Dialect Profiles

Zomi‑Syl supports multiple dialect profiles representing the major mutually intelligible varieties of the Zomi language.
Each profile defines:

  • onsets
  • nuclei
  • codas
  • syllable rules
  • tone behavior (if applicable)
  • normalization rules

Profiles live in:

src/zomi_syl/profiles/

Each profile contains:

onsets.json
nuclei.json
codas.json
vowels.json
rules.json
profile.json

These files collectively define the phonotactic constraints for that dialect.

📜 Supported Dialects

Zomi‑Syl v0.1.0 includes profiles for the following dialects and varieties:

ISO‑coded varieties

These correspond to historically fragmented ISO 639‑3 codes but are mutually intelligible Zomi varieties:

  • csy — Siyin
  • ctd — Tedim
  • gnb — Gangte
  • kmm — Kom Rem
  • pck — Paite
  • vap — Vaiphei
  • smt — Simte
  • tcz — Thado / Thadou
  • zom — Zo / Zou

Other Zomi varieties

These are widely recognized Zomi groups not represented by ISO codes:

  • Mate
  • Thangkhal

Composite / practical profiles

These represent broader usage patterns:

  • India Zomi
  • Myanmar Zomi
  • Zolai Standard (orthographic standard)

📁 Profile Directory Structure

Example: Tedim profile

src/zomi_syl/profiles/tedim/
    onsets.json
    nuclei.json
    codas.json
    vowels.json
    rules.json
    profile.json

🔍 Listing Available Profiles

Use the CLI:

zomi-syl profiles list

Example output:

tedim
paite
myanmar_zomi
india_zomi
zolai_standard
...

ℹ️ Viewing Profile Details

zomi-syl profiles info tedim

This shows:

  • dialect name
  • description
  • phonotactic inventory
  • rule count
  • version
  • backend compatibility

🧩 Using a Specific Profile

You can specify a profile for any syllabification command.

CLI

zomi-syl syllabify itna --profile paite

Python API

import zomi_syl as zs

zs.syllabify("itna", profile="paite")

🧠 Why Profiles Matter

Different Zomi varieties have small but meaningful differences:

  • vowel length
  • diphthong inventory
  • coda restrictions
  • tone behavior
  • orthographic conventions
  • cluster permissibility

Profiles allow Zomi‑Syl to:

  • adapt syllabification to dialect norms
  • maintain consistency across corpora
  • support linguistic research
  • enable dialect‑specific evaluation

🛠 Creating or Extending Profiles

To create a new profile:

  1. Copy an existing profile folder
  2. Edit profile.json (metadata)
  3. Update phonotactic files (onsets.json, nuclei.json, etc.)
  4. Add or modify rules in rules.json
  5. Validate:
zomi-syl profiles validate my_new_profile

See: Adding New Backends
See: Developer Documentation

Next Steps

  • Install the library: Installation
  • Try the CLI: Top‑Level Commands
  • Benchmark backends: Benchmarking Guide
  • Add your own backend: Adding New Backends