Mara (Mara Chin: Mara reih, pronounced [mərà reɪ]; Burmese: မရာဘာသာစကား, pronounced [mərà bàθàzəɡá]) 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.
Contents
Written script
A written script for Mara was first created in 1852 by Captain S.R. Tickell. 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:
zy (zeu)
zydua (zeu-dua)
nawh
sahlao (sha-hlawh)
Today the Mara language has its own alphabet; words inside brackets show author N.E. Parry's transliterations from 1937.
Pronouns
Singular
1st person: keima, kei - I
2nd person: nâma, na - you
3rd person: ano, a or ama' - he, she, it
Plural
1st person: eima - we
2nd person: nâmo, nâma - you
3rd person: âmo - they
Possessive Pronouns
Singular
Keima, ei - my
Keima eih, kei eih - mine
Nâma, na - thy (you)
Nâma eih, na eih - thine (yours)
Ama, a - him, her, it
Ama eih, a eih - his, hers, its
Plural
Keimo - our
Keimo eih - ours
Nâmo - your
Ahyrai - anyone
Ahy tlyma - someone, a certain one
A tlâhpi - some . . . others
A hropa - another, others
Ama zydua ta - all
Phonology
Consonants
A glottal stop [ʔ] may occur in onsets as a result of morphological combinations.
/t/ can be dental as [t̪] before /ɑ/ or /i/.
/k/ can also be heard as uvular [q] before /ɑ/ or /i/.
/s, z/ when preceding /i/ can be heard as alveolo-palatal [ɕ, ʑ].
Pre-aspiration can also be heard among nasals as [ʱm, ʱn].
Vowels
Sounds /o/ and /ɑ̝/ can be heard in free variation as [ɔ, ɐʊ] and [ʌ].
