Mizo ṭawng
Mizo
Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman, Kuki-Chin)
Mizo (Mizo ṭawng) is the official language of Mizoram, India, with ~830K speakers across northeastern India, western Myanmar (Chin State), and the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. It is part of the Kuki-Chin branch of Tibeto-Burman, closely related to Lai (Hakha Chin) and Hmar. The Latin-based script was developed by Welsh Presbyterian missionaries (J. H. Lorrain, F. W. Savidge) in 1894; it uses ṭ for the aspirated /tʰ/. Mizo has a complex tonal system with 4 tones (high, low, rising, falling). Christianity is dominant in Mizoram, and Mizo-language hymnody and gospel songs are central to the literary tradition.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Mizo
Water
tui
/tui/
Fire
mei
/mei/
Sun
ni
/ni/
Moon
thla
/tʰla/
Star
arsi
/arsi/
Mother
nu
/nu/
Father
pa
/pa/
I
kei
/kei/
You
nang
/naŋ/
Name
hming
/hmiŋ/
Eye
mit
/mit/
Hand
kut
/kut/
Heart
thinlung
/tʰinluŋ/
Love
hmangaih
/hmaŋai/
Tree
thingkung
/tʰiŋkuŋ/
House
in
/in/
Dog
ui
/ui/
Cat
zawhte
/zɔʔte/
Eat
ei
/ei/
Drink
in
/in/
One
pakhat
/pakʰat/
Two
pahnih
/pahniʔ/
Hello
chibai
/tʃibai/
Thank you
ka lawm e
/ka lɔːm e/
Good
tha
/tʰa/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman, Kuki-Chin) languages
| Meaning | Mizo | Hakha Chin | Meitei | Zeme Naga | Tangkhul Naga | Balti | Pyu |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | tui /tui/ | ti /ti/ | ꯏꯁꯤꯡ /isiŋ/ | nki /nki/ | ze /ze/ | ཆུ /tɕʰu/ | ʔuy /uj/ |
| Fire | mei /mei/ | mei /mei/ | ꯃꯩ /mei/ | mei /mei/ | mei /mei/ | མེ /me/ | vyaŋ /wjaŋ/ |
| Sun | ni /ni/ | ni /ni/ | ꯅꯨꯃꯤꯠ /numit/ | sʰeu /sʰeu/ | nyithui /ɲitʰui/ | ཉི་མ /ɲima/ | ño /ɲo/ |
| Moon | thla /tʰla/ | thla /tʰla/ | ꯊꯥ /tʰaː/ | kʰu /kʰu/ | lai /lai/ | ཟླ་བ /dawa/ | hla /hla/ |
| Star | arsi /arsi/ | arfi /ʔarfi/ | ꯊꯋꯥꯟꯃꯤꯆꯥꯛ /tʰawanmitɕak/ | tara /taɾa/ | sira /siraː/ | སྐར་མ /skarma/ | kar /karʔ/ |
| Mother | nu /nu/ | nu /nu/ | ꯏꯃꯥ /ima/ | nem /nem/ | ina /ina/ | ཨ་མ /ama/ | na /na/ |
| Father | pa /pa/ | pa /pa/ | ꯏꯄꯥ /ipa/ | ape /ape/ | apa /apa/ | ཨ་ཕ /apʰa/ | paʔ /paʔ/ |
| I | kei /kei/ | kei /kei/ | ꯑꯩ /əi/ | ge /ge/ | i /i/ | ང /ŋa/ | ŋa /ŋa/ |
| You | nang /naŋ/ | nang /naŋ/ | ꯅꯪ /naŋ/ | na /na/ | na /na/ | ཁྱང /kʰjaŋ/ | naŋ /naŋ/ |
| Name | hming /hmiŋ/ | min /min/ | ꯃꯤꯡ /miŋ/ | min /miŋ/ | amin /amin/ | མིང /miŋ/ | miŋ /miŋ/ |
| Eye | mit /mit/ | mit /mit/ | ꯃꯤꯠ /mit/ | mik /mik/ | mi /mi/ | མིག /mik/ | mik /mik/ |
| Hand | kut /kut/ | kut /kut/ | ꯈꯨꯠ /kʰut/ | hak /hak/ | phei /pʰei/ | ལག་པ /lakpa/ | lak /lak/ |
| Heart | thinlung /tʰinluŋ/ | lung /luŋ/ | ꯊꯃꯣꯏ /tʰamoi/ | heisia /heisia/ | mokyaba /mokjaba/ | སྙིང /ɲiŋ/ | — /—/ |
| Love | hmangaih /hmaŋai/ | daw /daw/ | ꯅꯨꯡꯁꯤꯕ /nuŋsiba/ | kihai /kihai/ | cha /tʃa/ | དགའ་བ /ɡaba/ | — /—/ |
| Tree | thingkung /tʰiŋkuŋ/ | thingkung /tʰiŋkuŋ/ | ꯐꯨꯂꯥꯡ /pʰulaŋ/ | rik /rik/ | leiyik /leijik/ | ཤིང /ɕiŋ/ | siŋ /siŋ/ |
| House | in /in/ | inn /in/ | ꯌꯨꯝ /jum/ | ki /ki/ | shim /ʃim/ | ཁང་པ /kʰaŋpa/ | vaiŋ /waiŋ/ |
| Dog | ui /ui/ | ui /ui/ | ꯍꯨꯏ /hui/ | hui /hui/ | ui /ui/ | ཁྱི /kʰi/ | kwiy /kwij/ |
| Cat | zawhte /zɔʔte/ | minu /minu/ | ꯍꯧꯗꯣꯡ /houdoŋ/ | kʰemi /kʰemi/ | mibu /mibu/ | བྱི་ལ /bjila/ | — /—/ |
| Eat | ei /ei/ | ei /ei/ | ꯆꯥꯕ /tʃaːba/ | so /so/ | ngui /ŋui/ | ཟ /za/ | cyaʔ /tɕaʔ/ |
| Drink | in /in/ | din /din/ | ꯊꯛꯄ /tʰakpa/ | hʷu /hʷu/ | rai /rai/ | ཐུང་ /tʰuŋ/ | — /—/ |
| One | pakhat /pakʰat/ | pakhat /pakʰat/ | ꯑꯃ /ama/ | kha /kʰa/ | kha /kʰa/ | གཅིག /tɕik/ | te /te/ |
| Two | pahnih /pahniʔ/ | pahnih /pahniʔ/ | ꯑꯅꯤ /əni/ | kena /kena/ | khani /kʰani/ | གཉིས /ɲis/ | nit /nit/ |
| Hello | chibai /tʃibai/ | na dam maw /na dam maw/ | ꯈꯨꯔꯨꯝꯖꯔꯤ /kʰuɾumdʒaɾi/ | hangba /haŋba/ | hayau /hajau/ | ཨ་སི་ལམ /asilam/ | — /—/ |
| Thank you | ka lawm e /ka lɔːm e/ | ka lawm /ka lawm/ | ꯊꯥꯒꯠꯆꯔꯤ /tʰaːɡattʃaɾi/ | kazi /kazi/ | ase /ase/ | བཀའ་དྲིན་ཆེ /kadrintɕʰe/ | — /—/ |
| Good | tha /tʰa/ | tha /tʰa/ | ꯐꯕ /pʰaba/ | ahei /ahei/ | kahei /kahei/ | ཡག་པོ /jakpo/ | — /—/ |
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