Colonel William A. Phillips

Konyak is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Konyak people in the state of Nagaland, north-eastern India.

The language has 244,000 speakers in the state (as of the 2011 census); most of these (237,000) are in Mon district, with smaller populations in the districts of Dimapur (2,900), Kohima (2,000), Mokokchung (1,100), and Longleng (900).^[2] There are also an estimated 2,000 speakers in neighbouring Myanmar, specifically in Hkamti District and in Lahe township.^[1]

Dialects

Konyak (2021)

A list of Konyak dialects from Hoipo Konyak (2021:5) is given below.^[3]

Angphang
Hopao
Changnyu
Chen (8 villages in Lahe Township, Myanmar, and 10 villages in Mon District, Nagaland, India^[4])
Chingkao
Chinglang
Choha
Gelekidora
Jakphang
Kon (spoken in Myanmar)
Kahyu (spoken in Myanmar)
Lhongkhai
Longmein
Longwa
Mon
Mulung
Nganching
Sang
Shanlang
Shunyuo
Shenghah
Sima
Sowa
Shamnyuyanga
Tableang
Tabu
Tamkhungnyuo
Tang
Tobunyuo
Tolamleinyua
Totok

Ethnologue

Ethnologue lists the following dialects of Konyak.

Angphang
Hopao
Changnyu
Chen
Chingkao
Chinglang
Choha
Gelekidoria
Jakphang
Longching
Longkhai
Longmein
Longwa
Mon
Mulung
Ngangching
Sang
Shanlang
Shunyuo
Shengha
Sima
Sowa
Shamnyuyanga
Tableng (Angwangku, Kongon, Mohung, Wakching)
Tabu
Tamkhungnyuo
Tang
Tobunyuo
Tolamleinyua
Totok
Hongphoi

Tableng is the standard dialect spoken in Wanching and Wakching.

Phonology

There are three lexically contrastive contour tones in Konyak – rising (marked in writing by an acute accent – á), falling (marked by a grave accent – à) and level (unmarked).^[5]

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ɨ	u
Mid	e	ə	o
Open		a

The vowels /a/, /o/ and /u/ are lengthened before approximants. /ə/ does not occur finally.

Consonants

	Bilabial	Dental/ Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	p pʰ	t̪	c	k kʰ	ʔ
Nasal	m	n̪	ɲ	ŋ
Fricative			s		h
Lateral		l
Approximant	w		j

The stops /p/ and /k/ contrast with the aspirated /pʰ/ and /kʰ/. /p/ and /c/ become voiced intervocalically across morpheme boundaries. The dental /t/ is realised as an alveolar if preceded by a vowel with a rising tone. The approximants /w/ and /j/ are pronounced laxer and shorter after vowels; /w/ becomes tenser initially before high vowels. If morpheme-initial or intervocalic, /j/ is pronounced with audible friction.^[6] /pʰ/, /kʰ/, /c/, /ɲ/, /s/, /h/ and /l/ do not occur morpheme-finally, while /ʔ/ does not appear morpheme-initially. Except for morpheme-initial /kp/ and /kʰl/, consonant clusters occur only medially.^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b Naga, Konyak at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
^ Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. "C-16: Population by mother tongue, Nagaland – 2011". Retrieved 7 January 2023.
^ Konyak, Hoipo. 2021. A preliminary grammar of Chen, a Konyak language of India and Myanmar. M.A. dissertation. Chiang Mai: Payap University.
^ Statezni, Nathan; Konyak, Hoipo. 2021. Chen villages in Myanmar and India. Unpublished manuscript.
^ Nagaraja 2010, p. 8
^ Nagaraja 2010, pp. 21–2
^ Nagaraja 2010, p. 23

Bibliography

Nagaraja, K.S. (2010), Konyak Grammar, Mysore: Central Institute of Indian Languages, ISBN 978-81-7342-195-2