Dimasa language

Dimasa
Dimasa
Grao-Dima
Native to	India
Region	Assam, Nagaland
Ethnicity	Dimasa
Native speakers	137,184 (2011 census (Dima Hasao))
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Central Tibeto-Burman (?) Brahmaputran Boro–Garo Dimasa; ; ; ; ;
Writing system	Latin script, Eastern Nagari
Language codes
ISO 639-3	dis
Glottolog	dima1251
ELP	Dimasa

The Dimasa language is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Dimasa people of the Northeastern Indian states of Assam and Nagaland. The Dimasa language is known to Dimasas as "Grao-Dima" and it is similar to Boro, Kokborok and Garo languages. The Dimasa language is one of the oldest languages spoken in North East India, particularly in Assam, Nagaland.

Etymology

The word Dimasa etymologically translates to Children [sa] of the big river [dima]", i.e. the mighty Tsang, which is known as Brahmaputra by the Assamese. The Dimasa word dzi/Dí, meaning water, forms the root of the names of many of the major rivers of Assam and of North East India in general, such as Dibang (plenty of water), Diyung (huge river), Dikrang (green river), Dikhow (fetched water), and many others. The Brahmaputra is known as Tsangi (the purifier) and Lohit is known as Di Lao (long river) among the Dimasas even now.

Many of the important towns and cities in Assam and Nagaland received their names from Dimasa words such as Diphu, Maibang, Dimabang (a capital of the Dimasa Kingdom) etc. In fact, the Dimasa language is one of the last languages of North East India to retain its original vocabulary without being compromised by foreign languages.^[2]

Geographical distribution

Dimasa is spoken in:

Assam: Dima Hasao district (formerly North Cachar Hills district), Cachar district, Karbi Anglong district, West Karbi Anglong district, Nagaon district, Hojai district (formerly a part of Nagaon district)
Nagaland
Meghalaya
Mizoram

Phonology

Vowels

There are six vowels in Dimasa language.

Vowels
	Front			Central			Back
	IPA	ROM	Script	IPA	ROM	Script	IPA	ROM	Script
Close	i	i					u	u
Close-mid	e	e					o	o
Mid				ə	ə
Open				a	a

All vowels can occurs in all three positions, except /ə/ which occurs only medially.

Diphthongs

Diphthongs
	i	o	u
i			iu
e	ei	eo
a	ai	ao
o	oi
u	ui
ə		əo

Consonants

There are sixteen consonants in the Dimasa language.

Consonants
		Labial			Alveolar			Dorsal			Glottal
		IPA	ROM	Script	IPA	ROM	Script	IPA	ROM	Script	IPA	ROM	Script
Nasal		m	m		n	n		ŋ	ng
Stop	aspirated	pʰ	ph		tʰ	th		kʰ	kh
Stop	voiced	b	b		d	d		ɡ	g
Fricative	voiceless				s	s
Fricative	voiced				z	z					ɦ	h
Trill/Flap					r ~ ɾ	r
Approximant	voiced	w	w					j	y
Approximant	lateral				l	l

The three voiceless aspirated stops, /pʰ, tʰ, kʰ/, are unreleased in syllable final position. Their unaspirated voiced counterparts are released and cannot occur word final position.
Sometimes /pʰ, tʰ, kʰ, s/ are pronounced as /b, d, g, z/ respectively.
The consonants /pʰ, b, tʰ, kʰ, m, n, r, l/ can occur in all position.
The consonants /g, s, s, ɦ/ cannot occur in Dimasa indigenous words, but can occur in loan words.
The consonants /d, w, j/ cannot appear in word final positions in Dimasa.
The consonants /ŋ/ cannot appear in word initial positions.

Grammar

Dimasa is an inflectional language. The verbs are inflected for number, tense, case, voice, aspect, mood but not for gender and person.

Pronouns

	Singular	Plural
First person	ang	jing
Second person	ning	nishi
Third person	bo	bunshi

Sentence syntax

The verb is rarely inflected for person and gender.

Subject–object–verb word order is usual; Object–verb–subject word order also occurs.

Writing system

Dimasa is written using Latin script, which has been introduced in the lower primary education system in Dima Hasao District. The main guiding force behind it is the Dimasa Lairidim Hosom, a literary apex body of the Dimasa community.^[3]

The Bengali script is used in Cachar, where the Bengali people live alongside Dimasas.^[4]

Notes

^ "Statement 1: Abstract of Speakers' Strength of Languages and Mother Tongues - 2011" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2018 – via Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India.
^ Endle 1911, p. 4.
^ "Tribes of Assam". online.assam.gov.in. Archived from the original on 5 February 2017.
^ "Index of Languages by Writing System". Omniglot. Archived from the original on 13 April 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2018.

References

Brahma, Pratima (2014). Phonology and Morphology of Bodo and Dimasa: A Comparative Study (PhD thesis). Assam University. hdl:10603/21160.
Endle, Sidney (1911). The Kacháris. Macmillan.
Evans, Jonathan P.; Langthasa, Dhrubajit (2024). Dimasa Language: Structure and Texts. Taiwan: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica Taipei.