Khasic languages

Last updated
Khasic
Geographic
distribution
India, Bangladesh
Linguistic classification Austroasiatic
Proto-languageProto-Khasic
Glottolog khas1268
Khasic Map.png
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.

Contents

Languages

Sidwell (2018: 27–31) classifies the Khasian languages as follows.

Varieties called Bhoi are dialects of both Pnar and Khasi.

External relationships

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).

GlossProto-Khasian
(Sidwell 2018)
Proto-Palaungic
(Sidwell 2015) [1]
blood*snaːm*snaːm
claw/nail*trʧʰiːm*rənsiːm
hair*sɲuʔ*ɲuk
man/husbandtrmɛ (Amwi)*-meʔ
rain*slap;
slɛ (Amwi)
*clɛʔ
swim*ɟŋiː*ŋɔj
two*ʔaːr*ləʔaːr
water*ʔum*ʔoːm

Lexical innovations

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 glossProto-Khasian Lyngngam Maram Khasi Pnar Mnar War
cooked rice*ʤaːʥaʤaja /ʤaː/ʤaciʧi
moon*bnəːjbnibnebnai /bnaːi/bnajpnipnʊ
to sing*rwəːjrəŋwirwejrwái /rwaːi/rwajrvʊ
four*saːwsawsawsáw /saːw/sosɔuria
river*waʔwaɁwah /waːʔ/waɁwaɁwaɁ
all*barɔɁprokbarɔʔbaroh /barɔːʔ/warɔʔbərɒʔ
pig*sniaŋsɲaŋsniaŋsniang /sniaŋ/sniaŋcʰɲaŋrniŋ
sand*ʧʔiapʥʔepʧiʔɛpshyiap /ʃʔiap/ʧʔiapʃʔipʃʔiap
to drink*di:ʔ/cdecdɔcdih /diːʔ/diʔdeʔdeʔ
flower/star*kʰloːrkʰlorkʰlɔrkhlúr /kʰloːr/kʰlorkhlʊə
tongue*tʰnləːctəloctʰl̩letthyllied /tʰɨlleːc/tʰl̩leɟkʰlutkʰlit
ice/freeze*tʰaʔtʰaʔtʰaʔthah /tʰaːʔ/tʰaʔtʰaʔtʰaʔ

Reconstruction

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).

Personal pronouns
MasculineFemininePlural
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
Demonstratives
Negators
Prepositions/case markers
Tense/aspect morphemes
Morphological affixes
Numerals
GlossProto-KhasianProto-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

Sound changes

Sidwell (2018) lists the following sound changes from Pre-Khasian (i.e., the ancestral stage of Khasian that preceded Proto-Khasian) to Proto-Khasian.

See also

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References