Nagamese

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Nagamese
Spoken in:	India
Total speakers:	30,000
Language family:	Creole language  Assamese Creole   Nagamese
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	none
ISO 639-2:
ISO 639-3:	nag

Nagamese is a creole used in Nagaland. Since Nagaland is inhabited by people belonging to different Naga tribes speaking languages which are mutually unintelligible, Nagamese is the preferred form of communication for all. It is used in the Nagaland Legislature, as a means of explanation in Nagaland schools and in mixed households. It has been described as a creole, which was stable by 1936 and which is unlikely to decreolize. English is the official language of Nagaland and 67.11% of the population is educated.^{[citation needed]}

Nagamese has two cases, two tenses, three aspectual distinctions and no gender. It shares a large part of its lexicon with Assamese.

[edit] External links

• Review of Bhattacharya's "Nagamese: Pidgin, Creole or Creoloid?"
• Ethnologue report on Nagamese