Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 9, 2026

Central Kuki-Chin languages

Central Kuki-Chin is a branch of the Kuki-Chin languages. Central Kuki-Chin languages are spoken primarily in Mizoram, India and in Hakha Township and Falam Township of Chin State, Myanmar.

Last revised
Jul 9, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
210 w
Citations
Source
Central Kuki-Chin
Central Chin
Geographic
distribution
Myanmar and Northeast India
EthnicityMizo and Chin
Linguistic classificationSino-Tibetan
Language codes
Glottologcent2330  Central Kuki-Chin

Central Kuki-Chin is a branch of the Kuki-Chin languages. Central Kuki-Chin languages are spoken primarily in Mizoram, India and in Hakha Township and Falam Township of Chin State, Myanmar.

Official use

Mizo is the official language of Mizoram State, India.

Classification

VanBik (2009:23) classifies the Central Kuki-Chin languages as follows.

Central Kuki-Chin

VanBik (2009) is unsure about the classification of Pangkhua, and tentatively places it within Central Kuki-Chin.

Sound changes

VanBik (2009) lists the following sound changes from Proto-Kuki-Chin to Proto-Central Chin.

  • Proto-Kuki-Chin *k(ʰ)r-, *p(ʰ)r- > Proto-Central Chin *t(ʰ)r-
  • Proto-Kuki-Chin *k(ʰ)l-, *p(ʰ)l- > Proto-Central Chin *t(ʰ)l-
  • Proto-Kuki-Chin *y- > Proto-Central Chin *z-
See also

See also

References

References

  • Peterson, David. 2017. "On Kuki-Chin subgrouping." In Picus Sizhi Ding and Jamin Pelkey, eds. Sociohistorical linguistics in Southeast Asia: New horizons for Tibeto-Burman studies in honor of David Bradley, 189-209. Leiden: Brill.
  • VanBik, Kenneth. 2009. Proto-Kuki-Chin: A Reconstructed Ancestor of the Kuki-Chin Languages. STEDT Monograph 8. ISBN 0-944613-47-0.