Amri Karbi language


Amri Karbi, also known as Plains Karbi, Dumrali, is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in parts of the states of Assam and Meghalaya in Northeast India. Amri Karbi variously treated as a variety of the Karbi language or as its own language. Amri Karbi is divided into two regional varieties: Upper Amri and Lower Amri. It is distinct from the speech of a group also called Amri Karbi in the west of the Karbi Anglong district in Assam, who speak a Hills Karbi dialect.

Phonology

Consonants

Amri has 23 phonemic consonants. Allophones or alternative pronunciations are included in parentheses in the table below.
Alternative realization of /pʰ/ amongst some members of the younger generation. Allophone of /ɟ/.

Vowels

Amri Karbi has 7 vowels, 2 of which are marginal phonemes. In addition, there are the diphthongs /ai/ and /ɔi/.
FrontCentralBack
Close
Close-mid
Open-mid
Open

Tone

Three phonemic tones exist in Amri Karbi: low, mid, and high.

Phonotactics

The maximum syllable in Amri Karbi is V. A limited number of onset clusters occur, the first element of which is a voiceless stop or the glottal fricative /h/, followed by /l/ or /r/. Depending on the speaker, clusters /hl/ and /hr/ can variably be produced as, and, or and . All consonants but /ŋ/ can appear syllable-initially. The only consonants able to occur syllable-finally are nasals /m n ŋ/, liquids /l r/, and voiceless unaspirated /p t k/. The latter three are realized as unreleased when syllable-final.

Orthography

Latin script is used for institutional practice, both Latin and Assamese script are used in various publications.

Locations

Amri language is spoken in the following locations in India.