LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 13:9 September 2013
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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A Sociolinguistic Study of Kharam

Kh. Dutta Singh, Ph.D. Scholar

Abstract

Kharam is one of the Government recognized scheduled tribes of Manipur having its distinct language, custom and ethnic identity. Kharam is the name of the language and the community that speak the language. The term Kharam itself is a compound word kha means ‘south’ and ram means ‘land’ or ‘place’ which literally means ‘Southland’.

The Kharam is mainly spoken in Tuisemphai, Laikot Kharam, Laikot Phaijol, Purum Likli, Kharam Thadoi, Tampak Kharam, New Keithel Manbi and Kharam Khullen villages in the Senapati district of Manipur. The total number of Kharam speakers in Manipur is 1000 according to Tribal Research Institute, Manipur. Interestingly, the Kharam is absent in any classification of Tibeto-Burman languages made by Grierson (1903), Benedict (1972), Shafer (1974), Matisoff (2000, 2003), Bradley (1994) and Burling (2003). In fact, the Kharam language is closely related to Purum, Kom, Koireng and Chothe. The present paper is an attempt to explore ‘A Sociolinguistic Study of Kharam’.

1.0 Introduction

Kharam is the name of the language as well as the community that speak the language. The speakers of Kharam are mainly found in Senapati district of Manipur and their language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman family of the language. The term Kharam itself is a compound word kha means ‘south’ and ram means ‘land’ or ‘place’ which literally means ‘Southland’. The Kharam is mainly spoken in Tuisenphai, Laikot Kharam, Laikot Phaijol, Purum Likli, Kharam Thadoi, Tampak Kharam, New Keithel Manbi and Kharam Khullen villages in the Senapati district of Manipur. Kharam has close affinities with other languages Kom, Purum, Aimol etc.

There are more than thirty six indigenous tribal languages in Manipur which includes Aimol, Anal, Angami, Chiru, Chothe, Gangte, Hmar, Kabui, Kacha Naga, Kharam, Koirao, Koireng, Kom, Lamkang, Mao, Maram, Mizo (Lushai), Monsang, Moyon, Paite, Paomei, Purum, Ralte, Sema, Simte, Salte, Tangkhul, Tarao, Thadou, Waiphei, Zou.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Khaidem Dutta Singh, Ph.D. Scholar
Department of Linguistics
Assam University
Silchar 788011
Assam
India
duttakhaidem@gmail.com
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