Mao language (India)

Not to be confused with Mao languages or Southern Mao language.

Mao
Sopvoma, Emela, Mao' La
Pronunciation	mau
Native to	India
Region	Nagaland, Manipur
Ethnicity	Mao Naga, Poumai Naga
Native speakers	240,205 (2011 census)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Kuki-Chin-Naga Angami–Pochuri Mao
Official status
Recognised minority language in	India
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: nbi – Mao pmx – Poumei Naga
Glottolog	naga1397
ELP	Mao Naga

Mao, also known as Sopvoma, is a Sino-Tibetan language of the Angami–Pochuri linguistic sub-branch. It is spoken primarily in Senapati district, northwestern Manipur and in Nagaland, India. It is similar to Tenyidie.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	p	t̪	t		k
	aspirated	pʰ	(t̪ʰ)	tʰ		kʰ
	voiced	b	d̪			(ɡ)
Affricate	voiceless	p͡f		t͡s	t͡ʃ
	aspirated	(p͡fʰ)			t͡ʃʰ
	voiced	b͡v		d͡z	d͡ʒ
Fricative	voiceless	f		s	ʃ		h
	voiced	v		z	ʒ
Nasal		m		n		ŋ
Trill	voiced			r
	voiceless			ʰr̥
Lateral				l
Approximant		(w)			j

• /t͡ʃʰ/ and /w/ only rarely occur, and with /t͡ʃʰ/ only occurring in word-initial position.
• The pre-aspirated voiceless /ʰr̥/, may have a word-initial allophone of [ʂ], [ʂ] rarely occurs phonemically.
• [ɡ] only occurs marginally from loanwords.
• /t̪, p͡f/ in word-initial position may be heard as [t̪ʰ, p͡fʰ] in free variation, rarely as phonemic.
• /h/ may have an allophone of [x] word-initially, word medially in free variation. [x] rarely occurs as a phoneme.
• /m/ before a central vowel /ɨ/ can have an allophone of a labiodental [ɱ].
• /n/ before high vowel sounds can have an allophone of a palatalized [nʲ].

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ɨ	u
Mid	e	(ə)	o
Open		a

• [ə] only occurs inter-morphemically.
• /ɨ/ can be heard as rounded [ʉ] in free variation.
• In word-initial position, /i, u/ can be lowered to [ɪ, ʊ].
• /e, o/ can be lowered to [ɛ, ɔ] in word-final position.

Further reading

• Veikho, Sahiinii Lemaina (2021). Grammar of Poumai Naga (Poula): A Trans-Himalayan Language of North-East India. Brill's Tibetan Studies Library. Vol. 25. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-43798-2.