| Konyak | |
|---|---|
| Native to | India, Myanmar |
| Ethnicity | Konyak |
Native speakers | 246,000 (2011)[1] |
Sino-Tibetan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | nbe |
| Glottolog | kony1248 |
| ELP | Konyak Naga |
Konyak is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Konyak people in the state of Nagaland, north-eastern India.
The language has 244,000 speakers in the state (as of the 2011 census); most of these (237,000) are in Mon district, with smaller populations in the districts of Dimapur (2,900), Kohima (2,000), Mokokchung (1,100), and Longleng (900).[2] There are also an estimated 2,000 speakers in neighbouring Myanmar, specifically in Hkamti District and in Lahe township.[1]
Ethnologue lists the following dialects of Konyak.
Tableng is the standard dialect spoken in Wanching and Wakching.
There are three lexically contrastive contour tones in Konyak – rising (marked in writing by an acute accent – á), falling (marked by a grave accent – à) and level (unmarked).[3]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | ɨ | u |
| Mid | e | ə | o |
| Open | a |
The vowels /a/, /o/ and /u/ are lengthened before approximants. /ə/ doesn't occur finally.
| Bilabial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p pʰ |
t̪ | c | k kʰ |
ʔ |
| Nasal | m | n̪ | ɲ | ŋ | |
| Fricative | s | h | |||
| Lateral | l | ||||
| Approximant | w | j |
The stops /p/ and /k/ contrast with the aspirated /pʰ/ and /kʰ/. /p/ and /c/ become voiced intervocalically across morpheme boundaries. The dental /t/ is realised as an alveolar if preceded by a vowel with a rising tone. The approximants /w/ and /j/ are pronounced laxer and shorter after vowels; /w/ becomes tenser initially before high vowels. If morpheme-initial or intervocalic, /j/ is pronounced with audible friction.[4] /pʰ/, /kʰ/, /c/, /ɲ/, /s/, /h/ and /l/ do not occur morpheme-finally, while /ʔ/ does not appear morpheme-initially. Except for morpheme-initial /kp/ and /kʰl/, consonant clusters occur only medially.[5]
