Chin, Mara Orthography

GRAMMAR OF THE LAKHER OR MARA LANGUAGE

PART I.—ORTHOGRAPHY

Lakher Alphabet and Pronunciation

The Mara alphabet consists of the following Iwenty-fivc letters and
sounds broken up into

13 Consonants

10 Vowels, viz : —

a, aw, y, f, i\ o, 6, u, ao, yuy

Two Sounds, viz ' —

ch and tig

The two vowels ao ZLudyu are diphthongs.

The two vowels o and 6 arc also sounds not letters.

J^ofe.— AW syllables in the Mara language end in a vowel never in a consonant and if
fhis br remembered it will greatly aid in quickly mastering the pronunciation of the words,
ihr.y arc as Ibllows: —

-^ a like ar in the English word ark

Ai-o aw like au in the English word maul

y y like ur in the English word cur, murmur, (but this sound

must be spoken more in the throat). In some villages it
is pronounced like the eu in the French word feu — fire, but

this becomes more pure on learning to read. It is also
pronounced like Swedish o as in o — island.

B

h

as in English

Ch

ch

like ch in the English word charmer

D

d

as in English

E

€

like a in the English word ape

// h like h in the English word hope. When h is placed at the
end of a syllable or word it denotes that the preceding
\owel sound must be abruptly shortened. This is the only
time that a syllable or word in Mara may end in a conso*
nant and then it has no value \i\ itself save to shorten the
preceding vowel sound.

like ea in the English verb to tae

as in English

as in Englisli

as in English

as in English

like ng in the English word wronger

like oung in the English word young only the ng is a nasal
half sound and not the ng of the English full sound, this
sound needs a lot of studying to pronounce it correctly.

/

i

K

k

L

I

M

m

N

n

y^

^g

6 6 this is a combination of sounds, like ar ill the English word
ark combined with a short aw sound coiicluding with a
nasal half sound ng and not the full sounded ng as in
English ; these three sounds must be sounded in one sound
with no hiatus between them.

yote.~To the inexperienced car this sound i'i often confused ^vith the diphlhong ao but
it should in no wise be confounded with it as it is a distinct sound of its own and is of very
great importance.

P p as in English

R r like r in the English word riot, but the r must be distinctly
rolled.

S s as in English

T t as in English

U u like o in the English verb to do

V V as in English

Z Z like z in the English word zebra

There are two diphthongs in Mara, they arc: —

Ao ao like ar in the Englisli word ark combined with a sh >rt aw
sound, but there must be no hiatus between these two
sounds but uttered in one and the same breath. Fins
diphthong is sometimes by itself a word.
yu like the Mara J and M with no hiatus between them and the
two sounds uttered in one and the same breath, this is a
sound of some important and should be well practised.
All the ordinary vowels in Mara,' viz:— a, aw, e, i, ii, being long there
arc only a very few instances where the vowel needs a circumflex accent
placed over it to increase the length of that sound, but it is most important
that words thus accented should be given particular attention to, as forget-
ting to accent such a vowel or vice versa changes the meaning entirely in
some few words, especially is this the case with the vowel 'a' for instance : —

Chapi va na—l won't give it to you.
Ckapi va na—I shall give it you.

(see the verb, Future Indef.)

When ch,k,p, or t arc combined with h they are pronounced as
follows : —

Chh like ch in the English word churn.

Kh like the kh in the English word khaki.

Ph like ph in the English word uphand.

Th like th in the English word Thomistic.

these must be distinctly aspirated and there must be no hiatus between
the c and h, k and h, p and h, t and h, ^nd must be pronounced m the same ^
breath. When the liquids /, m, n, and r are aspirated they are preceded by
the letter A, the initial ng is never aspirated in Mara.

GRAMMAR AND DICTIONARY

OF THE
LAKHER OR MARA LANGUAGE

BY THE LATE

REGINALD ARTHUR LORRAIN

Founder of the Lakher Pioneer Mission,
and author of "Five Years in Unknown Jungles'*.

Published by the
Government of Assam in the
Department of Historical and Antiquarian Studies ^
Gauhatij Assam »
1951'

Price RsJO