Sema language

Sema
Sümi (Naga)
Pronunciation	[sɨ˩ mi˧]
Native to	India
Region	Nagaland
Ethnicity	Sumi Naga
Native speakers	104,000 (2001 census)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Angami–Pochuri Sema
Language codes
ISO 639-3	nsm
Glottolog	sumi1235

Sema, also Sumi or Simi, is an Angami–Pochuri language spoken in Nagaland, India. It is spoken by the Sumi Naga people.

Geographical distribution

Sumi is spoken in central and southern Nagaland, in Zunheboto district, Kohima district, Mokokchung district, and Tuensang district, as well as in 7 villages of Tinsukia district, Assam (Ethnologue).

Dialects

Ethnologue lists the following dialects of Sema.

• Dayang (Western Sumi)
• Lazemi
• Zhimomi
• Zumomi

Phonology

The transcriptions in this section use the International Phonetic Alphabet.

Vowels

Monophthongs of Sema, from Teo (2012:368)

The vowels of Sema are as follows:

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ɨ	u
Mid	e		o
Open		a

Notes:

• /i/ has been variously described as:
  • Near-close front unrounded [i̞];
  • Close front unrounded [i].
• /ɨ/ has been variously described as:
  • Near-close central unrounded [ɨ̞];
  • Close central unrounded [ɨ].
• In word-medial position, /ɨ/ can be realized as mid central unrounded [ə].
• /u/ is close back rounded [u].
• The mid vowels /e, o/ can be realized as either close-mid [e, o] or open-mid [ɛ, ɔ].
  • Teo (2012) describes the close-mid allophone of /o/ as slightly advanced [o̟].
• /a/ has been variously described as:
  • Near-open central unrounded [ɐ];
  • Open central unrounded [ä].
• After uvular stops, /a/ can be realized as open back unrounded [ɑ].

Consonants

The consonants of Sema are as follows (allophones that are represented in the orthographic system are given in parentheses):

			Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		plain	m		n				ŋ
		aspirated	mʱ		nʱ
Plosive		voiceless	p		t			k	q
		aspirated	pʰ		tʰ			kʰ	qʰ
		voiced	b		d			ɡ
Affricate		voiceless			(ts)	(tʃ)
		aspirated			(tsʰ)	tʃʰ
Fricative		voiceless		f	(s)	ʃ		x		h
		voiced		v	(z)	ʒ		ɣ
Approximant	central	plain	(w)		ɹ		j
	lateral				l
		aspirated			lʱ

Bibliography

• Sreedhar, Mangadan Veetil (1976), Sema phonetic reader, Mysore: Central Institute of Indian Languages 
• Sreedhar, Mangadan Veetil (1980), A Sema Grammar, Mysore: Central Institute of Indian Languages 
• Teo, Amos B. (2012), "Sumi (Sema)", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 42 (03): 365–373, doi:10.1017/S0025100312000254 
• Teo, Amos B. (2014), A phonological and phonetic description of Sumi, a Tibeto-Burman language of Nagaland (PDF), Canberra: Asia-Pacific Linguistics, ISBN 978-1-922185-10-5