Sangtam language

Sangtam
Thukumi
Lophomi
Native to	Nagaland, India
Region	East-central Nagaland, Tuensang and Khiphire districts
Ethnicity	Sangtam
Native speakers	76,000 (2011 census)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Central Naga Sangtam
Language codes
ISO 639-3	nsa
Glottolog	sang1321

Sangtam, also called Thukumi, Isachanure, or Lophomi, is a Naga language spoken in northeast India. It is spoken in Kiphire District and in the Longkhim-Chare circle in Tuensang district, Nagaland, India.

Dialects

Ethnologue lists the following dialects of Sangtam.

• Kizare
• Pirr (Northern Sangtam)
• Phelongre
• Thukumi (Central Sangtam)
• Photsimi
• Purr (Southern Sangtam)

The standardized dialect of Sangtam is based on the Tsadanger village speech variety.

Phonology

Sangtam is unusual in having two stops with bilabial trilled release, /t̪͡ʙ, t̪͡ʙ̥ʰ/.

Consonant phonemes of Sangtam

		Labial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Postalveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m			n			ɲ	ŋ
Plosive	plain	p		t̪		ʈ		c	k	ʔ
	aspirated	pʰ		t̪ʰ		ʈʰ		cʰ	kʰ
Affricate	plain	t͡ʙ̥			t͡s		t͡ʃ
	aspirated	t͡ʙ̥ʰ			t͡sʰ		t͡ʃʰ
Fricative	voiceless		(f)		s		ʃ		x	h
	voiced		(v)		(z)
Approximant					l	ɹ		j

All phonemes with /t/ are dental

/ʈ/ is realised like /ʈʵ/

Vowels

		Front	Back
Close		i	u
Close-mid		e	o
Open/ Open-mid		a	ʌ

All vowels can have high, mid, or low tone