Lyngngam language
# Lyngngam language

Lyngngam is an Austroasiatic language of Northeast India closely related to Khasi language. Once listed as a dialect of Khasi, Lyngngam has in recent literature been classified as a distinct language. Lyngngam speakers have food and dress similar to the neighboring Garo people.

## Phonology

### Consonant inventory

The following table lists the consonants attested in Lyngngam.

    Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal Nasal /m/ /n/ /ɲ/ /ŋ/   Stop voiceless /p/ /t/ /c/ /k/ /ʔ/ aspirated /pʰ/ /tʰ/ /cʰ/ /kʰ/   voiced /b/ /d/ /ɟ/ /ɡ/   Voiceless fricative   /s/     /h/ Liquid   /l, r/       Glide /w/   /j/

The main difference with the Khasi language is that Lyngngam does not possess the voiced aspirated series. Furthermore, Lyngngam does not have the phoneme /ç/. Words which have /ç/ in Khasi typically have /c/ or /s/ in Lyngngam, as in the following pairs of cognates:

    Lyngngam Khasi meaning cʔeŋ çʔeŋ bone cɨppʰeu çipʰeu 10 sɲjək çɲiuʔ hair snaːr çnjaʔ chisel

### Vowel inventory

The following table lists the vowel inventory of the language. The only vowels showing a length distinction are /i/ and /a/, in contradistinction to Khasi, where length is distinctive for all vowels.

    Front unrounded Central unrounded Back rounded High /i, iː/ /ɨ/ /u/ Mid /e/ /ə/ /o/ Low /a, aː/

Words with diphthongs in Khasi have monophthongs in Lyngngam, as in the following pairs of cognates:

    Lyngngam Khasi meaning bni bnaːi month ksu ksəu dog mot miet night
