Lai Thiangtho (Sizang Kam) — Tedim Chin Common Language (Sizang Dialect) Scripture (Myanmar)
Overview
Lai Thiangtho (Sizang Kam) ("The Holy Bible in the Sizang Dialect") is a Bible translation in the Sizang dialect of Tedim Chin, published in 2002 by the Myanmar Bible Society and available online through the Myanmar Bible Society's digital platform. The Sizang or Sizang Kam designation refers to the Sizang (also spelled Siyin or Sukte) tribal community and their specific dialect of Tedim Chin. Tedim Chin (ISO 639-3: ctd; autonym: Zokam or Zo-kam, meaning "the Zo language") is a Tibeto-Burman language of the Kuki-Chin branch — one of the most linguistically important of Myanmar's Chin languages.
Language and People
Tedim Chin (ISO 639-3: ctd; autonym: Zokam) is a Sino-Tibetan language: Sino-Tibetan → Tibeto-Burman → Kuki-Chin → Tedim/Thadou branch. Tedim (also called Thadou-Kuki-Chin) has the most speakers of any Chin language and serves as a literary and liturgical lingua franca for the broader Zo/Chin Christian community of Myanmar's Chin State and Sagaing Region. The Sizang are one of the tribal sub-groups within the broader Zo people, concentrated in the Sizang (Siyin) Hills.
The Tedim Chin/Zokam community inhabits:
- Tedim and Tonzang Townships, Chin State, Myanmar
- Sagaing Region (Somra area), Myanmar
- Manipur and Mizoram states, India — across the Indo-Myanmar border
- Diaspora in India, UK, USA, and Australia
Estimated speakers: approximately 500,000–600,000 Tedim Chin speakers across all dialects.
Cultural Context
The Kuki-Chin peoples of the India-Myanmar borderlands have an extraordinarily high rate of Christian adherence — often exceeding 95% — largely due to American Baptist and British Presbyterian missions in the late 19th century. The Zo/Tedim community has a strong tradition of vernacular literacy and Christian publishing, with the first Tedim NT appearing in 1953 and the full Bible in 1981. The Sizang dialect edition (2002) serves the specific needs of the Sizang sub-community whose speech differs sufficiently from standard Tedim to warrant a dedicated translation.
Publishing and Organizations
Published by the Myanmar Bible Society (myanmarbiblesociety.org), the national United Bible Societies affiliate for Myanmar.