Mara language explained

Mara (pronounced as /mrh/;, pronounced as /my/) is a Kuki-Chin language spoken by Mara people, mostly the Tlosai tribe living in 30 villages of Chhimtuipui district, southern Mizoram, India; 9 villages in Thantlang District, Chin State, Burma; and several more in Matupi District, Chin State, Burma. The Mara (Tlosai) languages belong to the Kuki-Chin branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The speakers of the languages are also known as Mara (Tlosais). Shendu is a colonial name. 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.

Written script

A written script for Mara was first created in 1852 by Captain S.R. Tickell.^[1] Further scripts were invented in 1869 by Captain T.H. Lewin, in 1908 by Rev. F.W. Savidge and by R.A. Lorain.

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, ie, ua

Grammar

Plurals

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

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

Pronouns

Singular

• 1st person:, - I
• 2nd person:, - you
• 3rd person:, or - he, she, it

Plural

• 1st person: - we
• 2nd person: - you
• 3rd person: - they

Possessive Pronouns

Singular

• - my
• - mine
• - thy (you)
• - thine (yours)
• - him, her, it
• - his, hers, its

Plural

• - our
• - ours
• - your
• - anyone
• - someone, a certain one
• - some . . . others
• - another, others
• - all

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	(Alveolo-) palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	(pronounced as /link/)
	aspirated	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
	voiced	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Fricative	voiceless	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/			pronounced as /link/
	voiced	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Nasal	plain	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
	murmured	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Trill	voiced		pronounced as /link/
	voiceless		pronounced as /link/
Lateral	voiced		pronounced as /link/
	voiceless		pronounced as /link/
Approximant		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/

• A glottal stop pronounced as /link/ may occur in onsets as a result of morphological combinations.
• pronounced as /link/ can be dental as pronounced as /link/ before pronounced as /link/ or pronounced as /link/.
• pronounced as /link/ can also be heard as uvular pronounced as /link/ before pronounced as /link/ or pronounced as /link/.
• pronounced as //s, z// when preceding pronounced as /link/ can be heard as alveolo-palatal pronounced as /[ɕ, ʑ]/.
• Pre-aspiration can also be heard among nasals as pronounced as /[ʱm, ʱn]/.^[2]

Vowels

	Front		Central	Back
Close	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
	pronounced as /link/			pronounced as /link/
Mid	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
Open				pronounced as /link/
			pronounced as /link/

• Sounds pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/ can be heard in free variation as pronounced as /[ɔ, ɐʊ]/ and pronounced as /link/.^[2]

External links

• Mara Autonomous District Council (MADC) Official Website
• Mara Language Preservation (MLP)
• The Mara people
• 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)
• Mara language on Ethnologue
• Mara Keyboard on Keyman
• Mara Art & Culture Official Website under Mara Autonomous District Council (MADC)

Notes and References

1. Lian . Salai Van Cung . Salem-Gervais . Nicolas . November 2020 . How Many Chin Languages Should Be Taught in Government Schools? Ongoing developments and structural challenges of language-in-education policy in Chin State . Parami Journal of Education . 1 . 1.
2. MA . 10.31979/etd.v36r-dk3u . Arden . Michelle J. . A phonetic, phonological, and morphosyntactic analysis of the Mara language . San Jose State University . 2010 . free .