Hmar and Ralte: Voices of the Kuki-Chin Hills

[00:00:00]Mar is a northern Mizo language spoken by the Mar people across northeast India especially in Mizorum, Assam, Manipur, Tripura and nearby hill regions with related Zo languages also extending into Bangladesh and Myanmar. Linguistically it belongs to the Kukichin branch of the Tibetto Burman group within the larger Sinotibetan family. Mar is closely related to dulan or mizo and many mar speakers use mizo as a common second language for wider communication. The language is typically written in the Latin script which was introduced during the colonial periods through missionary influence and is locally associated with the aobi tradition of learning and literacy.

[00:00:49]Ral is an endangered indigenous language of northeast India belonging to the Sino Tibetan language family within the Tibetto Bman branch and the Kukin or Zo group. It is traditionally associated with the Ralty people of Mizorum, especially areas north and east of Aizol and historically around Chai. Today, Rala is believed to be actively used mainly by older adults, while younger generations overwhelmingly shift to miso, the dominant regional language used in education, administration, church, and media. Ralta is not taught in schools and lacks strong institutional support, which has accelerated language shift.

[00:01:32]Linguistically, it is closely related to other cookie chin languages and is parts of the brother Zo continuum spoken across parts of India and Myanmar.

[00:01:42]Bakuti bunni bar.

[00:02:11]forch.

[00:02:41]for Amen.

[00:03:08]Amen.