Zotung language

Zotung (Zobya) is a language spoken by the Zotung people, in Rezua Township, Chin State, Burma. It is a continuum of closely related dialects and accents. The language does not have a standard written form since it has dialects with multiple variations on its pronunciations. Instead, Zotung speakers use a widely accepted alphabet for writing with which they spell using their respective dialect. However, formal documents are written using the Lungngo dialect because it was the tongue of the first person to prescribe a standard writing, Sir Siabawi Khuamin.

Zotung
Zo
Native to	Burma
Region	Rezua, Chin State Matupi, Chin State Halkha, Chin State
Ethnicity	Zotung (Zo Minphuin)
Native speakers	(40,000 cited 1990)[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Kuki-Chin Zotung Zotung
Early form	Proto-Kuki-Chin
Dialects	Lungngo Calthawng
Writing system	Zoccaw Roman Alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3	czt
Glottolog	zotu1235

Sample text

“Athotakaw kya Pachia nynh vaaw te lae kha a rae, Laephi tuh muinsan a hoi leipaw accakaepaw nynh thua, akhupaw rilipi kha mohnaw nynh phang a bong, te Pachia muisawa tuh tui luki khe a pae.”

is 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.”

Comparison to other Kuki-Chin languages

Zotung	Mizo	Halkha	English
Tui	Tui	Ti	Water
Rili	Tuifianriat	Rili	Sea
Vaw	Luii	Tiva	River
Ram	Ram	Ram	Country
Laevaw	Khawvel	Vawlei	World
Lae/Laenoi	Lei	Leiphit	Soil
Awsi	Arsi	Arfi	Star
Sawpaw	Thla	Thlapa	Moon
Maekin	Chhûm	Vandawm	Cloud
Khua	Rua	Ruah	Rain
Thingku	Thing	Thingkung	Tree
Vae	Kawl/Vai	Kawl	Burmese
Hiinnaw	Hringna	Hringnak	Life
Kae/Kamaw	Kei/Ka	Kei/Ka	Me/I
Ahoy	Tha	Ttha	Good
Khua	Khua	Khua	Village
Nopi	Nula	Nu	Woman
Pise	Pasal	Patling	Man
Vawpaw	Mipa	Va	Husband
Zu	Nupui	Nupi	Wife
Imua/Nolung	Fate	Fa	Child
Capaw	Fapa	Fapa	Son
Canung	Fanu	Fanu	Daughter
Imuapaw	Mipa nau	Pa hngakchia	Boy
Imuanung	Hmeichhenau	Ngaknu	Girl
Ccanvae	Tlangval	Tlangval	Male Youth
Liaccaw	Lanu	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
Nithu	Chhûnlai	Chunlai	Noon
Khuanin	Ni/Chhûn	Chun/Ni	Day/Sun
Zete	Zanlam	Zanlei	Evening
Khuazin	Zan	Zan	Night
Chiise	Thisen	Thisen	Blood
Sarampaw	Ramsa	Saram	Animal
Maran	Sakawr	Rang	Mare/Horse
Ngasaw	Sangha	Nga	Fish
Se	Se	Sia	Gayal/Mithun
Vaetua	Bâwng	Caw	Cow
Naw	Selawi	Naa	Buffalo
Vo	Vawk	Vok	Pig
Vom	Vawm	Vom	Bear
Aw	Âr	Arsa	Chicken
Fupaw	Rûl	Rul	Snake
Phawvoi	Vaimim	Fangvoi	Corn/Maize
ccantan/Bu	Bufang	Facang/Bu	Rice
Chanvuit	Chhângphut	Changvut	Wheat
Rou	Chhûm	Cuar	Cook
Thum	Chhuangso	Uihli/Soh	Boil
Sungsa	Hmangai	Duhdawt	Love
Fua	Huat	Huatnak	Hate
Rah	Tra	Ttah	Cry
Sa	Zai	Sah/Zai	Sing
Nuin	Nui	Nuih	Laugh
Lungpaw/lungtua	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	Forty
Sompango	Somnga	Sawmnga	Fifty
Zakkheit	Za	Zakhat	Hundred
Thawnh	Sâng	Thawng	Thousand
Thawngho	Sîng	Sang	Ten Thousand
Cinkheit	Nuai	Ting	Hundred Thousand

Grammar

Zotung is an agglutinative language and is innovative in that it has underwent major changes distinguishing it from other Kuki-Chin languages. However, there still are similarities it shares with the other Kuki-Chin-Mizo languages such as the agglutinative nature of the languages. The word hinthyano ("survival") is composed of hing ("to live") and thya ("ability") with a nominalizing ending. Zotung has many compound words and is an essential feature for forming new ideas and inventions. For example, the word for lipstick is mumsessi composed of mung (lip), sen (red), sak (accusative/instrumental ending) and sii (paste).

Noun declension

All nouns undergo declension because it is a necessary element of the language. Declension is the main reason for the flexible word order. For example, the sentence “maranny lampikya acue” the mare runs on the road, cannot be rewritten to the root words as “maran lampi a cuepo” since the roles of the nouns and verbs are not yet known. Although declension cannot be ignored, the general word order SOV can be ignored to create “lampikya maranny acue.”, “lampikya acue maranny.” or even “lampikenyn cue marankha.”

Word order

The primary word order is SOV however, almost all nouns undergo declension resulting in a fairly free word order. One can say “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.

Gender

Some nouns have gender; however, nouns with gender are usually sex specific nouns such as animals or natural landscapes like hills, caves or species of organisms. Most of these nouns have endings like -nung, -pi, -paw, -ly that tell if they are feminine or masculine such as Luikunung (Name of a hill), Saepaw (Elephant), Sapi (Female offspring of an animal). Animacy and inanimacy are rarely distinguished.

Initial a-

The initial a- is found in some nouns: arak (ale), amyn (scent), arran (branch), askare (wing). It is used on a very limited number of nouns that are inanimate and cannot stand alone without the prefix. When it is used with a noun that can stand alone, it denotes the genitive case and shows belonging of the object to a person as in arru (its bone), amitàe (its eyes), alemæ (its tail). The prefix can also be used to show definiteness in a very limited amount of nouns as in:

ar longe athinàe leitetu umkukholeilango literally,

our inside(GEN) the-livers not(INSTR)(ACC) be-cannot-(FUTURE TENSE)-1stPL(INCL)

meaning: without [our] livers we cannot live/be. The prefix is also used to form the adjectival form of verbs as in below

Athín leitetu umkukholeilango W

It is also used with verbs to form the adjectival form:

khyapaw (to be bitter), akhak (bitter)

niapaw (to be oily), anian (oily)

thoupo (to be fatty), athau (fat/fatty)

Vowel harmony

To some extent, Zotung uses vowel harmony when endings are attached to words. An example is one of the most common ending in the language -traw, a diminutive/comparative ending. When a word with closed and/or mid vowel uses the ending -traw, it changes to -tri as in imonuntro (newborn girl) and syntri (a little while). Some limited amount of nouns with a closed vowel change to a more open vowel. An example is the word for ape zawngpo/ zongpaw which changes to zuapo/zuapaw in some dialects retaining the difference. Another example is vo/vaw meaning a stream. When the augmentative ending -pii is added, the root changes to va resulting in vapii, river.

Stem alternation in verbs

Like the other Kuki-Chin languages, Zotung utilizes apophony as a grammatical inflection. It is used for various purposes such as noun v. verb distinction, grammatical moods and etc. The most common type of apophony is the Kuki-Chin specific vowel stem alternation where the stem vowel of a verb changes to inflect its mode. These alternations are grouped into Form I, Form II, Form III and so on. However, there is not a universally accepted way of categorizing them. An example of vowel stem alternation is given below for the verbs niapaw, to drink, chiapo, to kill, bepo, to greet.

Form I	Form II	Form II
nia-	nei-	nek
chia-	chiáh	theit
bei-	bek	beik

An example of a clause using Forms I, II, and III is given below for the verb niapaw, to drink.

Form I: Arak na nialanze, nah lubok yngaeseici. If you keep drinking ale, your brain shall rot.

Form II: Arakkha na nevelan khy. You shall not be drinking ale anymore.

Form III: Arakkho na neklei khy em? You have not drunken any ale, [right]?

Negation

Negation usually follows the verb. There are many words to denote negation. The most common being lei, khy, nan, and lou. 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 is not cold”. 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 has not 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 become a noun in the accusative case. For example,

• riapo(v. to read) – rianaw (n. reading as in scripture)
• hmuipo (v. to see) – muihnaw (n. sight, vision)
• sei (v. to sin) – seino (n. sin)
• umtu (n. an attitude) - umtuzia (n. desired attitudes)
• phuapo/phan (v. to compose) - phuatu/phantu (n. composer)

Cases

All nouns in Zotung inflect for cases. They can be inflected into the nominative, accusative, instrumental, dative, genitive, vocative, and various forms of the locative such as the inessive, intrative, adessive. The nominative case differs from dialect to dialect based on vowel harmony of the dialect’s differing vowels. Inflection for the accusative case is not always required because the word order specifies the noun’s function. The instrumental case can also be used to show the extent of a period of time. It is inflected for in some prepositions and postpositions such as ciate (extent of time), ryte (with), liare (by). The dative has become more common and is taking over the role of the locative in younger speech. The genitive is not required when a noun acts as an adjective, but it still is sometimes used even in the adjectival form.

	Bolpen-, pen
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	bolpenin	bolpenàenyn
Accusative	bolpekha/bolpen	bolpenàekha
Instrumental	bolpente	bolpeten
Dative	bolpekla	bolpenàeklan
Genitive	bolpenge	bolpenàeke
Locative	bolpenga	bolpenàeka
Vocative	pobolpen	bolpenolou

An example of the cases in use is:

Bolpenge catui rouza bolpekla ka kiza “Pobolpen yn kiccave” ka koza, bolpenin kaklan yn kir.

Literally:

Pen(gen.) ink dried-up(causal) pen(dat.) 1st.p(nom.) return(causal) “pen(voc.) here(dat.) return(present)” 1st.p.(nom.) call(causal), pen(nom) 1st.p.(dat.) here(dat.) returned.

This sentence would translate to English as the pen’s ink dried up so I returned to the pen and “O pen, return back at once” I called and so it returned back to me (in benefit of the pen).

Bolpenga umpo bolpenge bawmtraw adipo bolpente bolpekha ka suanak.

Literally:

Pen(loc./inside) from(gen.) pen(gen.) ink-pipe-small pen(instr.) pen(acc.) 1st.p.(nom.) get-out(instr.)

This sentence would translate to English as I get out the small ink pipe inside the pen using a smaller pen.

Some case endings of proper nouns and common nouns are differentiated especially in the dative and locative cases. In the dative case, proper nouns take the -lan or -lam suffix and change according to the rules of vowel gradation. For example, the village name Thesi would become Thesilam for its dative case while Siangaw would become Siangalan.

	Proper nouns Thalsi, Siangaw
	Zero mutation	Mutated
Accusative	Thālsi/Thesi	Siangaw
Dative	Thesilam	Siangaklan
Locative	Thesia	Siangakkya

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 still both grammatically correct even though the majority of speakers show plurality in both formal and informal speech.

Some nouns are naturally plural so they do not require the regular plural suffixes. Such nouns are: zapii (crowd of people), mipi (people), ablyn (all that are present), loramsa (farm animals), etc.

Question clauses

Questions are formed with both intonation and particles. Intonation varies from dialect to dialect and person to person. Question particles also vary from dialect to dialect. The formal standard language based on the Lungo dialect uses the question particles i, ho, khawp, tou, and mou. The particles tou and mou have different forms different contexts. Tou is derived from ta but tou has become more dominant and ta has become a form of tou. In all, tou has four forms: tou, ta, tawh, and tan. It is used in yes/no questions. Mou is derived from mah, similar to the case with tou. Mou also has four forms: mou, mah, maw, man. It is used in simple questions together with the noun like in Pawcikumou nah hminkha? (What is (question particle) your name)

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 (dialectal)

2 SG NOM: Na

2 PL NOM: Nannin

3 SG NOM: Ah, Min (dialectal)

3 SG NEUTER NOM: Anih

3 PL NOM: An, Mimaw

Accusative (Adjectival)

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

Oblique/Accusative

1 SG ACC: Kaenyn, Kamawnoh

1 PL ACC EXC: Kaeninih

1 PL ACC INC: Emawnyh

2 SG ACC: Nangnih

2 PL ACC: Nanninyng

3 SG ACC: Amawnyh

3 PL ACC: Minnyn

Dative

1 SG/PL to 2 SG: Kae

1 SG/PL to 2 PL: Kae -u

1 SG to 3 SG: Ka

1 PL to 3 SG/PL: A

2 SG/PL to 1 SG: Nae, yn, e (dialectal)

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: Oún

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 (Adjectival)

1 SG GEN: Kah

1 PL GEN EXC: Ke

1 PL GEN INC: Ei

2 SG GEN: Nah

2 PL GEN: Nae

3 SG GEN: Ah

3 PL GEN: Mih

Genetive 2 (Pronoun/Independent)

1 SG GEN: Kae

1 PL GEN EXC: Keka-e

1 PL GEN INC: Enike

2 SG GEN: Nak’e

2 PL GEN: Naek’e

3 SG GEN: Ake

3 PL GEN: Mike

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 Dual: a riáh, a cué

1st Plural Inclusive: Aeni ariaho, accueo

1st Plural Exclusive: Kaeni keria, kecue

2nd Singular: Na riah, na cue

2nd Plural: Nannina riauh, nannina cueu

3rd Singular: A ria, a cue

3rd Plural: An riahae, an cuehae.

The declarative, imperative, future and other moods require a stem II conjugation of the verbs.

Aepo, to eat; fiapo, to go

1st Singular: ka áeci, ka feici

1st Dual: an éici, fialan

1st Plural Inclusive: Áelango, fialango

1st Plural Exclusive: Ken áeci, ke feici

2nd Singular: Na áeci, na feici

2nd Plural: Nannina áeciu, nannina feciu

3rd Singular: A áeci, a feici

3rd Plural: An áeciai, an feciai

In the example, the verb aepo/eipo is irregular in that it doesn’t have another stem form. When this is the case, stress is emphasized on the first syllable of the verb and depending on the writer an accent may be used.

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 (not infinitive) 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 sakveo “we sang”

1st person inclusive perfect past: Phea’ sakve “we have sang”

1st person inclusive perfect past: Phea’ lasakve “we have (just) sang”

1st person inclusive present continuous: A satiamango “we are (still) singing”

1st person inclusive present: Sahlanve “we will be singing (right now)”

1st person inclusive simple present: A sauh “we sing” or Atu a sauh “we are singing (in the moment)”

1st person inclusive simple future: A sacio/A sangaw’ “we will sing”

1st person inclusive near future: Sahlan “we are going to sing (now)”

Orthography

Zoccaw or Zo alphabet

Aa AWaw Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Yy Zz

Vowels

A AW E I O U Y

-a as in the a in father, when the a is long, it’s pronounced as an aw

-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, schwa when final consonants are present

Diphthongs and triphthongs:

-ae as in the a in bat

-ai as in the i in kite, largely pronounced as ä

-au as in ou in cloud, largely pronounced as o

-awi as in oy in boy

-awe as in ue in quest

-ei as in ay in play, may be reduced to e

-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, io

*awe is interchangeable with ue

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 before e and i resulting in words like ciate (tsiate) and seryn (sheruhn). 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 (k’ate) and tukiaccu (tukiathu) being pronounced (k’are) and (tukeirru). Z has a very wide pronunciation range. It can be pronounced like the voiced fricative zh, z, y or the English j.

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 (firmly), cintling, blyn (all), -klan (to, locative), sparo as well as in loan words like Biathlam (Revalation), Kris (Christ), naiklab (nightclub), Griekram (Greece) and Bethlem (Bethlehem).

Distribution

In 2009 VanBik lists the following Zotung villages: Aikap, Lotaw, Lovaw, Ccangho, Pangva, Ramcci, Sihanthung, Zawngnak, Angraw, Polei, Vuakkhipaw, Lavoikum, Darcung, Khawboi, Setlai, Lungkhin, Leipi, Calthawng, Langly, Sensi, Khawtua, Tuinia, Rovaw, Rezua, Ccawtui, Ransae, Etang, Thandya, Tuibyn, Hrinthang, Siangaw, Lungthlialia, Thawlang, Hunglei, Raso, Tuilaw, Tingsi, Zesaw, Thesi, Lungring, Sungpi, Votui, Kailung, Belae, Lungngo, Sempi, Tuphae, Lungdua, Suiton, Daidin, Din, Voiru, Narbung.[2]

In 2017 there were 55 villages in 61 locations: 4 villages in Gangaw township, Magway Region; 3 villages in Hakha township, Chin State; 1 village in Thantlang township, Chin State; 1 village in Mindat township, Chin State; 46 villages in Matupi township, Chin State. Lost Zotung villages: Lawngko, nearby (very close with) Kailung; Tuitaw, between Lotaw and Lungngo; Tongbu, moved into Mara land and became Mara.

References

1. Zotung at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. VanBik, Kenneth. 2009. Proto-Kuki-Chin: A Reconstructed Ancestor of the Kuki-Chin Languages. STEDT Monograph 8. ISBN 0-944613-47-0.

• Shintani Tadahiko. 2015. The Zotung language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 105. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).