Sümi language

Sümi
Sümi
Sümi (Naga)
Pronunciation	[sɨ˧ mi˩]
Native to	India
Region	Nagaland
Ethnicity	Sümi Naga
Native speakers	350,000 (2011 census)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Angami–Pochuri Sümi; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	nsm
Glottolog	sumi1235

Sümi, also Sema, is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Nagaland, India. It is spoken by the Sümi Naga people. It differs from every other Naga languages due to the presence of guttural sounds.^[2]^[3]

Geographical distribution

Sümi is spoken in central and southern Nagaland, mainly in Zünheboto District and parts of Niuland District, Dimapur District, Chümoukedima District, Kohima District, Mokokchung District and Kiphire District, as well as in 7 villages of Tinsukia District, Assam (Ethnologue).

Dialects

Ethnologue lists the following dialects of Sümi.

Dayang (Western Sümi)
Lazami
Jimomi
Zumomi

Phonology

The transcriptions in this section use the International Phonetic Alphabet.

Vowels

Monophthongs of Sema, from Teo (2012:368)

The vowels of Sümi are as follows:^[4]^[5]

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

Notes:

The close front and the close central vowels have been variously described as near-close [i̞, ɨ̞] and close [i, ɨ]. The close back vowel has only been described as close [u].^[6]^[7]
- In the word-medial position, /ɨ/ can be realized as mid [ə].^[4]^[8]
The mid vowels /e, o/ can be realized as either close-mid [e, o] or open-mid [ɛ, ɔ].^[4]^[9]
- Teo (2012) describes the close-mid allophone of /o/ as slightly advanced [o̟].^[6]
/a/ has been variously described as near-open [ɐ]^[6] and open [ä].^[8]
- After uvular stops, /a/ can be realized as open back unrounded [ɑ].^[8]

Consonants

The consonants of Sümi are as follows^[5]^[10] (allophones that are represented in the orthographic system are given in parentheses):

			Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		plain	m		n			ŋ
Nasal		aspirated	mʱ		nʱ
Plosive		voiceless	p		t			k	q
		aspirated	pʰ		tʰ			kʰ	qʰ
		voiced	b		d			ɡ
Affricate		voiceless			(ts)	tʃ
Affricate		aspirated			(tsʰ)	tʃʰ
Fricative		voiceless		f	(s)	ʃ		x		h
Fricative		voiced		v	(z)	ʒ		ɣ
Approximant	central	plain	(w)		ɹ		j
	lateral	plain			l
	lateral	aspirated			lʱ

References

^ "Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
^ Sreedhar (1976).
^ Sreedhar (1980).
^ ^a ^b ^c Teo (2012), p. 369.
^ ^a ^b Teo (2014), p. 20.
^ ^a ^b ^c Teo (2012), p. 368.
^ Teo (2014), pp. 27–28.
^ ^a ^b ^c Teo (2014), p. 28.
^ Teo (2014), p. 27.
^ Teo (2012), p. 366.

Bibliography

Sreedhar, Mangadan Veetil (1976), Sema phonetic reader, Mysore: Central Institute of Indian Languages
Sreedhar, Mangadan Veetil (1980), A Sema Grammar, Mysore: Central Institute of Indian Languages
Teo, Amos B. (2012), "Sumi (Sema)", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 42 (3): 365–373, doi:10.1017/S0025100312000254
Teo, Amos B. (2014), A phonological and phonetic description of Sumi, a Tibeto-Burman language of Nagaland, Canberra: Asia-Pacific Linguistics, ISBN 978-1-922185-10-5

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[1] "Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 7 July 2018.

[FOOTNOTESreedhar1976-2] Sreedhar (1976).

[FOOTNOTESreedhar1980-3] Sreedhar (1980).

[FOOTNOTETeo2012369-4] Teo (2012), p. 369.

[FOOTNOTETeo201420-5] Teo (2014), p. 20.

[FOOTNOTETeo2012368-6] Teo (2012), p. 368.

[FOOTNOTETeo201427–28-7] Teo (2014), pp. 27–28.

[FOOTNOTETeo201428-8] Teo (2014), p. 28.

[FOOTNOTETeo201427-9] Teo (2014), p. 27.

[FOOTNOTETeo2012366-10] Teo (2012), p. 366.

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