Tani refers to a compact cluster of Tibeto-Burman languages situated at the eastern end of the Himalayas, in an area skirted on four sides by Tibet, Assam, Bhutan, and Burma. Tani languages are spoken by about 600,000 aborigines of Arunachal Pradesh and northern Assam, including the Adi (many sub-tribes), Nyishi-Bangni, Hill Miri, Tagin, and Apatani tribes of East Kameng, Lower Subansiri, Upper Subansiri, West Siang, East Siang, and the Dibang Valley districts of Arunachal Pradesh, as well as the Mishing people of Assam. In Arunachal Pradesh alone the Tani-speaking area covers some 40,000 square kilometers, or roughly half the size of the state. Scattered Tani communities spill over the Sino-Indian border into adjacent areas in Motuo (Miguba and Misinba tribes), Milin (Bokar and Tagin tribes), and Longzi (Bengni, Na, Bayi, Dazu, and Mara tribes) counties of Tibet, where together with the non-Tani tribe Idu they form the Lhoba nationality. Tani languages constitute a distinct branch in Tibeto-Burman. Their closest relatives appear to be their eastern neighbors the Digarish (Taraon and Idu) languages.
