Research & Publications

Simte is one of the Kuki-Chin languages spoken mostly in Churachandpur and Pherzawl districts of Manipur. This paper attempts to investigate the forms of pronouns and its types in Simte. Data has been collected through elicitation from four Simte elders aged around 50–55. Pronouns in Simte are free forms that function alone to fill the position of a noun phrase in a clause. Since it is a pro-drop language, pronoun dropping is evident extensively in the reflexive and reciprocal pronoun, realized by the reflexive prefix 'ki-' added to the main verb. The emphatic pronoun is realized by the suffix '-maʔ' added to the subject pronoun. For demonstratives, Simte employs 'hi' for proximal distance near the deictic centre and 'hu' for distal referents.

Simte is one of the Kuki-Chin languages spoken mostly in Churachandpur and Pherzawl districts of Manipur. This paper describes the gender markers in Simte. The gender markers for [+human] are '-pa' for masculine and '-nu' for feminine gender. Whereas the gender markers for [-human, +animal] are '-tal' for masculine and '-pi' for feminine. Neuter gender is expressed lexically, such as 'naupaŋ' for child. The morphemes 'pu' and 'pi' exhibit multiple functional roles: maternal/paternal grandfathers and grandmothers, honorific terms of social respect, and designations for male and female authorities in society.

Kaipeng and Simte belong to the Kuki-Chin sub-group of the Tibeto-Burman language family. Kaipeng belongs to the Old Kuki sub-group while Simte belongs to the Northern Kuki-Chin group (Grierson 1903). Kaipeng is spoken in Tripura by approximately 15,000 speakers. According to the 2011 Census, Simte constitutes a population of 6,728. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the numeral systems in both languages in the realm of cardinals, ordinals, fractionals, multiplicatives, distributives, and approximate numerals.

The gospel was first brought to Southern Manipur by missionary Watkin R. Roberts in May 1910. By 1917, evangelistic teams reached the Simte villages under the Thadou-Kuki Pioneer Mission (TKPM), later reorganized as the North East India General Mission (NEIGM). Initial propagation faced severe resistance from traditional animist village chiefs who viewed the new doctrine as a threat to ancestral hierarchy. This paper documents the oral testimonies of pioneer converts across Thanlon, Sumtuh, Leizangphai, Dumsau, and Khuangnung up to the formation of the NTBCA in 1958 and the historic translation of the Simte Holy Bible.