Khasic | |
---|---|
Geographic distribution | India, Bangladesh |
Linguistic classification | Austroasiatic
|
Proto-language | Proto-Khasic |
Glottolog | khas1268 |
![]() Map of the Khasic languages |
The Khasic or Khasian languages are a family of Austroasiatic languages native to the Shillong Plateau, spoken in the northeastern Indian state Meghalaya and neighbouring areas of Bangladesh, spoken by the Khasi people.
Sidwell (2018: 27–31) classifies the Khasian languages as follows.
Varieties called Bhoi are dialects of both Pnar and Khasi.
Paul Sidwell (2011) suggests that Khasian is closely related to Palaungic, forming a Khasi–Palaungic branch.
The following eight Khasian-Palaungic isoglosses have been identified by Sidwell (2018: 32).
Gloss | Proto-Khasian (Sidwell 2018) | Proto-Palaungic (Sidwell 2015) [1] |
---|---|---|
blood | *snaːm | *snaːm |
claw/nail | *trʧʰiːm | *rənsiːm |
hair | *sɲuʔ | *ɲuk |
man/husband | trmɛ (Amwi) | *-meʔ |
rain | *slap; slɛ (Amwi) | *clɛʔ |
swim | *ɟŋiː | *ŋɔj |
two | *ʔaːr | *ləʔaːr |
water | *ʔum | *ʔoːm |
Sidwell (2018: 23) lists the following Khasian lexical innovations (i.e., defining lexical forms) that are found exclusively in the Khasian branch, but not in other Austroasiatic branches).
English gloss | Proto-Khasian | Lyngngam | Maram | Khasi | Pnar | Mnar | War |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
cooked rice | *ʤaː | ʥa | ʤa | ja /ʤaː/ | ʤa | ci | ʧi |
moon | *bnəːj | bni | bne | bnai /bnaːi/ | bnaj | pni | pnʊ |
to sing | *rwəːj | rəŋwi | rwej | rwái /rwaːi/ | rwaj | – | rvʊ |
four | *saːw | saw | saw | sáw /saːw/ | so | sɔu | ria |
river | *waʔ | – | waɁ | wah /waːʔ/ | waɁ | waɁ | waɁ |
all | *barɔɁ | prok | barɔʔ | baroh /barɔːʔ/ | warɔʔ | – | bərɒʔ |
pig | *sniaŋ | sɲaŋ | sniaŋ | sniang /sniaŋ/ | sniaŋ | cʰɲaŋ | rniŋ |
sand | *ʧʔiap | ʥʔep | ʧiʔɛp | shyiap /ʃʔiap/ | ʧʔiap | ʃʔip | ʃʔiap |
to drink | *di:ʔ/c | dec | dɔc | dih /diːʔ/ | diʔ | deʔ | deʔ |
flower/star | *kʰloːr | kʰlor | kʰlɔr | khlúr /kʰloːr/ | kʰlor | – | khlʊə |
tongue | *tʰnləːc | təloc | tʰl̩let | thyllied /tʰɨlleːc/ | tʰl̩leɟ | kʰlut | kʰlit |
ice/freeze | *tʰaʔ | tʰaʔ | tʰaʔ | thah /tʰaːʔ/ | tʰaʔ | tʰaʔ | tʰaʔ |
Proto-Khasian and Proto-Pnar-Khasi-Lyngngam have been reconstructed by Paul Sidwell (2018). Proto-Khasian is estimated to have originated about 2,000-2,500 years ago, with War splitting from other Khasian linguistic varieties about 1,500 years ago (Sidwell 2018: 20).
Proto-Khasian morphology includes a causative *pN- prefix and verbalizing *-r- infix (Sidwell 2018: 66-67).
The following reconstructed paradigmatic and closed class morphemes in Proto-Khasian are from Sidwell (2018: 51-67).
Masculine | Feminine | Plural | |
---|---|---|---|
1st person | *ŋa (topic/oblique); *ʔɔ (default) | *ŋa (topic/oblique); *ʔɔ (default) | *ʔi |
2nd person | *me | *pʰa | *pʰi |
3rd person (animate) | *ʔu | *ka | *ki |
3rd person (inanimate ~ diminutive) | *ʔi | *ʔi | *ʔi |
Gloss | Proto-Khasian | Proto-Pnar- Khasi-Lyngngam |
---|---|---|
one | *wiː~*miː | |
one | *ʧiː | |
two | *ʔaːr | |
three | *laːj | |
four | *saːw | |
five | *san | |
six | *tʰruː | |
seven | *ʰnɲəw | |
eight | *pʰraː | |
nine | *kʰndaːj | |
ten | *pʰəw |
Sidwell (2018) lists the following sound changes from Pre-Khasian (i.e., the ancestral stage of Khasian that preceded Proto-Khasian) to Proto-Khasian.
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Paul James Sidwell is an Australian linguist based in Canberra, Australia who has held research and lecturing positions at the Australian National University. Sidwell, who is also an expert and consultant in forensic linguistics, is most notable for his work on the historical linguistics of the Austroasiatic language family, and has published reconstructions of the Austroasiatic, Bahnaric, Katuic, Palaungic, Khasic, and Nicobaric proto-languages. Sidwell is currently the President of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (SEALS) and also regularly organises the International Conference on Austroasiatic Linguistics (ICAAL).
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