Paite is a Sino-Tibetan language belonging to the northeastern sub-branch of Kuki-Chin branch. It is spoken by the Paite people in India and Tedim Chins in Myanmar. There are different Paite dialects; some notable Paite dialects are Bukpi, Lousau, Valpau, Dapzal, Tuichiap, Sukte, Dim, Lamzang and Sihzang. The language exhibits mutual intelligibility with the other languages of the region including Thadou, Hmar, Vaiphei, Simte, Kom, Gangte and other languages.

The term Paithe originated in the Lushai Hills region. The Lushais used terms Pai or Poi to refer to central and southern Chin tribes, who tie their hair up. Paithe is said to be the plural of Pai. The Paite themselves did not accept the term originally, but in 1948, the Paite National Council was formed to obtain the recognition of Paites as a Scheduled Tribe in India. Thus the term came to be accepted.

Paite has also the meaning of "people on the move".

There are still unofficial ways to write tones ( for example, accent marks/diacritics). However, these other ways to write tones are not commonly used.

Paite has 6 monophthongs (a /a/, e /e/, i /i/, u /u/, o /o/, aw /ɔ/) and has 11 diphthongs (ai /ai/, au /au/, ei /ei/, eu /eu/, ia /ia/, iu /iu/, oi /oi/, ou /ou/, ua /ua/, ui /ui/, and yai /jai/). Consonants consist of s, k, l, m, n, ŋ (ng), b, dʒ (j), d, f, g, h, p, r, t, v, and z.

The following is a sample text in Paite of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

There are two major dialects of Paite spoken in Manipur: Lamjang and Dapjal; and 4 minor dialects which are Songtal, Bukpi, Lousau & Kangkap.

Paite is spoken mainly in the following locations (Ethnologue).