Mara language

Not to be confused with Mara language (Australia) .

Mara
Mara
Pronunciation	[m̥ara]
Spoken in	Mizoram, India; Chin State, Burma
Region	Southeast Asia
Native speakers	84,000  (2003–2005)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman) Kukish Southern Mara
Writing system	Latin
Official status
Regulated by	No official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mrh

The Mara language is a language spoken by Mara people living in South Mizoram, India and the adjacent people living in Chin State in Burma, formerly Burma.

The Mara language belongs to the Kukish branch of the Tibeto-Burman family of languages. The speakers of the language are also known as Mara.

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

Statistics

• Population: 47,000 in India (2007), 37,000 in Burma (2007).
• Region: Lushai Hills (India), Chin Hills (Burma)
• Alternate names: Lakher, Mara, Maram, Mira, Zao, Shendu
• Dialects: Tlosai, Chapi, Zyhno, Hawthai, Saby, Lialai, Vuty, etc

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)
• naw
• sahlao(sha-hlawh)

Words inside bracket were how a foreign author N.E. Parry (1937) wrote according to his understanding of the sound. But now the Maras have their own alphabet and the correct usages are put up there.

Adjectives

Adjectives are placed before the word they qualify. e.g., A good man) When an adjective is used to complete the predicate of a sentence, a pronominal particle agreeing with the subject is placed before the adjective.

Pronouns

Singular:

• 1st person-keima or kei I
• 2nd person-nama or na You
• 3rd person-ano or a or ama' He,She,It

Plural:

• 1st person-eima We
• 2nd person-namo, nama You
• 3rd person-amo They

Possessive Pronouns

• Singular
• Keima, ei - my.
• keima ha, kei ei - mine.
• Nama, na - Thy(You)
• Nama ha, na ei - Thine(Yours)
• Ama, Ana - Him, Her, It.
• Ama ei, a ei - His, Hers, Its.

*Plural.

• Keimo - Our.
• Keimo ei, Keimo ha - Ours.
• Namo - Your.
• Namo ei, namo ha - Yours.
• Amo, a-mei - Their.
• Amo ei, amo ha - Theirs.

The demonstrative pronouns are the same as the double forms of the demonstrative adjectives. There are many indefinite pronouns, e.g:-

• Khapamatavei - Nothing.
• Khaparai - Anything.
• Ato - Everything.
• Khapaleipa - Something.
• Khapama - Something or other.
• Aheumatavei - Nobody.
• Aheurai/ ahyrai - Any one.
• Aheu-tleuma - Some one, a certain one.
• Atlapi - Some . . . others.
• Ahrangpa - Another, others.
• Ama Zyduata - All.

External links

• Ethnologue Ethnologue
• Maraland.NET Home of Mara language speaking people
• Maraland.org MITCS website
• Entry for Mara at Rosetta Project
• A grammar and dictionary of the Lakher language (1908) (Scanned book at the Internet Archive)