Kho-Bwa languages

Last updated

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

The Kho-Bwa languages, also known as Kamengic, are a small family of languages 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 Sulung (or Puroik) and Khowa (or Bugun) languages are included in the family by Van Driem (2001) but provisionally treated as language isolates, with no demonstrated genetic relationship to Kamengic, by Blench (2023). [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.[ citation needed ]

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)
      • Mey–Sartang : 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
twoɲǐtɲiknìkněɲesniʃ
threeùŋuŋùŋùúnʔumom
fourpʰʃìbsisìpsìpʰəhipsi
fivekʰùkʰukʰùkʰukʰakʰa
sixʧùkkitʧìkʨěyʧʰuʔʧyk
sevenʃìtsitsìksǐ, sěʃishis
eightsàʤátsarʤatsàrgèsàrʤɛ́saɾgeʔsaɾgeʔ
ninetʰkʰídʰikʰitʰkʰìtɛ̀kʰɯ́ṱʰikʰuṱʰikʰu
tensɔ̀ ̃sõsã̀sɔʃanʃan
headkʰrukkʰrukkʰrǔkkʰruʔkʰoloʔkʰloʔ
nosenupʰuŋnəfuŋnfùŋapʰuŋhempoŋheŋpʰoŋ
eyekhibikivikábìkʰaʔbykʰumukʰum
earkʰtùŋgtʰiŋgtʰìŋktèíŋkʰutʰuŋkʰutʰuŋ
tonguelaphõlapon ?leloiloi
toothnuthuŋtokʧemísìŋnitʰiŋʃiŋtuŋhintuŋ
armikikìkikhuhut
leglàlaponlɛ̌lɛ̌leilai
bellyʃrìŋsliŋsrìŋsriŋhiɲiŋhiliŋ
boneskìkskikàhíkskikʃukuʃʃukuʃ
bloodhàha(a)hɛ̀hahoihoi
facedòŋpùbomizə̀ídoʔdoŋpa
toothntùŋtokʧemísìŋptə̀íŋʃiŋtuŋhintuŋ
stomachàlàkarbuʧàkphriŋhiɲiŋhiliŋ
mouthʧàwnəʧawsoʨʨǒhoʧokkʰoʧu
rainʧuumaniminʧʰùʧuʧubanamunamu

See also

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monpa people</span> Major tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, India

The Monpa is a major tribe of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India. The Tawang Monpas have a migration history from Changrelung. The Monpa are believed to be the only nomadic tribe in Northeast India – they are totally dependent on animals like sheep, cow, yak, goats and horses. The Monpa have a very close affinity with the Sharchops of Bhutan.

The Buguns are one of the earliest recognized schedule tribe of India, majority of them, inhabiting the Singchung Sub-Division of West Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh. Buguns live in several exogamous clans. Traditionally, the predominant occupation was agriculture, supported with other allied activities like fishing and hunting, cattle rearing etc. Buguns have their own folklores, songs, dances, music and rituals. A rare bird, the Bugun liocichla, was named after the tribe.

The Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh has a total population of roughly 1.4 million on an area of 84,000 km2, amounting to a population density of about 17 pop./km2. The "indigenous groups" account for about two thirds of population, while immigrants, mostly of Bengali/Hindi belt origin, account for the remaining third.

Tani, is a branch of Tibeto-Burman languages spoken mostly in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and neighboring regions.

Tshangla is a Sino-Tibetan language of the Bodish branch closely related to the Tibetic languages. Tshangla is primarily spoken in Eastern Bhutan and acts as a lingua franca in the region; it is also spoken in the adjoining Tawang tract in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and the Pemako region of Tibet. Tshangla is the principal pre-Tibetan language of Bhutan.

The Hrusish or Southeast Kamengic languages possibly constitute a Sino-Tibetan branch in Arunachal Pradesh, northeast India. They are Hruso (Aka) and Mijiic. In Glottolog, Hammarström, et al. does not accept Hrusish, and considers similarities between Hruso and Miji to be due to loanwords.

The East Bodish languages are a small group of non-Tibetic Bodish languages spoken in eastern Bhutan and adjacent areas of Tibet and India. They include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tibeto-Burman languages</span> Group of the Sino-Tibetan language family

The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non-Sinitic members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken throughout the Southeast Asian Massif ("Zomia") as well as parts of East Asia and South Asia. Around 60 million people speak Tibeto-Burman languages. The name derives from the most widely spoken of these languages, Burmese and the Tibetic languages, which also have extensive literary traditions, dating from the 12th and 7th centuries respectively. Most of the other languages are spoken by much smaller communities, and many of them have not been described in detail.

Proto-Tibeto-Burman is the reconstructed ancestor of the Tibeto-Burman languages, that is, the Sino-Tibetan languages, except for Chinese. An initial reconstruction was produced by Paul K. Benedict and since refined by James Matisoff. Several other researchers argue that the Tibeto-Burman languages sans Chinese do not constitute a monophyletic group within Sino-Tibetan, and therefore that Proto-Tibeto-Burman was the same language as Proto-Sino-Tibetan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ʼOle language</span> Sino-Tibetan language of western Buhtan

ʼOle, also called ʼOlekha or Black Mountain Monpa, is possibly a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by about 1,000 people in the Black Mountains of Wangdue Phodrang and Trongsa Districts in western Bhutan. The term ʼOle refers to a clan of speakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Takpa language</span> Bodish language spoken in Tibet and Bhutan

The Takpa or Dakpa language, Dakpakha, known in India as Tawang Monpa, also known as Brami in Bhutan, is an East Bodish language spoken in the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh, and in northern Trashigang District in eastern Bhutan, mainly in Kyaleng, Phongmed Gewog, Dangpholeng and Lengkhar near Radi Gewog. Van Driem (2001) describes Takpa as the most divergent of Bhutan's East Bodish languages, though it shares many similarities with Bumthang. SIL reports that Takpa may be a dialect of the Brokpa language and that it been influenced by the Dzala language whereas Brokpa has not.

Bugun, also known as Khowa, is a small possible language isolate spoken in Arunachal Pradesh state of India by the Bugun. They numbered about 1,700 in 2011.

The Puroik language is a possible language isolate spoken by the Puroik people of Arunachal Pradesh in India and of Lhünzê County, Tibet, in China.

Sherdukpen is a small language of India. It is one of the Kho-Bwa languages. There are two distinct varieties, Mey of Shergaon and Mey of Rupa. The name Sherdukpen comes from the words Shergaon and Tukpen. The language is known to speakers as Mey nyuk.

Lish is a Kho-Bwa language of West Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh in India. It is closely related to Chug.

Miji, also given the dialect names Sajolang and Dhammai, is a dialect cluster traditionally counted as one of the Sino-Tibetan languages that is spoken in Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India. The varieties are not particularly close, with only half of the vocabulary in common between the languages of East Kameng District and West Kameng District. Long assumed to be Sino-Tibetan languages, Miji and the recently discovered Bangru language may instead form a small independent language family.

Bangru, also known as Ləvai (Ləwjɛ) and occasionally as Northern Miji is a language spoken in Sarli Circle, northern Kurung Kumey District by 1,500 people. Long unclassified due to poor documentation, it turns out to be related to the Miji languages.

Chug is a Kho-Bwa language of West Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh in India. It is closely related to Lish.

Sartang is a small language of India. It is one of the Kho-Bwa languages, closest to Sherdukpen. Varieties include Sartang of Jergaon and Sartang of Rahung.

Arunachal languages are various languages in Arunachal Pradesh, India traditionally classified as Sino-Tibetan languages, but that may be language isolates and independent language families according to some scholars. Blench (2011) proposed four language isolates and three independent families. However, this is disputed by Anderson (2014) and others, who consider them to be primary branches of Sino-Tibetan rather than as isolates or independent language phyla.

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. ↑ What is the evidence that the isolate languages of Arunachal Pradesh are genuinely Trans-Himalayan?
  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.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.