Falam language


Falam, is a Kuki-Chin language in Falam township, Chin State, Burma, and also in India.
Falam Chin is closely related to most Central Chin languages, especially Hakha Chin which has been studied more in depth than Falam Chin.
The Falam people are primarily Christian and have translated the Bible into Falam Chin.

Dialects

Ethnologue lists the following dialects of Falam.
Falam was a village name founded by the Tlaisun tribe and Tashon was the original language spoken in Falam. Falam became increased in population from the surrounding tribes from Sunthla, Sim and Zahau that created a new language based on these three tribes which are very different from Tlaisun language and this language was later popularly known as Laizo language. Laizo language was recorded as the first language used in the official radio broadcasting dialect of Chin in Myanmar. In order to be inclusive in Laizo language this language was later changed to Falam language although its official name recorded in the government is Laizo.
Rupini and Koloi are also reported to be quite different. Dialects once misleadingly called Southern Luhupa are actually Northern Kuki-Chin, and evidently Falam.
Ethnologue reports the following speaker populations of Falam dialects as of 1983: 9,000 Taisun, 16,000 Zanniat, 7,000 Khualsim, 4,000 Lente, 14,400 Zahau, 18,600 Laizo.

Written/Spoken Falam Chin

This is a sample of written Falam Chin:
Falam Chin is written in romanized form, or in the English alphabets, with the exception of the letters Q, Y, J and X. However, the consonant ṭ, ng, and aw vowel are frequently used in both Chin literature and speaking.

Falam Chin Characters

Consonants
b c d f g h j k l m n p r s t ṭ v z
Vowels
a.... as in amphibious
aw.... as in omega
e .... as in example
i .... as in interesting
o.... as in son
u.... as in due
The Falam language has five spoken vowels, but in writing, six are used. Of the five spoken, three of them, /u/, /a/, and /ɔ/ are spoke from the back of the mouth, /i/ is spoken from the top of the mouth, and /e/ is spoken from the middle. /ɔ/ can be pronounced as aw or o.