Tani Languages

Tani Languages

Tani, aka Miric, Adi–Galo–Mishing–Nishi (Bradley 1997), or Abor–Miri–Dafla (Matisoff 2003), is a compact family of Tibeto-Burman languages situated at the eastern end of the Himalayas, in an area skirted on four sides by Tibet, Assam, Bhutan, and Burma. Jackson T-S Sun (1993) argues that Tani is a primary branch of Tibeto-Burman.

The Tani languages are spoken by about 600,000 people of Arunachal Pradesh like the Adi (many tribes), Nyishi, Hill Miri, Tagin, and Apatani peoples of East Kameng, Lower Subansiri, Upper Subansiri, West Siang, East Siang, and the Dibang Valley districts of Arunachal Pradesh. In Arunachal Pradesh alone the Tani-speaking area covers some 40,000 square kilometers, or roughly half the size of the state. Scattered Tani communities spill over the Sino-Indian border into adjacent areas in Mêdog (Miguba and Mising peoples), Mainling (Bokar and Tagin peoples), and Lhünzê (Bangni, Na, Bayi, Dazu, and Mara peoples) counties of Tibet, where together with the non-Tani Idu they form the Lhoba nationality.