Wui language

Wui (autonym: tʰa³³wɛ⁵² ma³³lan⁵², lit. 'crab language') is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Wui village, Noklak District, Nagaland, India (26.036°N, 95.067°W). There are just under 1,000 speakers.

Background
Wui is spoken in the single village of Wui, which has about 150 houses. Wui village is situated 10 km west of the India-Myanmar border on the Patsho Range in eastern Nagaland. It is estimated that there are less than 1,000 speakers.

Nearby languages include Tikhir (Aoic) and various Khiamniunganic (Konyakian) varieties. Wui speakers consider themselves to be an ethnic subgroup of the Khiamniungan people and also speak Patsho Khiamniungan. Many Wui people are fluent in Nagamese.

Classification
Due to its divergent lexicon and typological features, the classification of Wui is uncertain. Coupe (2023) suggests a divergent Central Naga affiliation. However, Wui lacks rhotics, which are characteristic of most Central Naga languages.

Phonology
The phonological inventory of Wui is as follows.

There are three phonemic tones in Wui, which are:


 * high level /55/
 * mid level /33/
 * high falling /52/

Pronouns
Wui personal pronouns are as follows.

Lexicon
Below are some Swadesh list items for Wui as provided in Coupe (2023).