| Hmar | |
|---|---|
| Manmasi, Sinlung, Mar | |
| Pronunciation | [m̥a] |
| Native to | India |
| Region | Mizoram, Manipur, Assam, Tripura, and Meghalaya |
| Ethnicity | Hmar |
Native speakers | 98,988[1] |
Early forms | Manmasi
|
| Latin | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | India |
Recognised minority language in | Assam, Manipur, Mizoram (majority) and Meghalaya |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | hmr |
| Glottolog | hmar1241 |
| ELP | Hmar |
The Hmar language belongs to the Kukish branch of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. It is a conglomeration of the dalects of its various sub-tribes (Leiri, Hrangkhawl, Biete, Zote, Thiek, etc.). The speakers of the language are also known as Hmar. According to the official 2011 Census of India, there are 29,268 Hmar speakers in Assam, 48,375 in Manipur, 1,700 in Meghalaya, 18,587 in Mizoram although Majority of the Hmars in Mizoram speak Duhlian (Mizo). The Census cannot be said to be truly a relaible statistic as many Hmars in Mizoram register their minority tribal status as Mizo and not Hmar. Also, as the Hmar sub-tribes in Tripura maintain their own dialects they are often not represented in these numerals.
Hmar is a recognised language in the School curriculum of Assam, Manipur and Mizoram, and also recently recognised as one of the Modern Indian Language (MIL) at Manipur University and Assam University. Board of Secondary Education, Assam has also included Hmar as an MIL in its matriculation syllabus from 2005. Both Manipur University and Assam University, Silchar has also permitted Hmar language to be studied as Modern Indian Language in the Graduation level.
Hmar is spoken in the following locations
Since Hmar speakers are scattered over a vast area in Mizoram, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Chittagong Hill tracts, North Carolina Hills and Cachar district of Assam state and Myanmar, there appears to be slight dialectal distinction. There is no homogeneous settlement of Hmar speakers alone.[citation needed] In Manipur, Hmar exhibits partial mutual intelligibility with the other Kukish dialects of the area including Thadou, Paite, Aimol, Vaiphei, Simte, Kom and Gangte languages.[2]
