Notes on Teizang, A Northern Chin Dialect

While studying Tiddim Chin (Kamhau) during a visit to the northern Chin Hills in 1954, I had an opportunity of making a brief investigation of Teizang, a neighbouring dialect closely akin to it. The paucity of first-hand material on the Chin dialects permits me to hope that it may be useful to set down some of my findings, tentative and limited as they are, and to make such comparisons as suggest themselves with the better known Tiddim Chin dialect. My informant, Mr. Hau Za Lian [ ] came from Suangzang village [ ] a few miles from Tiddim, on the other side of the Manipur river. The phonetic and grammatical pattern of the language appeared to correspond closely with that of Tiddim Chin, 1 but certain differences were noted.