Zakhring language

Not to be confused with Zaiwa language.

Zakhring
Meyor
Native to	India
Region	Arunachal
Ethnicity	Zekhring people
Native speakers	1000 (2007)[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Midzuish Zakhring
Language codes
ISO 639-3	zkr
Glottolog	zakh1243
ELP	Zakhring

Zahkring (also Eastern Mishmi or Zaiwa; known as Meyor in India and Zha (Zhahua 扎话) in China) is a language of Arunachal Pradesh and 3 villages in Tibet.^[2]

Classification

Zakhring has been classified as a Midzuish language.^[3] Blench and Post (2011) consider Zakhring to be an East Bodish language that has been influenced by Midzu (which they classify as a language isolate) or other divergent languages of the region.^[4] In 2015, Blench suggests that Zakhring may be a language isolate.^[5] Blench argues that Zakhring had borrowed heavily from Midzu and Tibetic, and then later borrowed from Naga languages and Jingpho as well.

Scott DeLancey (2015)^[6] considers Meyor to be part of a wider Central Tibeto-Burman group.

Names

Li and Jiang (2001)^[2] reports that the Zakhring have no actual autonym, but are referred to by the neighboring Taraon, Kaman language, Idu, and Tibetan peoples by various names.

• tɕa31 kʰreŋ55 (Taraon exonym)
• tɕa31 kʰɹɯn55 (Kaman exonym)
• tsa35 tɕoŋ55 (Tibetan exonym)
• mi31 si55 pu53 (Idu exonym; the Idu are located in Upper Zayü Township, 上察隅乡)

According to Li and Jiang (2001), the Kaman exonym for the Tibetan people of Bomi County (波密县) is si31 dut55 pu55. The Taraon refer to the Tibetans as la31 ma35, while the Kaman refer to the Tibetans as de31 loŋ55.

Distribution

In China, Zakhring is spoken in Songgu (松古村), Lading (拉丁村), and Tama (塔玛村) villages in Lower Zayü Township (下察隅乡), Zayü County (察隅县), Tibet.^[2]

In India, Meyor communities are found in the following 15 villages of Kibthoo Circle and Walong Circle of Anjaw District, Arunachal Pradesh. The total population of the villages numbered 376 as of May 2001.^[7]

• Kibthoo Circle
  • Kahao
  • Mosai
  • Danbari
  • Kundan
  • Khroti
  • Yaikung
  • Bara Kundan
  • Kunjuk
• Walong Circle
  • Walong
  • Tinai
  • Dong
  • Tilam
  • Sapkung
  • Pangung

See also

• Zakhring word list (Wiktionary)

References

1. Zakhring at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
2. Li, Daqin 李大勤; Jiang, Huo 江获 (2001). "Zhāhuà gàikuàng" 扎话概况 [A Sketch of Zha]. Mínzú yǔwén 民族语文 (in Chinese). 2001 (6): 61–75.
3. Van Driem, George (2001). Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 90-04-10390-2.
4. Blench, Roger; Post, Mark (2011). "(De)classifying Arunachal Languages: Reconstructing the Evidence" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-05-26. Retrieved 2012-10-30 – via rogerblench.info.
5. Blench, Roger (2015). "The Classification of Meyor (Zakhring)" – via Academia.edu.
6. DeLancey, Scott (2015). "Morphological Evidence for a Central Branch of Trans-Himalayan (Sino-Tibetan)". Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale. 44 (2): 122–149. doi:10.1163/19606028-00442p02.
7. Landi (2005), p. 1

• Landi, Victor (2005). The Meyors and Their Language. Itanagar: Directorate of Research, Arunachal Pradesh Government.