It is said that Mizo language (also popularly known as Mizo Tawng) belongs to Sino-Tibetan family. Since the coming of Christian missionaries in the then Lushai hills (during the British colonial period in India) they firstly introduced Mizo alphabet based on Roman script. The pioneer missionaries Rev.J.H Lorrain (Pu Buanga) and Rev. F.W Savidge (Sap Upa) introduced the first Mizo alphabet in 1894 amongst the Mizo people. Mizo alphabet is commonly known as 'A, Aw, B'. In Mizo alphabet there are combination of two letters i.e 'Aw', 'Ch' and 'Ng'. 'Aw' is spelled or pronounced as in English letter 'O', for example Mizoram state capital is Aizawl, so if you want pronounced correctly it may sound like 'Aizol'. 'Ch' is spelled as in English 'Chop', and 'Ng' is spelled in two ways - 'aang' or by saying N-G.
Mizo alphabet in Capital Letters:
A AW B CH D E F G NG H I J K L M N O P R S T Ṭ U V Z
Mizo alphabet in small letters:
a aw b ch d e f g ng h i j k l m n o p r s t ṭ u v z
Mizo vowels:
A AW E I O U (a aw e i o u).
Word example for Mizo alphabet:
A = Arpa (Arpa is rooster/cock)
Aw = Awle (Awle is crocodile)
Aw = Awle (Awle is crocodile)
B = Bawng (Bawng is cow/bull)
CH = Chaw (Chaw is food)
D = Dar (Dar is bell)
E = Em (Em is basket made from bamboo cane)
F= Fei (Fei is spear)
G = Grape
NG = Ngun (Ngun is bracelet)
H = Ha (Ha is tooth)
I = In (In is house)
J = Jongte (Jongte is name of Mizo ethnic clan)
K = Kel (Kel is goat)
L = Lei (Lei is bridge)
M = Mai (Mai is pumpkin)
N = No (No is cup)
O = Ostrich
P = Pa (Pa is father)
R = Rul (Rul is snake)
S = Sangha ( Sangha is fish)
T = Thing (Thing is tree)
Ṭ = Ṭingṭang (Ṭingṭang is guitar)
U = Ui (Ui is dog)
V = Vawk (Vawk is pig)
Z = Zawngte (Zawngte is monkey)
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Mizo alphabet audio visual tutorial (If you want to learn with this please click the play button):
1) In Mizo Alphabet these J and G letters are not native to Mizo language. It is better to put in borrowed/foreign letters. If we are to put J and G letters in our Alphabet, then why not the other letters X,Y,Q?
ReplyDelete2) The dual letters AW CH NG look awkward.
Mizo Alphabet needs Revision!!!!
In my oppinion, Letter NG is not needed, because, we can use letter N and G to form NG
ReplyDeleteI think the combined letter AW CH and NG are unique and useful.However,I don't see the need for g and j since we have no words starting with those or needing those,our alphabet really do need a revision
ReplyDelete