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Lyngngam language

{{short description|Language of Northeast India}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Lyngngam

|altname=Lyngam

|region=Meghalaya, Assam

|states=India

|speakers=11,586

|date=2011 census

|ref={{Cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language_MTs.html|title=Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011|publisher=Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India|website=www.censusindia.gov.in|access-date=2018-07-07}}

|familycolor=Austroasiatic

|fam2 = Khasi-Palaungic

|fam3 = Khasic

|fam4 = Khasi-Pnar-Lyngngam

|iso3=lyg

|glotto=lyng1241

|glottorefname=India Lyngam

}}

Lyngngam is an Austroasiatic language of Northeast India closely related to Khasic languages. Once listed as a dialect of Khasi, Lyngngam has in recent literature been classified as a distinct language and believed to be former Garo speakers. Lyngngam speakers have food and dress similar to the neighboring Garo people, who consider the ancestors of speakers of the Lyngngam language to belong to the Garo Megam tribe. Some speakers of Lyngngam still use surnames which originate from the Garo language.

Phonology

=Consonant inventory=

The following table lists the consonants attested in Lyngngam.{{harvnb|Nagaraja|1996|loc = sect. 1}}

:

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
colspan = "2" |  

! Bilabial

! Alveolar

! Palatal

! Velar

! Glottal

colspan = "2" | Nasal

| {{IPA|/m/}}

| {{IPA|/n/}}

| {{IPA|/ɲ/}}

| {{IPA|/ŋ/}}

|  

rowspan = "3" | Stop

! voiceless

| {{IPA|/p/}}

| {{IPA|/t/}}

| {{IPA|/c/}}

| {{IPA|/k/}}

| {{IPA|/ʔ/}}

aspirated

| {{IPA|/pʰ/}}

| {{IPA|/tʰ/}}

| {{IPA|/cʰ/}}

| {{IPA|/kʰ/}}

|  

voiced

| {{IPA|/b/}}

| {{IPA|/d/}}

| {{IPA|/ɟ/}}

| {{IPA|/ɡ/}}

|  

colspan = "2" | Voiceless fricative

|  

| {{IPA|/s/}}

|  

|  

| {{IPA|/h/}}

colspan = "2" | Liquid

|  

| {{IPA|/l, r/}}

|  

|  

|  

colspan = "2" | Glide

| {{IPA|/w/}}

|  

| {{IPA|/j/}}

|  

|  

The main difference with the Khasi language is that Lyngngam does not possess the voiced aspirated series. Furthermore, Lyngngam does not have the phoneme {{IPA|/ç/}}. Words which have {{IPA|/ç/}} in Khasi typically have {{IPA|/c/}} or {{IPA|/s/}} in Lyngngam,{{harvnb|Nagaraja|1996|loc = sect. 2}} as in the following pairs of cognates:

:

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
Lyngngam

! Khasi

! meaning

{{IPA|cʔeŋ}}

| {{IPA|çʔeŋ}}

| bone

{{IPA|cɨppʰeu}}

| {{IPA|çipʰeu}}

| 10

{{IPA|sɲjək}}

| {{IPA|çɲiuʔ}}

| hair

{{IPA|snaːr}}

| {{IPA|çnjaʔ}}

| chisel

=Vowel inventory=

The following table lists the vowel inventory of the language. The only vowels showing a length distinction are {{IPA|/i/}} and {{IPA|/a/}}, in contradistinction to Khasi, where length is distinctive for all vowels.

:

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
 

! Front
unrounded

! Central
unrounded

! Back
rounded

High

| {{IPA|/i, iː/}}

| {{IPA|/ɨ/}}

| {{IPA|/u/}}

Mid

| {{IPA|/e/}}

| {{IPA|/ə/}}

| {{IPA|/o/}}

Low

| colspan="3" | {{IPA|/a, aː/}}

Words with diphthongs in Khasi have monophthongs in Lyngngam, as in the following pairs of cognates:

:

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
Lyngngam

! Khasi

! meaning

{{IPA|bni}}

| {{IPA|bnaːi}}

| month

{{IPA|ksu}}

| {{IPA|ksəu}}

| dog

{{IPA|mot}}

| {{IPA|miet}}

| night

References

{{reflist}}

  • {{cite journal|last=Nagaraja|first=K.S.|title=The status of Lyngngam|journal=Mon-Khmer Studies|date=1996|volume=26|pages=37–50|url=http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/nagaraja1996status.pdf|access-date=9 March 2014}}

{{Languages of Northeast India}}

{{Austroasiatic languages}}

{{Hill tribes of Northeast India}}

Category:Khasian languages

Category:Languages of India

Category:Languages of Meghalaya