng mai (which has the same intonation as thlûk in I hla phuah thlûk chu a va mawi ve).
- dipping tone: päng as in Tuibur a hmuam päng mai (which has the same intonation as säm in Kan huan ka säm vêl mai mai).
- short rising tone: pǎng as in naupǎng (which has the same intonation as thǎng in Kan huanah thǎng ka kam).
- short falling tone: pȧng as in I va inkhuih pȧng ve? (which has the same intonation as pȧn in I lam ka rawn pȧn )
- short mid tone: pang as in A dik lo nghâl pang (which has the same tone as man in Sazu ka man )
- short low tone: pạng as in I pạng a sá a nih kha (which has the same tone as chạl in I chạlah thosí a fù ).
| Short tones | Long tones | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mid | rising | falling | low | peaking | high | dipping | low |
| a | (ǎ / ă) / ả | (ȧ / ã) / ą | ạ | â | á | ä | à |
| o | (ǒ / ŏ) / ỏ / (ó) | ọ / (ò) | |||||
| aw | (ǎw / ăw) / ảw | (ȧw / ãw) / ąw | ạw | âw | áw | äw | àw |
| u | (ǔ / ŭ) / ủ | (ů / ũ) / ų | ụ | û | ú | ü | ù |
| e | (ě / ĕ) / ẻ | (ė / ẽ) / ę | ẹ | ê | é | ë | è |
| i | (ǐ / ĭ) / ỉ | (ĩ) / į | ị | î | í | ï | ì |
Note that the exact orthography of tones with diacritics is still not standardised (notably for differentiating the four short tones with confusive or conflicting choices of diacritics) except for the differentiation of long versus short tones using the circumflex. As well, the need of at least 7 diacritics may cause complications to design easy keyboard layouts, even if they use dead keys, and even if not all basic Latin letters are needed for Mizo itself, so publications may represent the short tones using digrams (e.g. by appending some apostrophe or glottal letter) to reduce the number of diacritics needed to only 4 (those used now for the long tones) on only two dead keys.
Sample sentences
The following table illustrates the pronunciations of various consonants, vowels and diphthongs found in the Mizo language:
| Sentence | Pronunciation |
|---|---|
| Zạwhtë ka hmù | zɒʔ.teː kʌ ʰmuː |
| Thlàpǔi a ëng | tlʰaː.pwi ʔʌ ʔɛːŋ |
| Tlángah kǎn láwn | tlaː.ŋʌʔ kʌn loːn |
| Phengphehlep chi hrang paruk ṭhu chungin ka en | pʰeːŋ.pʰɛ.lʰɛp tsi ʰraŋ pʌ.rʊk trʰʊ tsʊ.ŋin kʌ ɛn |
| Ṭahbelh chu chhunah kan hruai ve lo vang. | trʌʔ.bɛlʔ tsʊ tʃuː.nʌʔ kʌn ʰrwai veː loʊ vʌŋ(or lɔ.vʌŋ) |
| I va berh ve! | ʔɪ vʌ berʔ ve: |
| Khàuphár thạwvẹn vè êm êm rịngawt mai che u hian. | kʰauː.pʰaːr tʰɔ.vɛn veː ʔɛːm ʔɛːm ri.ŋɔt mai/mʌj tsɛ ʔʊ hjaːn |
| Nghakuai kan chiah | ʰŋa.kua̯ːi kan tsjaʔ |
| I zuan kai ngam ka ring. | ʔi zua̯ːn kaːi ŋam ka riŋ |
| Hläu miah lovin. | ʰlaṷ mjʌʔ lɔ.vin |
| Kuai tliak | kwai tljaːk |
| I tán liau liau | i taːn ljaʊ ljaʊ |
| I uar a ni lo maw? | ʔɪ ʔʊar ʔʌ nɪ loʊ ˈmɔː |
| Sakei | sʌ.ˈkeɪ |
| Paih darh suh | pʌɪʔ dʌrʔ sʊʔ |
- References and further reading for this section.
Grammar
Mizo contains many analyzable polysyllables, which are polysyllabic units in which the individual syllables have meaning by themselves. In a true monosyllabic language, polysyllables are mostly confined to compound words, such as “lighthouse”. The first syllables of compounds tend over time to be de-stressed, and may eventually be reduced to prefixed consonants. The word nuntheihna (“survival”) is composed of nung (“to live”), theih (“possible”) and na (a nominalising suffix); likewise, theihna means “possibility”. Virtually all polysyllabic morphemes in Mizo can be shown to have originated in this way. For example, the disyllabic form bakhwan (“butterfly”), which occurs in one dialect of the Trung (or Dulung) language of Yunnan, is actually a reduced form of the compound blak kwar, found in a closely related dialect. It is reported over 18 of the dialects share about 850 words with the same meaning. For example, ban (“arm”), ke (“leg”), thla (“wing”, “month”), lu (“head”) and kut (“hand”).
Word order
The declarative word order in Mizo is Object-subject-verb (OSV). For example:
Lehkhabu
book
ka
I