Zotung language


Zotung is a language spoken by the Zotung people, in Rezua Township, Chin State, Burma. It is a continuum of closely related dialects and accents.

Comparison to other Kuki-Chin languages

Zotung Mizo Halkha English
Tui Tui Ti Water
Rili Tuifianriat Rili Sea
Tuivo Luii Tiva River
Ram Ram Ram Country
Laevaw Khawvel Vawlei World
Lemin/Lanoi Lei Leiphit Soil
Awsi Arsi Arfi Star
Sapo Thla Thlapa Moon
Maekìng Chhûm Vandawm Cloud
Khuaraw Rua Ruah Rain
Thingku Thing Thingkung Tree
Váe Kawl/Vai Kawl Burmese
Hrinnaw Hringna Hringnak Life
Kae/Ka Kei/Ka Kei/Ka Me/I
Ahoy Tha Ttha Good
Khua Khua Khua Village
Nopi Nula Nu Woman
Pasel Pasal Patling Man
Vapo Mipa Va Husband
Zunung Nupui Nupi Wife
Naulung Fate Fa Child
Capo Fapa Fapa Son
Canung Fanu Fanu Daughter
Imopo Mipa nau Pa hngakchia Boy
Imuanung Hmeichhenau Ngaknu Girl
Tanvae Tlangval Tlangval Male Youth
Liacca Nungak Nungak Fem. Youth
Mino Naupang Minohna Youth
Innbyn Chhungkua Chungkhar Family
Vaeccaw Laichin Rualchan Relative
Banghoi Thriankawm Hoikawm Friend
Sakheit Thlakhat Thlakhat One month
Pachia Pathian Pathian God
Awkhua Khuavar/Zîng Zing Morning
Nitchun Chhûnlai Chunlai Noon
Khuade/Nin Ni/Chhûn Chun/Ni Day/Sun
Zete Zanlam Zanlei Evening
Zinung Zan Zan Night
Zete Zanlam Zanlei Evening
Chisen Thisen Thisen Blood
Saram Ransa Saram Animal
Maren Sakawr Rang Mare/Horse
Ngasaw Sangha Nga Fish
Se Se Sia Gayal/Mithun
Vaeccua Bâwng Caw Cow
Nâw Selawi Naa Buffalo
Vok Vawk Vok Pig
Vom Vawm Vom Bear
Awte Âr Arsa Chicken
Fupo Rûl Rul Snake
Phawvoi Vaimim Fangvoi Corn/Maize
Faccan/Bu Bufang Facang/Bu Rice
Chanvuit Chhângphut Changvut Wheat
Rou Chhûm Cuar Cook
Sathum Chhuangso Uihli/Soh Boil
Sunsak Hmangai Duhdawt Love
Fuat Huat Huatnak Hate
Rah Tra Ttah Cry
Sa/Zae Zai Sah/Zai Sing
Nuin Nui Nuih Laugh
Lawm Lawm Lawm Rejoice
Lung Lung Lung Rock
Inn In Inn House
Bûk Buk Hut
Naedi Dî Ngaidih Thatch
Gnae Ngâi Ngai Miss v.
Caryn/Nul Bial/Nul Zeimanlo Zero
Kheit Khat Pakhat One
Cannin Hnih Pahnih Two
Thum Pathum Pathum Three
Pali Pali Pali Four
Pango Panga Panga Five
Truk Ruk Paruk Six
Sari Pasari Sarih Seven
Tryet Riat Pariat Eight
Takua Kua Pakua Nine
Cahaw Sawm Hra Ten
Kuil Somhni Pakul Twenty
Somthum Somthum Sawmthum Thirty
Sompali Somli Sawmli Fourty
Sompango Somnga Sawmnga Fifty
Zakkheit Za Zakhat Hundred
Thawnh Sâng Thawng Thousand
Thawngho Sîng Sang Ten Th.
Cinkheit Nuai Ting Hundred Th.

Sample text

“A thotakkaw hmasatykya Pachianih laevaw te vawlui a rae. Laepuiccu muinsam a hoi leipaw nih thua. A khupaw rillipikha mawhnaw nih phang a bong, te Pachia’e Muisawccu tui luikikhe a pae.”
Compared to Hakha Lai
“A hramthawkah, Pathiannih van le lei a ser hna tikah, vawlei cu mui zong a ngei lo, pungsan zong a ngei lo. Rilipi cu muihnak nih a khuh i ti cungah cun Pathian thrawnnak cu a chawk.
In English
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

Grammar

Zotung is a slightly polysyllabic language with a majority of compound words. The first syllables of compounds tend over time to be de-stressed, and may eventually be reduced to prefixed consonants. The word hinthyano is composed of hing and thya with a nominalizing ending. Zotung has many words compound words and is an essential feature for forming new ideas and inventions. For example, the word for lipstick is mumsessi composed of mung, sen, sa and sii.
Word order
The primary word order is SOV however, words undergo declension so the word order is very flexible. One can say “Beikinnah/Beikinnka hlaw ka sak” literally “In church song I sing”. But it can also be said as “Ka sak hlaw beikinnka” literally “I sing song in church” without losing its original meaning.
Nouns
Some nouns have gender, but there are no articles. Nouns with gender are usually animals, natural landscapes like hills, caves or specific trees, or names. Most of these nouns have endings like -nung, -pi, -paw, -ly that tell if they are feminine or masculine such as Luikunung, Saepaw, Sapi. Animacy and inanimacy are rarely distinguished.
Negation
Negation usually follows the verb. There are many words to denote negation. The most common being lei, khy, nan, and lou. No negation word can be replaced with another so it is difficult for learners to fully know when to use each word. Lei is often compounded with -po as in “Khuara leipo” meaning “it isn’t raining” while also indicating someone has said it is raining. Khy is a simple negation word used in “Khocci khy” meaning “it isn’t cold”. A negating particle “nou”, similar to the French pas, is also used together with khy. Nan is used as a declarative negation such as in “Innlae pae nan” meaning do not go out. Lou is used as an auxiliary as in “Khuara lou khy” meaning “It hasn’t rain”.
Noun modification
There are many endings attached to words to convey a slightly modified meaning. They may also be realized as grammatical cases. The most common are -no, -zia, -po and -tu. “-no” is used to nominalize verbs while “-zia” is for adjectives and occasionally nouns. “-po” could be a masculine ending or an infinitive ending. When -po is an infinitive ending, the word is stressed at the last syllable. “-tu” is used to modify verbs to an accusative form. For example,
Noun declension
All nouns undergo declension because it is a necessary element of the language. Declension is the main reason why the word order is very flexible. Without declension, the language is not understandable. For example, the sentence marannih lampikya a cue “the mare runs on the road” cannot be rewritten as maran lampi a cue since it wouldn’t make any sense. Although declension cannot be ignored, the general word order SOV can be ignored to create “lampikya marannih a cue.”, “lampikya a cue marannih.” or even “lampikyanyn a cue marankha.”
Singular and Plural Distinction
Singularity and plurality are shown in words in a consistent way. A singular word may sometimes be inflected using numerical adjectives. Plural words are almost always inflected to agree with the grammatical number. The usual plural suffix is -ae or -hae. Dialects where the h is not pronounced in some writings write the plural suffix with an apostrophe so that a word like nolungae is written as nolung’ae. Other writers use other methods to show plurality some being nolungàe and nolung’e. Plurality isn’t required when numbers or numerical adjectives are being used. The phrases lutrya nolung and nolungae lutrya are both grammatically correct while the majority of speakers show plurality in both formal and informal speech.
Pronouns
In Zotung, there are pronouns for the nominative, accusative, dative and genitive cases. Some of the pronouns in different cases are the same but have a different stress or pitch.
Nominative
1 SG NOM: Ka
1 PL NOM EXC: Kae
1 PL NOM INC: A, Aemi/Aeni
2 SG NOM: Na
2 PL NOM: Nannin
3 SG NOM: Ah, Min
3 SG NEUTER NOM: Anih
3 PL NOM: An, Mimaw
Accusative
1 SG ACC: Kae, Kamaw
1 PL ACC EXC: Kaeni
1 PL ACC INC: Oun
2 SG ACC: Nang
2 PL ACC: Ae
3 SG ACC: Amaw
3 PL ACC: Hae
Dative
1 SG/PL to 2 SG: Kae
1 SG/PL to 2 PL: Kae -uh
1 SG to 3 SG: Ka
1 PL to 3 SG/PL: A
2 SG/PL to 1 SG: Nae, yn, e
2 SG/PL to 1 PL: Oun
2 SG/PL to 3 SG: Na
2 SG/PL to 3 PL: Na -hae
3 SG/PL to 1 SG: Yn
3 SG/PL to 1 PL: Oun
3 SG/PL to 2 SG: Ae
3 PL to 2 SG: Ae -hae
3 SG/PL to 3 SG: Pronoun is dropped
3 SG/PL to 3 PL: Pronoun is dropped, -hae is added
Genitive
1 SG GEN: Kah
1 PL GEN EXC: Kae, Kaeke
1 PL GEN INC: Ake, Ah kya-e, Ah
2 SG GEN: Nah
2 PL GEN: Naeke
3 SG GEN: Ah
3 PL GEN: Mih, Mih kya-e
Verb inflection
All verbs in Zotung have two or more forms. The different forms are used for different moods and the amount that is completing the action. Most verbs are only inflected in the plural. Some verbs that are inflected in the singular change stress. However, they aren’t shown in the orthography. An example of a regular verb conjugation is:
Riappo, to read; cue, to run
1st Singular: ka ria, ka cue
1st Plural Inclusive: Aeni ariaho, accueo
1st Plural Exclusive: Kaeni keria, kecue
2nd Singular: Na riah, na cue
2nd Plural: Nannina riauh, nannina cueuh
3rd Singular: A ria, a cue
3rd Plural: An riahae, an cueae.
Tense
Tense in Zotung is similar to other Kuki-Chin languages. In Zotung, verbs are inflected for in the past and future tenses. The present tenses are either in the original form or are used with auxiliary verbs and time descriptive words. The continuous present tense can also be shown by suffixing. Regular verbs are inflected like the following:
1st person inclusive past: A sahveo “we sang”
1st person inclusive perfect past: Phea’ sahve “we have sang”
1st person inclusive perfect past: Phea’ lasahve “we have sang”
1st person inclusive present continuous: A satiamango “we are singing”
1st person inclusive present: Sahlanve “we will be singing ”
1st person inclusive simple present: A sauh “we sing” or Atu a sauh “we are singing ”
1st person inclusive simple future: A sacio/A sangaw’ “we will sing”
1st person inclusive near future: Sahlan “we are going to sing ”

Orthography

Zoccaw or Zo alphabet
Vowels
A AW E I O U Y
-a as in the a in father
-aw roughly between o and the au in caught
-e as in the e in pet
-i roughly between ee and the i in tin
-o roughly between o and the English cot
-u as in the oo in loot
-y as in the French u
Vowel combinations used:
-ae as in the a in bat
-ai as in the i in kite
-au as in ou in cloud
-awi as in oy in boy,
-awe as in ue in quest
-ei as in ay in play
-eu as in Portuguese eu
-ia as in ña in piñata
-oi as in oy in boy, may also be pronounced as the French u dialectally
-ou as in the schwa in banana
-oy as in oy in boy, may also be pronounced as the French u dialectally
-ua as in ua in quality
-ue as in ue in quest
-ui as in uee in queer
-ya as in the French u and the vowel a
Very rarely: oei, oui, uai, iau, uau, io
*awe is interchangeable with ue
*in some grammatical declension, -ua is reduced to -aw or -o, -ia is reduced to -ei or -e, long -aw or -o is changed to -a
Consonants
B, C*, D, F, G, H*, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, S*, T*, V, Z*
C after a, aw, o, u, and y are pronounced like a dental fricative. C and s are palatalized after e and i resulting in words like ciate and seryn. H is not pronounced in some dialects in certain words, for example: the plural marker -hae. T is rhotacized in some dialects that results in words like khate and tukiaccu being pronounced and. Z has a very wide pronunciation range. It can be pronounced like the voiced fricative zh, z, or y.
Digraphs: ch, kh, ph, hr, rh, th
Ch- is seldom used in native words other than family or clan names. Ch- evolved from the palatalized soft t that preceded the vowels e and i. For example, chihno “death” was originally thihna or thihnak. Kh- in formal speech is a palatalized k sound. However, it is pronounced in the back of the throat or like a hard h in informal speech. Hr- is a rare digraph. It has evolved into an h or soft r sound in some dialects. Rh- is not used in the vernacular writing.
Consonant combinations other than digraphs are mostly found in fast speech, informal speech, in some dialects or loanwords. The most common are:
bl, br, fr, fl, gl, gr, khr, kl, kr, pl, pr, sk, sl, sn, sp, sr, st, thl, tl
They are found in native words such as tynkrin, cintling, blyn, klan, sparo as well as in loan words like Biathlam, Kris, naiklab, Griekram and Bethlem.

Distribution

VanBik lists the following Zotung villages: Aika, Lotaw, Lawvaw, Ccangho, Pangvaw, Ramcci, Sihanthung, Zawngnak, Angraw, Polei, Vuakhipaw, Lavoikung, Darcung, Khawboi, Setlai, Lungkhin, Leipi, Calthawng, Langly, Sensi, Khawtua, Tuinia, Rovaw, Rezua, Ccawtui, Ransae, Etang, Thandya, Tuibyng, Hrinthang, Siangaw, Lungthlialia, Thawlang, Hunglei, Raso, Tuilaw, Tingsi, Zesaw, Thesi, Lungring, Sungpi, Votui, Kaelung, Belae, Lungngo, Sempi, Tuphae, Lungdua, Suiton, Daidin, Din, Voiru, Narbung

Villages

  1. Lungngo
  2. Tingsi
  3. Rezua
  4. Ccawtui
  5. Ransae
  6. Lungthlialia
  7. Etang
  8. Thandya
  9. Tuibyng
  10. Hunglei
  11. Raso
  12. Tuilaw
  13. Thawlang
  14. Siangaw
  15. Hrinthang
  16. Rovaw
  17. Calthawng
  18. Langly
  19. Sensi
  20. Tuinia
  21. Khawtua
  22. Leipi
  23. Lungkhin
  24. Seccae
  25. Aika
  26. Lotaw
  27. Ccangho
  28. Lawvaw
  29. Pangvaw
  30. Lungdua
  31. Narbung
  32. Ramcci
  33. Sihanthung
  34. Zawngnak
  35. Angraw
  36. Polei
  37. Vuakhipaw
  38. Lavoikung
  39. Voiru
  40. Din
  41. Dinpi
  42. Daidin
  43. Suiton
  44. Darcung
  45. Tuphae
  46. Khawboi
  47. Ccangcceh
  48. Thesi
  49. Zesaw
  50. Lungring
  51. Sungpi
  52. Sempi
  53. Belae
  54. Kailung
  55. Votui
55 villages in 61 locations :
Lost Zotung villages: