Zeme language

Zeme (also called Empeo, Jeme, Kacha and Zemi[1]) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in northeastern India. It is one of the dialects spoken by the Zeme Naga, the other being Mzieme.

For the parent language branch, see Zeme languages.

Zeme
Zeliang
"Zeliang" written in Meitei script
Native toIndia
RegionAssam, Manipur, Nagaland
EthnicityZeme Naga
Native speakers
110,000 (2011 census)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3nzm
Glottologzeme1240
ELPZeme Naga

Geography and Demography

Zeme (dialects: Paren, Njauna) is spoken in:[1]

Most Zeme speakers are bi- or multi-lingual in the regional lingua franca of Manipuri and English.[2]

Classification

Zeme belongs to the Kuki-Chin section of the Kamarupan group of the Baric sub-division of Tibeto-Burman language family. It is closely related to the neighboring languages of Liangmai and Rongmei.[3]

Phonology

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive/
Affricate		 voiceless p t tʃ k
aspirated pʰ tʰ kʰ
voiced b d ɡ
Nasal m n ŋ
Fricative voiceless s h
voiced z
Trill r
Approximant lateral l
central w j

Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e ə o
Open a

[2]

Like other Tibeto-Burman languages, Zeme is a tonal language. Most of the words in the language are monosyllabic in nature.[3]

Grammar

Gender and number are not marked on Zeme verbs. The basic word order is SOV, with an alternate order of OSV, making it a verb-final language.

There are 7 categories of numerals in the language: Cardinals, ordinals, fractionals, multiplicatives, distributives, restrictives, and approximates. The following are cardinal numerals;

Value Gloss Num
1 one ə-ket
2 two ke-na
3 three kə-čum
4 four mə-dai
5 five mə-ŋəiyu
6 six sə-rok
7 seven sə-na
8 eight tə-set
9 nine sə-kui
10 ten kə-rəiyu
20 twenty iŋkai
30 thirty him-rəiyu
40 forty he-dai
50 fifty riŋ-ŋəiyu
60 sixty riyak-sərok
70 seventy riyak-səna
80 eighty riyak-təset
90 ninety riyak-səkui
100 one hundred hai
1000 one thousand čəŋ

Compound numerals are formed by adding two numerals together, with the bigger numeral, usually a multiple of 10, preceding the smaller one. The decade numerals from 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 are formed by multiplication of decade by basic numerals by 10. It is important to note that the numeral ‘ten’ in Zeme has four allomorphs: kərəiyu, he, riŋ and riyak.[3]

References
  1. Zeme at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. Chanu, Sapam Sangita (2017). A descriptive grammar of Zeme. Silchar: Assam University.
  3. Chanu, Sapam Sangita (2016). "Numerals in Zeme". Language in India. 16 (7). ISSN 1930-2940.


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