Falam language

Falam
Halam
Laiţawng
Native to	Burma, India
Native speakers	(107,000 cited 1983–2001)[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman) Kukish Northern Falam
Dialects	Zanniat Laizo Zahau Tlaisun Khualsim Lente Chorei Rupini Koloi Tapong
Language codes
ISO 639-3	cfm
Glottolog	fala1243[2]

Falam (Falam Chin), also known as Baro Halam, is a Kukish language in Falam township, Chin State, Burma, and also in India.

Falam Chin is closely related to most Central Chin languages, especially Hakha (Lai) Chin which has been studied more in depth than Falam Chin.^[3]

The Falam people are primarily Christian, and have translated the Bible into Falam Chin.

Dialects

Ethnologue lists the following dialects of Falam.

• Zanniat (Zahnyiet, Zanniet)
• Taisun (Shunkla, Sunkhla, Taishon, Tashom, Tashon)
• Laizo (Laiso, Laizao, Laizo-Shimhrin)
• Zahao (Lyen-Lyem, Yahow, Zahau, Zahau-Shimhrin, Za-How)
• Khualsim (Khualshim, Kwelshin)
• Lente (Gunte, Lyente)
• Sim
• Tapong
• Hualngo

The Chorei dialect (spoken in India) and Zanniat may be separate languages, while speakers of other dialects reportedly have difficulty understanding Tapong.

Rupini and Koloi are also reported to be quite different.^[1] Dialects once misleadingly called Southern Luhupa are actually Northern Kukish, and evidently Falam.^[4]

Written/Spoken Falam Chin

This is a sample of written Falam Chin:

A hmaisabik ah Pathian in lei van a seemsuah. Lei cu pianhmang le hmuithlam zianghman a rak nei lo. Which translates to In the beginning God created heaven and earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep water.^[5]

Falam Chin is written in romanized form, or in the Bengali script.

The Falam language has five spoken vowels, but in writing, six are used. Of the five spoken, three of them, /u/, /a/, and /ɔ/ are spoke from the back of the mouth, /i/ is spoken from the top of the mouth, and /e/ is spoken from the middle. /ɔ/ can be pronounced as aw or o.^[6]

References

1. Falam at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Falam Chin". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
3. King, Deborah (2010). VOICE AND VALENCE-ALTERING OPERATIONS IN FALAM CHIN: A ROLE AND REFERENCE GRAMMAR APPROACH. Arlington, Texas: The University of Texas at Arlington.
4. Linguasphere code 73-DDD-bp
5. "Chin (Falam) Language". LM Languages.
6. Chin Writers' Handbook. Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA: Bibles International. 2011.