Nyishi

A language of India

ISO 639-3

Alternate Names

Bangni, Dafla, Daphla, Lel, Nil, Nishi, Nisi, Nissi, Nyishi, Nyising

Population

230,000 (2001 census). 23,000 speakers of Bangni dialect (Van Driem 2007).

Location

Arunachal Pradesh, lower Subansiri district.

Language Status

5 (Developing).

Classification

Dialects

Aka Lel, Bangni, Nishang. Similar to Tagin [tgj]. Related to Apatani [apt], Adi [adi], and possibly Lepcha [lep]. Apatani [apt] may be a dialect.

Language Use

All domains.

Language Development

Literacy rate in L2: 37%—46% (2001 census). NT: 2002.

Language Resources

Writing

Bengali script. Latin script.

Other Comments

Nisi is a Scheduled Tribe. Nisi has been used as a cover term for western Tani languages. Traditional religion, Christian, Hindu.