Lyngngam is an Austroasiatic language of Northeast India closely related to Khasi language. Once listed as a dialect of Khasi, Lyngngam has in recent literature been classified as a distinct language. Lyngngam speakers have food and dress similar to the neighboring Garo people.
Lyngngam | |
---|---|
Lyngam | |
Native to | India |
Region | Meghalaya, Assam |
Native speakers | 11,586 (2011 census)[1] |
Austroasiatic
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | lyg |
Glottolog | lyng1241 |
The following table lists the consonants attested in Lyngngam.[2]
Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | /m/ | /n/ | /ɲ/ | /ŋ/ | ||
Stop | voiceless | /p/ | /t/ | /c/ | /k/ | /ʔ/ |
aspirated | /pʰ/ | /tʰ/ | /cʰ/ | /kʰ/ | ||
voiced | /b/ | /d/ | /ɟ/ | /ɡ/ | ||
Voiceless fricative | /s/ | /h/ | ||||
Liquid | /l, r/ | |||||
Glide | /w/ | /j/ |
The main difference with the Khasi language is that Lyngngam does not possess the voiced aspirated series. Furthermore, Lyngngam does not have the phoneme /ç/. Words which have /ç/ in Khasi typically have /c/ or /s/ in Lyngngam,[3] as in the following pairs of cognates:
Lyngngam | Khasi | meaning |
---|---|---|
cʔeŋ | çʔeŋ | bone |
cɨppʰeu | çipʰeu | 10 |
sɲjək | çɲiuʔ | hair |
snaːr | çnjaʔ | chisel |
The following table lists the vowel inventory of the language.[2] The only vowels showing a length distinction are /i/ and /a/, in contradistinction to Khasi, where length is distinctive for all vowels.
Words with diphthongs in Khasi have monophthongs in Lyngngam,[3] as in the following pairs of cognates:
Lyngngam | Khasi | meaning |
---|---|---|
bni | bnaːi | month |
ksu | ksəu | dog |
mot | miet | night |