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Miji (autonym: Dmay[2]), also Dhammai or Sajolang, is a cluster of possibly Sino-Tibetan languages in Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India. "Dialects" include at least two distinct languages, which are not particularly close, with only half of the vocabulary in common between the languages of East Kameng District and West Kameng District. Long assumed to be Sino-Tibetan languages, they may be a small independent language family.[3]

Miji
Dhammai
Sajolang
Native to	India
Region	Arunachal Pradesh, India and Shannan Prefecture, China
Ethnicity	Miji people
Native speakers	28,000 (2007)[1]
Language family	possibly Sino-Tibetan (Hruso), or a language isolate Hrusish Miji
Language codes
ISO 639-3	sjl
Glottolog	saja1240
ELP	Sajalong

Varieties

There are 3 varieties of Miji.[4]

• Western Miji: spoken in and around Nafra and Thrizino circles, West Kameng District. Western Miji speakers refer to themselves as the Sajalang (sadʑalaŋ) or Dhəmmai (ðəmmai) (Bodt & Lieberherr 2015:70).[5]
• Eastern Miji: spoken in Lada Circle,[2] East Kameng District. Eastern Miji speakers refer to themselves as the Nəmrai (nəmrai) (Bodt & Lieberherr 2015:70).[5]

Bangru, sometimes called Northern Miji, is more divergent.[4] It is treated in a separate article.

Distribution

According to Ethnologue, Miji is spoken in the following areas of Arunachal Pradesh.

• West Kameng District, Nafra circle, Bichom and Pakesa river valley – 25 villages including Debbing, Ditchik, Rurang, Nachinghom, Upper Dzang, Naku, Khellong, Dibrick, Nizong, Najang, Zangnaching, Chalang, Nafra, and Lower Dzang
• East Kameng District: Bameng and Lada circles – Wakke, Nabolong, Kojo, Rojo, Sekong, Panker, Zarkam, Drackchi, Besai, Naschgzang, Sachung, Gerangzing, Kampaa, Salang, Pego, and Dongko villages

I.M. Simon (1979:iii)[6] lists the following Miji villages from the Census of 1971.

• 1. Chalang [Cinlang]
• 2. Díbín [Díbín]
• 3. Ditchik [Dícik]
• 4. Dzang [Dzang]
• 5. Jangnachin [Zanachin]
• 6. Khazolang
• 7. Khelong
• 8. Laphozu
• 9. Mathow
• 10. Nakhu
• 11. Nachibun
• 12. Nizung
• 13. Rurang

Smaller hamlets include Dishin [Dícin], Devrik [Dívih], Diyung [Diyong], Nazang [Natsang], Nanthalang, and Otung [Uthung]. Some Mijis have also live in Aka villages such as Dijungania, Buragaon, Tulu, Sarkingonia, and Yayung.

Phonology

Consonants

In all Miji languages the "p" "f" "t" and "k" sounds are always aspirated.[2]

Consonant phonemes

		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palato- alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m		n		ɳ	ɲ
Plosive	voiceless	pʰ		tʰ				kʰ	ʔ
	voiced	b		d				ɡ
Affricate	voiceless			ts	tʃ		tc
	voiced				dʒ
Fricative	voiceless	fʰ	θ	s	ʃ			x	xʷ
	voiced	v	ð	z	ʒ		ʐ		ɣʷ
Lateral fricative	voiceless			ɬ
	voiced			ɮ
Rhotic				r		ɽ
Approximant		ʋ		l		ɭ	j	w

Vowels

Monophthong phonemes

	Front	Central	Central rhotacized	Back
Close	i			u
Close-mid	e	ə/ɨ[ə]		o
Open-mid	ɛ			ʌ • ɔ
Open			a

Tones

The Miji languages have a relatively simple tonal system with only two tones: high and low. There is a third rising tone but it is so scarcely used that in some of the languages it is disregarded completely.[2]

References

Further reading

• Blench, Roger. 2015. The Mijiic languages: distribution, dialects, wordlist and classification. m.s.

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