Lai Holh
Hakha Chin
Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman, Kuki-Chin, Central)
Hakha Chin (Lai Holh) is the prestige and de facto lingua franca variety of the Chin (Kuki-Chin) languages, centred on Hakha town in Chin State, Myanmar. It serves as the cross-clan communication medium for ~50 distinct Chin-related communities. Tonal with three contrastive tones, complex verbal morphology including direct/inverse alignment. Notable for the large Chin refugee diaspora in Indianapolis (~25K) and Tulsa (~15K) following political persecution in Myanmar from the 1990s onward.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Hakha Chin
Water
ti
/ti/
Fire
mei
/mei/
Sun
ni
/ni/
Moon
thla
/tʰla/
Star
arfi
/ʔarfi/
Mother
nu
/nu/
Father
pa
/pa/
I
kei
/kei/
You
nang
/naŋ/
Name
min
/min/
Eye
mit
/mit/
Hand
kut
/kut/
Heart
lung
/luŋ/
Love
daw
/daw/
Tree
thingkung
/tʰiŋkuŋ/
House
inn
/in/
Dog
ui
/ui/
Cat
minu
/minu/
Eat
ei
/ei/
Drink
din
/din/
One
pakhat
/pakʰat/
Two
pahnih
/pahniʔ/
Hello
na dam maw
/na dam maw/
Thank you
ka lawm
/ka lawm/
Good
tha
/tʰa/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman, Kuki-Chin, Central) languages
| Meaning | Hakha Chin | Mizo | Meitei | Tangkhul Naga | Zeme Naga | Northern Qiang | Dzongkha |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | ti /ti/ | tui /tui/ | ꯏꯁꯤꯡ /isiŋ/ | ze /ze/ | nki /nki/ | cu /tsu/ | ཆུ /tɕʰu/ |
| Fire | mei /mei/ | mei /mei/ | ꯃꯩ /mei/ | mei /mei/ | mei /mei/ | mi /mi/ | མེ /me/ |
| Sun | ni /ni/ | ni /ni/ | ꯅꯨꯃꯤꯠ /numit/ | nyithui /ɲitʰui/ | sʰeu /sʰeu/ | mu /mu/ | ཉི་མ /ɲima/ |
| Moon | thla /tʰla/ | thla /tʰla/ | ꯊꯥ /tʰaː/ | lai /lai/ | kʰu /kʰu/ | nyi /ɲi/ | ཟླ་བ /dawa/ |
| Star | arfi /ʔarfi/ | arsi /arsi/ | ꯊꯋꯥꯟꯃꯤꯆꯥꯛ /tʰawanmitɕak/ | sira /siraː/ | tara /taɾa/ | ʁʐə /ʁʐə/ | སྐར་མ /kaːma/ |
| Mother | nu /nu/ | nu /nu/ | ꯏꯃꯥ /ima/ | ina /ina/ | nem /nem/ | ami /ami/ | ཨ་མ /ama/ |
| Father | pa /pa/ | pa /pa/ | ꯏꯄꯥ /ipa/ | apa /apa/ | ape /ape/ | apa /apa/ | ཨ་པ /apa/ |
| I | kei /kei/ | kei /kei/ | ꯑꯩ /əi/ | i /i/ | ge /ge/ | qa /qɑ/ | ང /ŋa/ |
| You | nang /naŋ/ | nang /naŋ/ | ꯅꯪ /naŋ/ | na /na/ | na /na/ | ʔũ /ʔũ/ | ཁྱོད /tɕʰøː/ |
| Name | min /min/ | hming /hmiŋ/ | ꯃꯤꯡ /miŋ/ | amin /amin/ | min /miŋ/ | mi /mi/ | མིང /miŋ/ |
| Eye | mit /mit/ | mit /mit/ | ꯃꯤꯠ /mit/ | mi /mi/ | mik /mik/ | mil /mil/ | མིག /mik/ |
| Hand | kut /kut/ | kut /kut/ | ꯈꯨꯠ /kʰut/ | phei /pʰei/ | hak /hak/ | ki /ki/ | ལག་པ /lakpa/ |
| Heart | lung /luŋ/ | thinlung /tʰinluŋ/ | ꯊꯃꯣꯏ /tʰamoi/ | mokyaba /mokjaba/ | heisia /heisia/ | shulm /ʃulm/ | སྙིང /ɲiŋ/ |
| Love | daw /daw/ | hmangaih /hmaŋai/ | ꯅꯨꯡꯁꯤꯕ /nuŋsiba/ | cha /tʃa/ | kihai /kihai/ | halia /halia/ | དགའ་བ /ɡawa/ |
| Tree | thingkung /tʰiŋkuŋ/ | thingkung /tʰiŋkuŋ/ | ꯐꯨꯂꯥꯡ /pʰulaŋ/ | leiyik /leijik/ | rik /rik/ | səf /səf/ | ཤིང /ɕiŋ/ |
| House | inn /in/ | in /in/ | ꯌꯨꯝ /jum/ | shim /ʃim/ | ki /ki/ | stuapa /stuapa/ | ཁྱིམ /tɕim/ |
| Dog | ui /ui/ | ui /ui/ | ꯍꯨꯏ /hui/ | ui /ui/ | hui /hui/ | kuel /kʷel/ | ཁྱི /tɕi/ |
| Cat | minu /minu/ | zawhte /zɔʔte/ | ꯍꯧꯗꯣꯡ /houdoŋ/ | mibu /mibu/ | kʰemi /kʰemi/ | miu /miu/ | བྱི་ལ /bila/ |
| Eat | ei /ei/ | ei /ei/ | ꯆꯥꯕ /tʃaːba/ | ngui /ŋui/ | so /so/ | ndzu /ndzu/ | བཟའ /za/ |
| Drink | din /din/ | in /in/ | ꯊꯛꯄ /tʰakpa/ | rai /rai/ | hʷu /hʷu/ | ndhu /ndʱu/ | འཐུང /tʰuŋ/ |
| One | pakhat /pakʰat/ | pakhat /pakʰat/ | ꯑꯃ /ama/ | kha /kʰa/ | kha /kʰa/ | lhe /ɬe/ | གཅིག /tɕik/ |
| Two | pahnih /pahniʔ/ | pahnih /pahniʔ/ | ꯑꯅꯤ /əni/ | khani /kʰani/ | kena /kena/ | ɣnə /ʁnə/ | གཉིས /ɲiː/ |
| Hello | na dam maw /na dam maw/ | chibai /tʃibai/ | ꯈꯨꯔꯨꯝꯖꯔꯤ /kʰuɾumdʒaɾi/ | hayau /hajau/ | hangba /haŋba/ | nia ja /nia dʒa/ | སྐུ་གཟུགས་བཟང་པོ་ལ /kuzu zaŋpo la/ |
| Thank you | ka lawm /ka lawm/ | ka lawm e /ka lɔːm e/ | ꯊꯥꯒꯠꯆꯔꯤ /tʰaːɡattʃaɾi/ | ase /ase/ | kazi /kazi/ | — /—/ | བཀའ་དྲིན་ཆེ /kadrintɕe/ |
| Good | tha /tʰa/ | tha /tʰa/ | ꯐꯕ /pʰaba/ | kahei /kahei/ | ahei /ahei/ | stsuq /stsuq/ | ལེགས་ཤོམ /lekɕom/ |
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