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Mara is a Kuki-Chin language spoken by Mara people, mostly the Tlosaih tribe living in 30 villages of Chhimtuipui district, southern Mizoram, India and the adjacent villages in Burma.

Mara
Mara (Tlosaih)
Pronunciation	[m̥ara]
Native to	Mizoram, India; Burma
Ethnicity	Mara people
Native speakers	(ca. 400,000 cited 1994–2011)[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Kuki-Chin Maraic Mara
Dialects	Tlosaih Siaha(lingua franca) Tlosaih Saikao Tlosaih Tokalo Tlosaih Kiasie
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mrh
Glottolog	mara1382
ELP	Mara Chin

The Mara (Tlosaih) languages belong to the Kuki-Chin branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The speakers of the languages are also known as Mara (Tlosais).

Mara is a recognised language in the Mara Autonomous District Council (MADC) school curriculum. Mara is a compulsory subject for all schools up to class VII (middle school) under the Board of School Education, MADC.

Demographics

• Population: 56,574 in Saiha district, Mizoram, India (2011), 37,000 in Burma (2007).
• Region: Saiha District, Mizoram (India), Indo-Burma Border
• Alternate names: Lakher, Mara, Maram, Mira, Zao, Shendu, Khawngsai, Khyeng.
• Languages: Tlôsaih, Sizo (Chapi/Saby/Ngiaphia), Hlaipao (Vahapi, Heima and Lelai), Lyvaw (Nohro & Notlia), Lochei ochebi, Zophei (Ahnai/Vytu, Bawipa and Asah/Leita), Senthang (Khuapi/Saith a), Lautu (Awhsa/Kahno) & Saté
• Tribes: Zophei, Lautu, Senthang, Tlosai, Hlaipao and Haw Thai

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	(Alveolo-) palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	p	t		k	(ʔ)
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ		kʰ
	voiced	b	d
Affricate	voiceless			tɕ
	aspirated			tɕʰ
	voiced			dʑ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s			h
	voiced	v	z
Nasal	voiced	m	n		ŋ
	murmured	mʱ	nʱ
Trill	voiced		r
	voiceless		r̥
Lateral	voiced		l
	voiceless		l̥
Approximant		w	ɹ̥	j

• A glottal stop [ʔ] may occur in onsets as a result of morphological combinations.
• /t/ can be dental as [t̪] before /ɑ/ or /i/.
• /k/ can also be heard as uvular [q] before /ɑ/ or /i/.
• /s, z/ when preceding /i/ can be heard as alveolo-palatal [ɕ, ʑ].
• Pre-aspiration can also be heard among nasals as [ʱm, ʱn].

Vowels

	Front		Central	Back
Close	i	y	ɨ	u
	i̞			u̞
Mid	e	ø		o
Open				ɑ̝
			ɑ

• Sounds /o/ and /ɑ̝/ can be heard in free variation as [ɔ, ɐʊ] and [ʌ].[2]

Orthography

Mara alphabet (capital letters): A, AW, Y, B, CH, D, E, F, H, I, K, L, M, N, NG, O, Ô, P, R, S, T, U, V, Z

Mara alphabet (lowercase letters): a, aw, y, b, ch, d, e, f, h, i, k, l, m, n, ng, o, ô, p, r, s, t, u, v, z

Mara diphthongs: ao, yu, ai, ei, ia, i.e., ua

Grammar

Plurals

The plural form of a noun is formed by affixing one of the following terms to the end of the noun:

• zy (zeu)
• zydua (zeu-dua)
• nawh
• sahlao (sha-hlawh)

Today the Mara language has its own alphabet; words inside brackets show author N.E. Parry's transliterations from 1937.

Interrogative words in Mara

Pronouns

Singular

• 1st person: keima, kei - I
• 2nd person: nâma, na - you
• 3rd person: ano, a or ama' - he, she, it

Plural

• 1st person: eima - we
• 2nd person: nâmo, nâma - you
• 3rd person: âmo - they

Possessive Pronouns

Singular

• Keima, ei - my
• Keima eih, kei eih - mine
• Nâma, na - thy (you)
• Nâma eih, na eih - thine (yours)
• Ama, a - him, her, it
• Ama eih, a eih - his, hers, its

Plural

• Keimo - our
• Keimo eih - ours
• Nâmo - your
• Ahyrai - anyone
• Ahy tlyma - someone, a certain one
• A tlâhpi - some . . . others
• A hropa - another, others
• Ama zydua ta - all

References

External links

• Maraland: The Home of the Maras on the internet
• A grammar and dictionary of the Lakher language, by Fred W. Savidge (1908) (Scanned at Internet Archive)

На других языках

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- [en] Mara language

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[fr] Mara (langue)

Le mara (ou lakher) est une langue tibéto-birmane parlée dans l'État du Mizoram, en Inde et en Birmanie.

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[ru] Мара (язык)

Мара (также лакхер) — язык народа мара, проживающего в южной части индийского штата Мизорам и прилегающих районах Мьянмы. Относится к куки-чинской группе тибето-бирманской языковой семьи. Численность носителей составляет около 47 тыс. человек — в Индии и около 37 тыс. человек — в Мьянме (на 2007 год). Ethnologue сообщает о 22 тыс. носителях в Индии и 20 тыс. — в Мьянме (на 1997 год)[2].

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