Anāl, also known as Namfau after the two principal villages it is spoken in, is a Northern Kukish language, part of the Sino-Tibetan language family, spoken by the Anal people in India and a dwindling number in Burma. It had 13,900 speakers in India according to the 2001 census, and 50 in Burma in 2010. The speakers of this language use Meitei language as their second language (L2) according to the Ethnologue. The Department of Language Planning and Implementation of the Government of Manipur offers a sum of inr 5000, to every individual who learns Anal language, under certain terms and conditions. Anal is also written in the Latin script, with a literacy rate of about 74%. Langet may be a dialect, though its position within Kukish is uncertain (Shafer 1955:106).

Geographical distribution

Anal is spoken in southeastern Manipur, in the Chandel district, on the banks of the Chakpi River in towns such as Chandel and Chakpikarong, and also in the Tengnoupal district (Ethnologue).

Phonology

Consonants

/dʒ/ can also be heard as a glide [j] in free variation.

Vowels

Vocabulary

The following vocabulary exemplifies words in the language.