Kherwarian languages

Kherwarian
Geographic distribution	India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan
Linguistic classification	Austroasiatic Munda North Munda Kherwarian
Proto-language	Proto-Kherwarian
Subdivisions	Santalic Mundaric
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	kher1245
Approximate locations and distribution of the Kherwarian languages

The Kherwarian languages consist of non-Korku North Munda languages that are mainly spoken in Eastern Indian states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and neighboring countries of Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan. Together, Korku and the Kherwarian language continuum form the conventional North Munda branch of the Austroasiatic language family. ^{[1] [2]}

The Dravidian-speaking Kurukh people in Ranchi suburbs have adopted a creolized dialect of Kherwarian Mundari called Keraʔ Mundari. Its verbal morphology is less complex than an average Austroasiatic Kherwarian language. ^{[3] [4]}

Typology

Vowel harmony in Kherwarian affixes yields some differences depending on the nature of the vowel of the verb stem, while others do not. There are harmonic and non-harmonic affixes. In phonological lexical words, disyllables have certain vowel restrictions.

Stress is fixedly released at the second syllable. LH (weak-strong) prosodic word pattern is pervasive even in morphological words. Unlike Korku, the Kherwarian languages lack phonemic tones, giving a good reason for the Korku-Kherwarian classification of North Munda.

Like many other Munda languages, the Kherwarian languages are pronominalized languages with complex verbal agreement systems. Encoding double- and triple agreements with a third argument or non-argument are possible, and indexation of the third argument usually involves a possessor.

1). Ho

sab-ke-d-kin-a=le

catch.hold.of-AOR-TR-3DU.OBJ-FIN=1PL.SUBJ

sab-ke-d-kin-a=le

catch.hold.of-AOR-TR-3DU.OBJ-FIN=1PL.SUBJ

'we seized them two'

2). Santali

hɔpɔn=e

son=3SG.SUBJ.M

idi-ke-d-e-tiŋ-a

take.away-AOR-TR-3SG.OBJ-POSS.1SG-FIN

hɔpɔn=e idi-ke-d-e-tiŋ-a

son=3SG.SUBJ.M take.away-AOR-TR-3SG.OBJ-POSS.1SG-FIN

'he took away my son'

3). Ho (Mayurbhanj dialect)

tʄa=n

tea=1

em-a-ɲ-me

give-BEN-1-2

tʄa=n em-a-ɲ-me

tea=1 give-BEN-1-2

'give me tea'

Innovations

Low-level subgroup innovations of the Kherwarian languages include:

• Active voice *-ˀt
• Causative -ocho & -rika

Languages

• Santali
  • Mahali
  • Karmali
• Mundari
  • Keraʔ Mundari (Kurukh creole)
• Ho
• Koda
• Korwa
• Koraku
• Kol
• Asuri
• Bhumij
• Turi
• Birhor
• Bijori?
• Agariya?

References

1. Sidwell & Rau (2014), p. 196.
2. Anderson, Osada & Harrison (2008), p. 365.
3. Kobayashi & Murmu (2008), p. 165-166.
4. Kobayashi & Tirkey (2017), p. 4.

• Jora, Bikram; Anderson, Gregory D. S. (2020). "Proto-Kherwarian Negation, TAM and Person-Indexing Interdependencies". In Jenny, Mathias; Sidwell, Paul; Alves, Mark (eds.). Austroasiatic Syntax in Areal and Diachronic Perspective. Brill. pp. 236–257. doi:10.1163/9789004425606_008.
• Osada, Toshiki (1996). "Notes on the Proto-Kherwarian vowel system". Indo-Iranian Journal. 39: 245–258. doi:10.1007/BF00161864.
• Osada, Toshiki (2008). "Mundari". The Munda Languages. New York: Routledge. pp. 99–164. ISBN   0-415-32890-X.
• Kobayashi, Masato; Murmu, Ganesh (2008). "Keraʔ Mundari". The Munda Languages. New York: Routledge. pp. 165–194. ISBN   0-415-32890-X.
• Anderson, Gregory D. S.; Osada, Toshiki; Harrison, K. David (2008). "Ho and The Other Kherwarian Languages". The Munda Languages. New York: Routledge. pp. 195–255. ISBN   0-415-32890-X.
• Sidwell, Paul; Rau, Felix (2014). "Austroasiatic Comparative-Historical Reconstruction: An Overview". In Jenny, Mathias; Sidwell, Paul (eds.). The Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages. Leiden: Brill. pp. 221–363. ISBN   978-90-04-28295-7.
• Kobayashi, Masato; Tirkey, Bablu (2017). The Kurux Language: Grammar, Texts and Lexicon. Brill. ISBN   9789004347663.