Nga La language

{{Short description|Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Myanmar and India}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Matu

|nativename=Matupi Chin

|region=Myanmar, India

|ethnicity=Matupi

|speakers= 30,000

|date=2012

|ref=e18

|familycolor=Sino-Tibetan

|fam2=Tibeto-Burman

|fam3=Central Tibeto Burman (?)

|fam4=Kuki-Chin-Naga

|fam5=Kuki-Chin

|fam6=Southern

|iso3=hlt

|glotto=ngal1291

|glottorefname=Matu

}}

Matu, also known as Matu Chin, Batu, or Nga La, is a Kuki-Chin spoken in Matupi township, Chin State, Myanmar, and also in Mizoram, India by the Matu people. Matu is the most commonly spoken language in Matupi Township outside of Burmese language, which is the official language of Myanmar. A written script for Matu was created in 1954 by Rev. Johnson and Rev. Ngai Tim.{{Cite journal |last=Lian |first=Salai Van Cung |last2=Salem-Gervais |first2=Nicolas |date=November 2020 |title=How Many Chin Languages Should Be Taught in Government Schools? Ongoing developments and structural challenges of language-in-education policy in Chin State |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/345667190_How_Many_Chin_Languages_Should_Be_Taught_in_Government_Schools_Ongoing_developments_and_structural_challenges_of_language-in-education_policy_in_Chin_State |journal=Parami Journal of Education |volume=1 |issue=1}}

The Matu dialects share 78%–89% lexical similarity.{{Cite web |date=2016 |title=Myanmar |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/country/MM/languages |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010180533/http://www.ethnologue.com/country/MM/languages |archive-date=2016-10-10 |website=Ethnologue: Languages of the World}} Matu shares 65%–76% lexical similarity with Rawngtu Chin, and 66%–71% with Thaiphum Chin.