Amri Karbi, also known as Plains Karbi, Dumrali, is a Sino-Tibetan 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.
Contents
Phonology
Consonants
Amri has 23 phonemic consonants. Allophones or alternative pronunciations are included in parentheses in the table below.
^i Alternative realization of /pʰ/ amongst some members of the younger generation. ^ii Allophone of /ɟ/.
Vowels
Amri Karbi has 7 vowels, 2 of which are marginal phonemes (included in parentheses in the table below). In addition, there are the diphthongs /ai/ and /ɔi/.
Tone
Three phonemic tones exist in Amri Karbi: low, mid, and high.
Phonotactics
The maximum syllable in Amri Karbi is (C)(C)V(V)(C). 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 [h], [l] and [r], or [lh] and [rh]. 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 [p̚ t̚ k̚] when syllable-final.
Orthography
Latin script is used for institutional practice, both Latin and Assamese script are used in various publications.
Locations
Amri (Karbi) language is spoken in the following locations in India (Ethnologue).
Kamrup district, Assam (south of the Brahmaputra River): Chandubi, Loharghat, Rani block, Jalukbari, Pandu, Basbistha, Panikhaith, Jorabat, Sonapur, Khetri, and Kahi Kusi
Ri-Bhoi district, Meghalaya: Nongpoh area, Barni Hat, and Umling