Zeme
Zeme Naga
Sino-Tibetan
Zeme Naga (autonymously Zeme) is a Tibeto-Burman language of the Zeme group within Kuki-Chin-Naga, spoken by ~70,000 people across the borderlands of Nagaland, Manipur, and Assam in northeast India. The Zeme people are part of the broader Naga ethnopolitical complex (~3M Nagas across NE India and Myanmar) but linguistically distinct from the more famous Naga languages like Tangkhul, Sumi, and Mao. Zeme has classical Tibeto-Burman features: tonal (low/high), simple noun morphology, polypersonal verb agreement, and SOV constituent order. Naga literacy programs since the 1960s have produced Bible translations and educational materials in Zeme.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Zeme Naga
Water
nki
/nki/
Fire
mei
/mei/
Sun
sʰeu
/sʰeu/
Moon
kʰu
/kʰu/
Mother
nem
/nem/
Father
ape
/ape/
Eat
so
/so/
Drink
hʷu
/hʷu/
Love
kihai
/kihai/
Heart
heisia
/heisia/
Tree
rik
/rik/
House
ki
/ki/
Dog
hui
/hui/
Cat
kʰemi
/kʰemi/
Hand
hak
/hak/
Eye
mik
/mik/
Hello
hangba
/haŋba/
Thank you
kazi
/kazi/
One
kha
/kʰa/
Good
ahei
/ahei/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Sino-Tibetan languages
| Meaning | Zeme Naga | Tangkhul Naga | Kurtöp | Mizo | Hakha Chin | Limbu | Sikkimese |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | nki /nki/ | ze /ze/ | khwe /kʰwe/ | tui /tui/ | ti /ti/ | ᤇᤘᤠ /tʃʰwaː/ | ཆུ /tɕʰu/ |
| Fire | mei /mei/ | mei /mei/ | mi /mi/ | mei /mei/ | mei /mei/ | ᤔᤡ /mi/ | མེ /me/ |
| Sun | sʰeu /sʰeu/ | nyithui /ɲitʰui/ | ningpe /niŋpe/ | ni /ni/ | ni /ni/ | ᤊᤠᤶᤑ /ɲaːmpʰʌ/ | ཉི་མ /ɲima/ |
| Moon | kʰu /kʰu/ | lai /lai/ | lai /lai/ | thla /tʰla/ | thla /tʰla/ | ᤗᤠᤒᤠ /laːba/ | ཟླ་བ /dawa/ |
| Mother | nem /nem/ | ina /ina/ | amai /amai/ | nu /nu/ | nu /nu/ | ᤔᤠᤔᤠ /aːmaː/ | ཨ་མ /ama/ |
| Father | ape /ape/ | apa /apa/ | apai /apai/ | pa /pa/ | pa /pa/ | ᤀᤠᤒᤠ /aːbaː/ | ཨ་པ /apa/ |
| Eat | so /so/ | ngui /ŋui/ | za /za/ | ei /ei/ | ei /ei/ | ᤆᤠᤔᤠ /tʃaːmaː/ | ཟ /za/ |
| Drink | hʷu /hʷu/ | rai /rai/ | thung /tʰuŋ/ | in /in/ | din /din/ | ᤌᤢᤴᤔᤠ /tʰuŋmaː/ | འཐུང /tʰuŋ/ |
| Love | kihai /kihai/ | cha /tʃa/ | ga /ɡa/ | hmangaih /hmaŋai/ | daw /daw/ | ᤔᤡᤌᤡ /mitʰi/ | དགའ /ɡa/ |
| Heart | heisia /heisia/ | mokyaba /mokjaba/ | nying /ɲiŋ/ | thinlung /tʰinluŋ/ | lung /luŋ/ | ᤛᤡᤰ /sik/ | སྙིང /ɲiŋ/ |
| Tree | rik /rik/ | leiyik /leijik/ | shing /ɕiŋ/ | thingkung /tʰiŋkuŋ/ | thingkung /tʰiŋkuŋ/ | ᤛᤡᤱ /siŋ/ | ཤིང /ɕiŋ/ |
| House | ki /ki/ | shim /ʃim/ | khim /kʰim/ | in /in/ | inn /in/ | ᤜᤡᤶ /him/ | ཁྱིམ /tɕim/ |
| Dog | hui /hui/ | ui /ui/ | khwi /kʰwi/ | ui /ui/ | ui /ui/ | ᤁᤣᤳᤇᤡ /keptʃi/ | ཁྱི /tɕʰi/ |
| Cat | kʰemi /kʰemi/ | mibu /mibu/ | byila /bila/ | zawhte /zɔʔte/ | minu /minu/ | ᤐᤡᤛᤡ /pisi/ | ཞི་མི /ʑimi/ |
| Hand | hak /hak/ | phei /pʰei/ | lak /lak/ | kut /kut/ | kut /kut/ | ᤜᤢᤰ /huk/ | ལག /lak/ |
| Eye | mik /mik/ | mi /mi/ | mik /mik/ | mit /mit/ | mit /mit/ | ᤔᤡᤰ /mik/ | མིག /mik/ |
| Hello | hangba /haŋba/ | hayau /hajau/ | kuzu zangpo /kuzu zaŋpo/ | chibai /tʃibai/ | na dam maw /na dam maw/ | ᤐᤣᤜᤢᤙᤣ /peːhuːje/ | ཁམས་བཟང /kʰamsaŋ/ |
| Thank you | kazi /kazi/ | ase /ase/ | kadrinche /kadrintɕe/ | ka lawm e /ka lɔːm e/ | ka lawm /ka lawm/ | ᤐᤡᤍᤠᤱ /pidaːŋ/ | ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེ /tʰuktɕetɕe/ |
| One | kha /kʰa/ | kha /kʰa/ | thê /tʰe/ | pakhat /pakʰat/ | pakhat /pakʰat/ | ᤌᤡᤰ /tʰik/ | གཅིག /tɕik/ |
| Good | ahei /ahei/ | kahei /kahei/ | lekpo /lekpo/ | tha /tʰa/ | tha /tʰa/ | ᤏᤢᤒᤠ /nuba/ | ལེགས་པོ /lekpo/ |
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