Native to Burma, India Glottolog fala1243 | ISO 639-3 cfm | |
Native speakers (107,000 cited 1983–2001) Language family Sino-Tibetan
(Tibeto-Burman)
Kukish
Northern
Falam Dialects Zanniat
Laizo
Zahau
Tlaisun
Khualsim
Lente
Chorei
Rupini
Koloi
Tapong | ||
Falam (Falam Chin), also known as Baro Halam, is a Kukish language in Falam township, Chin State, Burma, and also in India.
Contents
Falam Chin is closely related to most Central Chin languages, especially Hakha (Lai) Chin which has been studied more in depth than Falam Chin.
The Falam people are primarily Christian, and have translated the Bible into Falam Chin.
Dialects
Ethnologue lists the following dialects of Falam.
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. Dialects once misleadingly called Southern Luhupa are actually Northern Kukish, and evidently Falam.
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.
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.