| Dimasa | |
| Nativename: | Grao-Dima গ্ৰাউ-ডিমা |
| Ethnicity: | Dimasa |
| Speakers: | 137,184 |
| Date: | 2011 census (Dima Hasao) |
| Ref: | [1] |
| Familycolor: | Sino-Tibetan |
| Fam2: | Tibeto-Burman |
| Fam3: | Central Tibeto-Burman (?) |
| Fam4: | Brahmaputran |
| Fam5: | Boro–Garo |
| Script: | Latin script, Eastern Nagari |
| Iso3: | dis |
| Glotto: | dima1251 |
| Glottorefname: | Dimasa |
The Dimasa language is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Dimasa people of the Northeastern Indian states of Assam and Nagaland. The Dimasa language is known to Dimasas as "Grao-Dima" and it is similar to Boro, Kokborok and Garo languages.
The Dimasa language is one of the oldest languages spoken in North East India, particularly in Assam, Nagaland. The word Dimasa etymologically translates to "Son(s) [''sa''] of the big river [''dima'']", i.e. the mighty Brahmaputra. The Dimasa word di, meaning water, forms the root of the names of many of the major rivers of Assam and of North East India in general, such as Dibang (plenty of water), Diyung (huge river), Dikrang (green river), Dikhow (fetched water), and many others. The Brahmaputra is known as Dilao (long river) among the Dimasas even now.
Many of the important towns and cities in Assam and Nagaland received their names from Dimasa words such as Diphu, Dimapur (a capital of the Dimasa Kingdom), Hojai, Khaspur, etc. In fact, the Dimasa language is one of the last languages of North East India to retain its original vocabulary without being compromised by foreign languages.
Dimasa is spoken in:
Dima Hasao District (formerly North Cachar Hills District), Cachar District, Karbi Anglong District, Nagaon District, Hojai District (formerly a part of Nagaon District)
There are six vowels in Dimasa language.
| Front | Central | Back | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | ROM | Script | IPA | ROM | Script | IPA | ROM | Script | ||
| Close | pronounced as /i/ | i | pronounced as /u/ | u | ||||||
| Close-mid | pronounced as /e/ | e | pronounced as /o/ | o | ||||||
| Mid | pronounced as /ə/ | ə | ||||||||
| Open | pronounced as /a/ | a | ||||||||
| pronounced as /i/ | pronounced as /iu/ | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pronounced as /e/ | pronounced as /ei/ | pronounced as /eo/ | |||
| pronounced as /a/ | pronounced as /ai/ | pronounced as /ao/ | |||
| pronounced as /o/ | pronounced as /oi/ | ||||
| pronounced as /u/ | pronounced as /ui/ | ||||
| pronounced as /ə/ | pronounced as /əo/ |
There are sixteen consonants in the Dimasa language.
| Labial | Alveolar | Dorsal | Glottal | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | ROM | Script | IPA | ROM | Script | IPA | ROM | Script | IPA | ROM | Script | ||
| Nasal | pronounced as /m/ | m | pronounced as /n/ | n | pronounced as /ŋ/ | ng | |||||||
| Stop | aspirated | pronounced as /pʰ/ | ph | pronounced as /tʰ/ | th | pronounced as /kʰ/ | kh | ||||||
| voiced | pronounced as /b/ | b | pronounced as /d/ | d | pronounced as /ɡ/ | g | |||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | pronounced as /s/ | s | ||||||||||
| voiced | pronounced as /z/ | z | pronounced as /ɦ/ | h | |||||||||
| Trill/Flap | pronounced as /r ~ ɾ/ | r | |||||||||||
| Approximant | voiced | pronounced as /w/ | w | pronounced as /j/ | y | ||||||||
| lateral | pronounced as /l/ | l | |||||||||||
Dimasa is an inflectional language. The verbs are inflected for number, tense, case, voice, aspect, mood but not for gender and person.
| Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| First person | ang | jing | |
| Second person | ning | nisi | |
| Third person | bo | bunsi |
The verb is rarely inflected for person and gender.
Subject–object–verb word order is usual; Object–verb–subject word order also occurs.
Dimasa is written using Latin script, which has been introduced in the lower primary education system in Dima Hasao District. The main guiding force behind it is the Dimasa Lairidim Hosom, a literary apex body of the Dimasa community.[2]
The Bengali-Assamese script is used in Cachar, where the Bengali people live alongside Dimasas.[3]