Liangmai, the name of my dialect and tribe is spoken by all the Liangmai Nagas with different accents in different villages spread across many districts in Manipur and Nagaland, India. We are about 40,000 in population as of the 2001 census.
Interesting as it may not sound to you but I'm a guy from Tamei and if someone from Thalon speaks to me in Liangmai dialect which is of course my own mother tongue, I would have no freaking clue as to what he's trying to convey. Irony as it may sound but sadly that's the truth. Different Liangmai villages have varied accents and tones which is heavily influenced by the neighbouring villages belonging to other tribes. This concludes, Liangmais are easily adaptable.
Liangmai tribe comes under the banner of the Naga tribe. The Naga tribe as a whole has over 35+ tribes under its umbrella with their own respective dialects spread out in Nagaland, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh,Manipur and Myanmar . Liangmai and Zeme tribes are collectively called as Zeliang in Nagaland whileLiangmai, Rongmei and Zeme tribes are collectively called Zeliangrong in Manipur.
It would always be my interest to find out the history of my people. I wonder how and why and when our tribe began speaking Liangmai and called ourselves Liangmai. I hope someone do an extensive research before the last old generation dies out. This old aged generation is the last of the Liangmai Nagas who could possibly tell us about our history. The generation after the 1950s is all corrupted with the intrusion of the British government into our virgin land. But then for all I know, the Liangmai tribe has only 3 PHD scholars so far in my limited knowledge who happens to be my dad, my eldest sister and another from my home town. They are too busy for this. There are a lot of Liangmai students in prestigious Universities like JNUdoing their PHDs and MPhils now and a few engineers, doctors and many more who are doing extremely well.
Its always so humbling and encouraging to see a fellow tribesman excel in what they do. We are a talented lot and we just need a good platform to begin with.
All hail Liangmai brothers and sisters. Someday, we'll all make it big :)
