Mongsen Ao is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Ao of Nagaland

Nagaland

Nagaland is a state in the far north-eastern part of India. It borders the state of Assam to the west, Arunachal Pradesh and part of Assam to the north, Burma to the east and Manipur to the south. The state capital is Kohima, and the largest city is Dimapur...

 in northeast India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. Conventionally classified as "Naga", the Ao languages

Ao languages

The Ao languages are a small family of Tibeto-Burman languages spoken by the Ao people of Nagaland in northeast India. Conventionally classified as "Naga", they are not clearly related to other Naga languages, and are conservatively classified as an independent branch of Tibeto-Burman, pending...

 are not clearly related to other Naga languages. Gordon (2005) estimates that there are 141,000 speakers of Mongsen and Chungli Ao.

Missionary grammars from the late 19th century exist. A grammatical description is Gowda (1975). Coupe (2003) is one of the few acoustic

Acoustic phonetics

Acoustic phonetics is a subfield of phonetics which deals with acoustic aspects of speech sounds. Acoustic phonetics investigates properties like the mean squared amplitude of a waveform, its duration, its fundamental frequency, or other properties of its frequency spectrum, and the relationship...

 studies published on a Kuki-Chin-Naga language (only three exist). Coupe also has a reference grammar in progress.

Languages

The Ao Naga tribes of Nagaland speak three languages: Chungli, Mongsen, and Changki. (J.P.Mills 1921). Chungli Ao and Mongsen Ao is spoken in majority of the Ao villages whereas Changki speakers forms the minor speakers.

Chungli as a common Ao language

During the American Baptist Mission to Naga Hills,DR.E.W.Clark first came in contact with the Molungyimsen village that paved the way for a common Ao language-Chungli Ao is spoken in Molungyimchen and Molungyimsen and other villages throughout Ao territory by roughly 60% of the Ao-speaking population. The speech of Molungyimsen is the prestige dialect

Prestige dialect

In sociolinguistics, prestige describes the level of respect accorded to a language or dialect as compared to that of other languages or dialects in a speech community. The concept of prestige in sociolinguistics is closely related to that of prestige or class within a society...

 due to Baptist

Baptist

Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

 missionaries' influence. Most Ao can speak Chungli even if they are from Mongsen-speaking regions. Chungli is taught in schools . Various 'trans-Dikhu neighbouring dialects of Ao Chungli are spoken east of the Dikhu River in Yacham, Tengsa, and Longla . These are poorly documented; Yacham and Tengsa may be separate languages (van Driem 2001).
Mongsen Ao is spoken primarily in the western part of Ao territory. The Changki dialect is spoken only within these 3 villages-Changki,Japu and Longjemdang which is poorly documented till date though reportedly related to Mongsen Ao.Some Changki speaker can fluently converse in both Mongsen as well as in chungli,a Mongsen Ao cannot speak Changki than understand it,whereas Chungli hardly understand nor speak Changki.
The speech of each Ao village has its own distinctive characteristics. Many villages contain both Chungli and Mongsen speakers.

Sounds

This section describes the sound system of Mongsen Ao as spoken in Waromung village and is based on Coupe (2003).

Consonants

Mongsen Ao has 20 (or 21) consonant

Consonant

In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are , pronounced with the lips; , pronounced with the front of the tongue; , pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; and ,...

s:

		Bilabial	Dental	Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar Velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum)....	Glottal Glottal consonant Glottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricative, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider...
Stop Stop consonant In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or an oral stop, is a stop consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be done with the tongue , lips , and &...	unaspirated	p	t			k	(ʔ)
	aspirated Aspiration (phonetics) In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say pin ...	pʰ	tʰ			kʰ
Affricate	unaspirated		ts	tʃ
	aspirated Aspiration (phonetics) In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say pin ...		tsʰ	tʃʰ
Fricative	voiceless Voiceless In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, this is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word "phonation" implies voicing, and that voicelessness is the lack of...		s				h
	voiced VOICED Virtual Organization for Innovative Conceptual Engineering Design is a virtual organization that promotes innovation in engineering design. This project is the collaborative work of researchers at five universities across the United States, and is funded by the National Science Foundation...		z
Nasal Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :...		m	n			ŋ
Approximant	central Central consonant A central or medial consonant is a consonant sound that is produced when air flows across the center of the mouth over the tongue. The class contrasts with lateral consonants, in which air flows over the sides of the tongue rather than down its center....	w		ɹ	j
	lateral Lateral consonant A lateral is an el-like consonant, in which airstream proceeds along the sides of the tongue, but is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth....		l

• Dental consonants /t, tʰ, ts, tsʰ, s, z, n, l/ are laminal denti-alveolar
  Denti-alveolar
  In linguistics, a denti-alveolar consonant is a consonant that is articulated with a flat tongue against the alveolar ridge and upper teeth, such as and in languages such as Spanish and French...
  
  .
• The post-alveolar approximant /ɹ/ varies from an apical
  Apical
  Apical, from the Latin apex meaning to be at the apex or tip, may refer to:*Apical , an anatomical term of location for features associated with the base of an organism or structure...
  
   post-alveolar to a subapical retroflex articulation: [ɹ̠~ɻ].
• The glottal stop
  Glottal stop
  The glottal stop, or more fully, the voiceless glottal plosive, is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. In English, the feature is represented, for example, by the hyphen in uh-oh! and by the apostrophe or [[ʻokina]] in Hawaii among those using a preservative pronunciation of...
  
   /ʔ/ occurs only at the end of words. However, in this position it contrasts with words ending in vowels: /āmī/ 'spear' vs. /āmīʔ/ 'person'. When a suffix is added to such words, the /ʔ/ is deleted: /tʃàʔ/ 'to eat' + /-ʉ̄ʔ/ CAUS → /tʃàʉʔ/ 'to cause to eat'. Thus, the glottal stop has a somewhat marginal phonemic status.

Vowels

Mongsen Ao has 6 vowel

Vowel

In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...

s:

	Front Front vowel A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also...	Central Central vowel A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel...		Back Back vowel A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark...
		modal	creaky Creaky voice In linguistics, creaky voice , is a special kind of phonation in which the arytenoid cartilages in the larynx are drawn together; as a result, the vocal folds are compressed rather tightly, becoming relatively slack and compact...
High Close vowel A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.This term is prescribed by the...	i	ʉ		u
Mid Mid vowel A mid vowel is a vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned mid-way between an open vowel and a close vowel...		ə
Low Open vowel An open vowel is defined as a vowel sound in which the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth. Open vowels are sometimes also called low vowels in reference to the low position of the tongue...		a	a̰

• The high central /ʉ/ is rounded
  Roundedness
  In phonetics, vowel roundedness refers to the amount of rounding in the lips during the articulation of a vowel. That is, it is vocalic labialization. When pronouncing a rounded vowel, the lips form a circular opening, while unrounded vowels are pronounced with the lips relaxed...
  
  .
• The two low vowels /a, a̰/ differ in terms of phonation
  Phonation
  Phonation has slightly different meanings depending on the subfield of phonetics. Among some phoneticians, phonation is the process by which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration. This is the definition used among those who study laryngeal anatomy and physiology...
  
   type. /a/ has modal voice (i.e. normal phonation); /a̰/ has creaky voice
  Creaky voice
  In linguistics, creaky voice , is a special kind of phonation in which the arytenoid cartilages in the larynx are drawn together; as a result, the vocal folds are compressed rather tightly, becoming relatively slack and compact...
  
   (also known as vocal fry, laryngealization). Coupe (2003) argues that this is a separate vowel phoneme
  Phoneme
  In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
  
   and not a tone
  Tone (linguistics)
  Tone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning—that is, to distinguish or inflect words. All verbal languages use pitch to express emotional and other paralinguistic information, and to convey emphasis, contrast, and other such features in what is called...
  
  , a glottal stop
  Glottal stop
  The glottal stop, or more fully, the voiceless glottal plosive, is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. In English, the feature is represented, for example, by the hyphen in uh-oh! and by the apostrophe or [[ʻokina]] in Hawaii among those using a preservative pronunciation of...
  
  , or resulting from prosodic effects.

Tone

Ao is a tonal language with 3 contrasting lexical tone

Tone (linguistics)

Tone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning—that is, to distinguish or inflect words. All verbal languages use pitch to express emotional and other paralinguistic information, and to convey emphasis, contrast, and other such features in what is called...

s:

• high
• mid
• low

All are register tones.

Syllable and phonotactics

The generalized syllable

Syllable

A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins .Syllables are often considered the phonological "building...

 structure of Ao is abbreviated as the following:

(C₁)V(G)(C₂)+T

(C₁)

• Any of the 20 consonants may appear as an optional syllable onset (excluding the word-final /ʔ/).

V

• All 6 vowels may occur as the syllable nucleus.

(G)

• The optional glide
  Semivowel
  In phonetics and phonology, a semivowel is a sound, such as English or , that is phonetically similar to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary rather than as the nucleus of a syllable.-Classification:...
  
   elements following the head vowel are essentially non-syllabic offglide realizations of the 4 vowels /i, ʉ, u, a/. For example, /jàuŋ/ → [jàu̯ŋ] 'species of centipede'.
• The following are the possible tautsyllabic combinations: [iu̯, ia̯, əʉ̯, əu̯, ai̯, aʉ̯, au̯].

(C₂)

• The following consonants may occur in the optional syllable coda
  Syllable coda
  In phonology, a syllable coda comprises the consonant sounds of a syllable that follow the nucleus, which is usually a vowel. The combination of a nucleus and a coda is called a rime. Some syllables consist only of a nucleus with no coda...
  
  : unaspirated stops, nasals, and the rhotic /p, t, k, m, n, ŋ, ɹ/. The glottal stop with its restricted distribution also occurs but only word-finally.

T

All syllables occur with one of the three tones. In a VG sequence, tone only occurs the vowel head.

Syntax

Ao is an SOV language with postpositions. Adjectives, numerals and demonstratives follow the nouns they modify, whilst relative clauses may be either externally or internally headed. Adverbial subordinators are suffix

Suffix

In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...

es attached to the verb and the end of the subordinate clause.

Orthography

Ao orthography

Orthography

The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...

 is based on the Roman alphabet and was developed in the 1880s by the Christian missionary

Missionary

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

Edward W. Clark for Chungli Ao. The system is not based on phonemic principles and does not represent tone. A Christian bible was published using the orthography in 1964. Coupe (2003) suggests a more consistent orthography for Mongsen Ao.

External links

• Ao Naga Tribe
• Ao
• Entry for Ao Naga at Rosetta Project
• Bible Translation in Ao Naga (Language in India)
• Narrating an Ao Naga Folktale (Language in India)