Tiwa
/ˈtiːwə/noun
Tiwa is the name of an Indigenous ethnic group and the language spoken by many of its members in Assam and Meghalaya, India.
Did you know?Tiwa was historically also associated with the exonym “Lalung,” while many community members prefer the self-designation Tiwa; scholars do not have a securely established ancient root for the name.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial period
Tiwa
Tiwa
“Indigenous self-designation of the Tiwa people; the deeper word origin is not securely established.”
18th Century
Assamese
তিৱা (Tiwā)
“The ethnonym used in Assamese records and regional usage for the Tiwa people.”
19th Century
English
Lalung
“A colonial-era English exonym commonly applied to the Tiwa people and their language.”
20th Century
English
Tiwa
“The ethnonym and name of the Tibeto-Burman language increasingly used in scholarship and by the community.”
Modern English
English
Tiwa
“A proper noun referring to the Tiwa people, their language, or related cultural identity.”