Mara language

Mara is a language spoken by Mara people living in South Mizoram, India and the adjacent people living in Burma.

The Mara language belongs to the Kukish branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The speakers of the language are also known as Mara.

Mara is a recognised language in the School curriculum of Mara Autonomous District Council (MADC). Mara is a compulsory subject for all schools up to Class VII (Middle School) under Board of School Education, MADC.

Statistics

Mara Alphabet

Mara Alphabet (capital letters) A, AW, Y, B, CH, D, E, F, H, I, K, L, M, N, NG, O, Ô, P, R, S, T, U, V, Z

Mara Alphabet (small letters): a, aw, y, b, ch, d, e, f, h, i, k, l, m, n, ng, o, ô, p, r, s, t, u, v, z

Mara diphthongs: ao, yu, ai, ei, ia, ie, ua

Grammar

Plurals

The plural form of a noun is formed by affixing one of the following terms to the end of the noun:

Marra language

Marra (also spelled Mara) is an Australian Aboriginal language, traditionally spoken on an area of the Gulf of Carpentaria coast in the Northern Territory around the Roper, Towns and Limmen Bight Rivers. Marra is now an endangered language. The most recent survey was in 1991; at that time, there were only 15 speakers, all elderly. Most Marra people now speak Kriol as their main language. The remaining elderly Marra speakers live in the Aboriginal communities of Ngukurr, Numbulwar, Borroloola and Minyerri.

Marra is a prefixing language with three noun classes (masculine, feminine, and neuter) and a singular-plural-dual distinction. It is characterized by an intricate aspectual system, elaborate kin terms, no definite structure for relative clause construction, and a complex demonstrative system. Unlike many languages in the area, it has little avoidance language and no difference in the speech of male and female speakers.

Language and speakers

Marra is a member of the Arnhem family, the second-largest Australian language family after Pama–Nyungan. The Marra people refer to themselves as Marranbala, Marra or Mara, and their language as Marra or Mara. In addition to Warndarrang, which was spoken to the north of Marra along the Roper River, Marra was also in contact with Alawa (spoken inland, to the west), Binbin-ga and Wilangarra (West Barkly languages to the south), and Yanyuwa (a Pama–Nyungan language to the southeast).