| Miji | |
| Also Known As: | Sajolang |
| Nativename: | Dhammai |
| Region: | Arunachal Pradesh, India and Shannan Prefecture, China |
| States: | India |
| Ethnicity: | Miji people |
| Speakers: | 28,000 |
| Date: | 2007 |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Sino-Tibetan |
| Fam1: | possibly Sino-Tibetan, or a language isolate |
| Fam2: | Hrusish? |
| Fam3: | Mijiic |
| Dia1: | East Miji (Namrai) |
| Dia2: | West Miji (Sajolang) |
| Iso3: | sjl |
| Glotto: | saja1240 |
| Glottorefname: | Sajolang |
Miji, also given the dialect names Sajolang and Dhammai, is a dialect cluster traditionally counted as one of the Sino-Tibetan languages that is spoken in Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India. The varieties are not particularly close, with only half of the vocabulary in common between the languages of East Kameng District and West Kameng District. Long assumed to be Sino-Tibetan languages, Miji and the recently discovered Bangru language may instead form a small independent language family.
There are two divergent varieties of Miji:
Bangru (treated in a separate article), sometimes called "Northern Miji", is more divergent.
According to Ethnologue, Miji is spoken in the following areas of Arunachal Pradesh.
Bameng and Lada circles – Wakke, Nabolong, Kojo, Rojo, Sekong, Panker, Zarkam, Drackchi, Besai, Naschgzang, Sachung, Gerangzing, Kampaa, Salang, Pego, and Dongko villages
I.M. Simon (1979:iii)[3] lists the following Miji villages from the Census of 1971.
Smaller hamlets include Dishin [Dícin], Devrik [Dívih], Diyung [Diyong], Nazang [Natsang], Nanthalang, and Otung [Uthung]. Some Mijis have also live in Aka villages such as Dijungania, Buragaon, Tulu, Sarkingonia, and Yayung.
In all Miji varieties the "p" "t" and "k" sounds are always aspirated.[2] [4]
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palato- alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||
| Plosive | voiceless | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||
| voiced | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||
| Affricate | voiceless | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||
| voiced | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||
| voiced | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||
| Lateral fricative | voiceless | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||||
| voiced | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||||||
| Rhotic | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||||
| Approximant | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/, pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||
| Close | pronounced as /i/ | pronounced as /ə ~ ɨ/ | pronounced as /u/ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close-mid | pronounced as /e/ | pronounced as /o/ | ||
| Open-mid | pronounced as /ɛ/ | pronounced as /ʌ/ • pronounced as /ɔ/ | ||
| Open | pronounced as /a ~ ɑ/ | |||
The Miji languages have a relatively simple tonal system with only two tones: high and low. There is a third rising tone but it is so scarcely used that in some of the languages it is disregarded completely.[2]