Phom language
Sino-Tibetan language spoken in India
title: "Phom language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["languages-of-nagaland", "sal-languages", "endangered-languages-of-india"] description: "Sino-Tibetan language spoken in India" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phom_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Sino-Tibetan language spoken in India ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Phom |
| states | India |
| region | Nagaland |
| speakers | 54,416 |
| date | 2011 estimation |
| ref | |
| familycolor | Sino-Tibetan |
| fam2 | Konyak–Phom |
| fam3 | Konyak |
| iso3 | nph |
| glotto | phom1236 |
| glottorefname | Phom Naga |
| :: |
| name = Phom | nativename = | states = India | region = Nagaland | speakers = 54,416 | date = 2011 estimation | ref = | familycolor = Sino-Tibetan | fam2 = Konyak–Phom | fam3 = Konyak | fam4 = | iso3 = nph | glotto = phom1236 | glottorefname = Phom Naga
Phom is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Phom Nagas of Nagaland, Northeast India. It's speakers are primarily in Longleng district and few parts of bordering districts. The Phom language is written in Latin script and consists of 27 letters.
Alternate names for Phom language includes Phom, Phom shah. "Shah" is the Phom word for language. A Morung is called Pang and log drums, popular in Phom tradition are referred to as Shem.
Phonology
All phonological charts are from Burling (1998). ::data[format=table title="Consonants"]
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | Stop | aspirated | unaspirated | Fricative | voiceless | voiced | Nasal | Approximant |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pʰ | tʰ | ʈ͡ʂʰ | kʰ | ||||||||||
| p | t | ʈ͡ʂ | k | ||||||||||
| ʂ | h | ||||||||||||
| ʐ | |||||||||||||
| m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||||||||
| w | l | j | |||||||||||
| :: |
Vocabulary
A large part of the vocabulary of Phom is inherited from proto-Sino-Tibetan. ::data[format=table]
| Meaning | Old Chinese | Written Tibetan | Written Burmese | Phom |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "I" | 吾 *ŋa | nga | ŋa | ngei |
| "you" | 汝 *njaʔ | – | naŋ | nüng |
| "not" | 無 *mja | ma | ''ma''' | nüvai |
| "two" | 二 *njijs | gnyis | hnac | nyi |
| "three" | 三 *sum | gsum | sûm | jem |
| "five" | 五 *ŋaʔ | lnga | ŋâ | nga |
| "six" | 六 *C-rjuk | drug | khrok | vok |
| "sun", "day" | 日 *njit | nyi-ma | ne | nyih |
| "name" | 名 *mjeŋ | ming | ə-mañ | men |
| "eye" | 目 *mjuk | mig | myak | mük |
| "fish" | 魚 *ŋja | nya | ŋâ | nyah |
| "dog" | 犬 *kʷʰenʔ | khyi | khwe | shi |
| :: |
References
References
- "Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011". Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India.
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