Kho-Bwa languages

Last updated

Kho-Bwa
Kamengic
Bugunish
Geographic
distribution
Arunachal Pradesh
Linguistic classification Sino-Tibetan?
  • Kho-Bwa
Subdivisions
Language codes
Glottolog khob1235

The Kho-Bwa languages, also known as Kamengic, are a small family of languages, or pair of families, spoken in Arunachal Pradesh, northeast India. The name Kho-Bwa was originally proposed by George van Driem (2001). It is based on the reconstructed words *kho ("water") and *bwa ("fire"). Blench (2011) suggests the name Kamengic, from the Kameng area of Arunachal Pradesh. Alternatively, Anderson (2014) [1] refers to Kho-Bwa as Northeast Kamengic.

Contents

Both Van Driem and Blench group the Sherdukpen (or Mey), Lishpa (or Khispi), Chug (Duhumbi) and Sartang languages together. These form a language cluster and are clearly related. The pair of Sulung (or Puroik) and Khowa (or Bugun) languages are included in the family by Van Driem (2001) but provisionally treated as a second family by Blench (2024). [2]

These languages have traditionally been placed in the Tibeto-Burman group by the Linguistic Survey of India, but the justification of this is open to question.[ citation needed ] The languages have certainly been strongly influenced by the neighboring Sino-Tibetan languages, but this does not necessarily imply genetic unity and may possibly be a purely areal effect. [3]

The entire language family has about 15,000 speakers (including Puroik) or about 10,000 speakers (excluding Puroik), according to estimates made during the 2000s.

Word lists and sociolinguistic surveys of Kho-Bwa languages have also been conducted by Abraham, et al. (2018).

Classification

The internal structure of the Kho-Bwa group of languages is as follows. [2] The similarities between Puroik–Bugun and Sherdukpen/Mey are sporadic and may be due to contact. Lieberherr (2015) considers Puroik to be a Tibeto-Burman language, which would imply that at least Bugun is as well.

Blench & Post (2024) [2]

Lieberherr & Bodt (2017)

Lieberherr & Bodt (2017) [4] consider Puroik to be a Kho-Bwa language, and classify the Kho-Bwa languages as follows.

Tresoldi et al. (2022)

Based on computational phylogenetic analyses from Tresoldi et al. (2022), the phylogenetic tree of Kho-Bwa is roughly as follows: [5]

  • Kho-Bwa
    • Western
      • Duhumbi–Khispi (Chug–Lish): Duhumbi (Chug), Khispi (Lish)
      • MeySartang : Shergaon, Rupa, Jerigaon, Khoina, Rahung, Khoitam
    • Bugun
      • A
        • Bulu, Rawa, Kojo Rojo
        • Sario Saria, Lasumpatte, Chayangtajo
      • B
        • Namphri, Kaspi
        • Wangho, Dikhyang
        • Singchaung, Bichom

Vocabulary

The following table of Kho-Bwa basic vocabulary items is from Blench (2015). [6]

Gloss Mey (Shergaon) Mey (Rupa) Sartang (Jergaon) Sartang (Rahung) Lish (Khispi) Chug (Duhumbi)
onehǎnhanhènhânhinhin
twoɲǐtɲiknìkɲesniʃ
threeùŋùŋùúnʔumom
fourpʰʃìbsipsìpʰəhipsi
fivekʰùkʰukʰùkʰukʰakʰa
sixʧùkkitʧìkʨěyʧʰuʔʧyk
sevenʃìtsitsìksǐ, sěʃishis
eightsàʤátsarʤatsàrgèsàrʤɛ́saɾgeʔsaɾgeʔ
ninetʰkʰídʰikʰitʰkʰìtɛ̀kʰɯ́ṱʰikʰuṱʰikʰu
tensɔ̀ ̃sã̀ʃanʃan
headkʰrukkʰrukkʰrǔkkʰruʔkʰoloʔkʰloʔ
nosenupʰuŋnəfuŋnfùŋapʰuŋhempoŋheŋpʰoŋ
eyekhibikivikábìkʰaʔbykʰumukʰum
earkʰtùŋgtʰiŋgtʰìŋktèíŋkʰutʰuŋkʰutʰuŋ
tonguelaphõlapon ?leloiloi
toothnuthuŋtokʧemísìŋnitʰiŋʃiŋtuŋhintuŋ
armikikìkikhuhut
leglaponlɛ̌lɛ̌leilai
bellyʃrìŋsliŋsrìŋsriŋhiɲiŋhiliŋ
boneskìkskikàhíkskikʃukuʃʃukuʃ
bloodha(a)hɛ̀hahoihoi
facedòŋpùbomizə̀ídoʔdoŋpa
toothntùŋtokʧemísìŋptə̀íŋʃiŋtuŋhintuŋ
stomachàlàkarbuʧàkphriŋhiɲiŋhiliŋ
mouthʧàwnəʧawsoʨʨǒhoʧokkʰoʧu
rainʧuumaniminʧʰùʧuʧubanamunamu

See also

Further reading

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. Anderson, Gregory D.S. 2014. On the classification of the Hruso (Aka) language. Paper presented at the 20th Himalayan Languages Symposium, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
  2. 1 2 3 Roger Blench & Mark Post (ms, 2024) (De)Classifying Arunachal Languages: Reconsidering the Evidence, p. 48.
  3. Blench (2011): "Certainly, the phonology and morphology of Arunachali languages looks superficially like Tibeto-Burman, which explains their placing in the Linguistic Survey of India. Unfortunately, this is rather where matters have remained [... this paper] proposes we should take seriously the underlying presumption probably implied in Konow's statement in Linguistic Survey of India. Volume III, 1, Tibeto-Burman family, Calcutta (1909:572)], that these languages may not be Sino-Tibetan but simply have been influenced by it; that they are language isolates."
  4. Lieberherr, Ismael; Bodt, Timotheus Adrianus. 2017. Sub-grouping Kho-Bwa based on shared core vocabulary. In Himalayan Linguistics, 16(2).
  5. Tiago Tresoldi; Christoph Rzymski; Robert Forkel; Simon J. Greenhill; Johann-Mattis List; Russell D. Gray (2022). "Managing Historical Linguistic Data for Computational Phylogenetics and Computer-Assisted Language Comparison". The Open Handbook of Linguistic Data Management. The MIT Press. pp. 345–354. doi:10.7551/mitpress/12200.003.0033. ISBN   978-0-262-36607-6.
  6. Blench, Roger. 2015. The Mey languages and their classification. Presentation given at the University of Sydney, 21 August 2015.