Tani languages

Last updated

Tani
Miric
Geographic
distribution		 Arunachal Pradesh
Linguistic classification Sino-Tibetan
Subdivisions
  • Eastern (Adi and Mising)
  • Western (Apatani, Galo, Nishi and Tagin)
Language codes
Glottolog tani1259

The Tani language, often referred to as Tani languages, encompasses a group of closely related languages spoken by the Tani people in the northeastern region of India, primarily in the state of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. These languages belong to the Sino-Tibetan family and include several major dialects such as Nyishi, Galo, Apatani, Adi, Tagin, and Mising.

Contents

Background

The Tani languages are spoken by about 2,170,500 people of Arunachal Pradesh, including the Adi, Apatani, Galo, Mising, Nyishi, Tagin, and of the East Kameng, West Kameng, Papumpare, Lower Subansiri, Upper Subansiri, West Siang, East Siang, Upper Siang, Lower Dibang Valley and Lohit districts of Arunachal Pradesh and Dhemaji, North Lakhimpur, Sonitpur, Majuli etc. districts of Assam. In Arunachal Pradesh alone the Tani-speaking area covers some 40,000 square kilometers, or roughly half the size of the state. Scattered Tani communities spill over the Sino-Indian border into adjacent areas in Mêdog (Miguba people), Mainling (Bokar and Tagin peoples), and Lhünzê (Bangni, Na, Bayi, Dazu, and Mara peoples) counties of Tibet.

The name Tani was originally suggested by Jackson Tianshin Sun in his 1993 doctoral dissertation. [1]

Classification

The Tani languages are conservatively classified as a distinct branch in Sino-Tibetan. Their closest relatives may be their eastern neighbors the Digaro languages, Taraon and Idu; this was first suggested by Sun (1993), but a relationship has not yet been systematically demonstrated. Blench (2014) suggests that Tani has a Greater Siangic substratum, with the Greater Siangic languages being a non-Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of Idu-Taraon and Siangic languages.

Mark Post (2015) [2] observes that Tani typologically fits into the Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area, which typically has creoloid morphosyntactic patterns, [3] rather than with the languages of the Tibetosphere. Post (2015) also notes that Tani culture is similar to those of Mainland Southeast Asian hill tribe cultures, and is not particularly adapted to cold montane environments.

A provisional classification in Sun (1993), who argued that Tani is a primary branch of Tibeto-Burman (within Sino-Tibetan), is:

To Eastern Tani, van Driem (2008) [4] adds the following possible languages:

Tangam

Milang has traditionally been classified as a divergent Tani language, but in 2011 was tentatively reclassified as Siangic (Post & Blench 2011).

Proto-Tani was partially reconstructed by Sun (1993). A large number of reconstructed roots have cognates in other Sino-Tibetan languages. However, a great deal of Proto-Tani vocabulary have no cognates within Sino-Tibetan (Post 2011), and most Tani grammar seems to be secondary, without cognates in grammatically conservative Sino-Tibetan languages such as Jingpho or the Kiranti languages (Post 2006). Post (2012) [5] suggests that Apatani and Milang have non-Tani substrata, and that as early Tani languages had expanded deeper into Arunachal Pradesh, mixing with non-Tani languages occurred.

Mark Post (2013) [6] proposes the following revised classification for the Tani languages.

The undocumented Ashing language presumably belongs here.

However, Macario (2015) notes that many Apatani words are closer to reconstructions of Proto-Tibeto-Burman (Matisoff 2003) than to Proto-Tani (Sun 1993). Possible explanations include Apatani having a substratum belonging to an extinct Tibeto-Burman branch or language phylum, or linguistic variation in Proto-Tani. [7]

Isoglosses

Sun (1993: 254-255) lists the following 25 lexical isoglosses between Western Tani and Eastern Tani.

GlossProto-Western TaniProto-Eastern Tani
urine*sum*si
blind*mik-čiŋ*mik-maŋ
mouth*gam*nap-paŋ
nose*ñV-pum*ñV-buŋ
wind (n.)*rji*sar
rain (n.)*mV-doŋ*pV-doŋ
thunder*doŋ-gum*doŋ-mɯr
lightning*doŋ-rjak*ja-ri
fish*ŋo-i*a-ŋo
tiger*paŋ-tə*mjo/mro
root*m(j)a*pɯr
old man*mi-kam*mi-ǰiŋ
village*nam-pom*duŋ-luŋ
granary*nam-suŋ*kjum-suŋ
year*ñiŋ*tak
sell*pruk*ko
breath*sak*ŋa
ferry/cross*rap*koŋ
arrive*-ki*pɯŋ
say/speak*ban±man*lu
rich*mi-tə~mi-ta*mi-rem
soft*ñi-mjak*rə-mjak
drunk*kjum-
back (adv.)*-kur*lat²
ten*čam*rjɯŋ

Unified writing script

'Tani Lipi' in a new alphabet for Tani languages. Shukla Tani Lipi.svg
'Tani Lipi' in a new alphabet for Tani languages.

A new alphabetical writing system for Tani languages was invented by Tony Koyu, a social scientist from Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh. It was first presented at a seminar at the North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology at Nirjuli, Arunachal Pradesh in November 2001. It is not related to any other writing system, but some of the letters are similar to Bengali or Latin letters. [8]

This script however has also received significant criticism. One major point of contention is the claim that it is not truly indigenous but rather heavily derived from the Devanagari script. Critics argue that its very name, "Lipi," is a Hindi term, which casts doubt on its authenticity as an original script. Additionally, Tani Lipi does not account for the tonal nature of the Tani languages, which is a critical feature for accurate representation and pronunciation. [9] [10]

Furthermore, Tani Lipi is often criticized for its limited applicability, as it primarily suits the Galo language, that too only in limited settings and does not adequately serve the diverse Tani linguistic group. [11] [12] This limitation hinders its broader acceptance and usefulness across the different Tani-speaking communities. These criticisms underscore the challenges in creating a unifying script for a linguistically diverse group while ensuring it retains cultural authenticity and practical utility. [13] [14]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Sun, Tianshin Jackson, 1993. A Historical–Comparative Study of the Tani (Mirish) Branch in Tibeto-Burman. Berkeley, University of California PhD Dissertation.
  2. ↑ Post, M. W. 2015. ‘Morphosyntactic reconstruction in an areal-historical context: A pre-historical relationship between North East India and Mainland Southeast Asia?’ In N. J. Enfield and B. Comrie, Eds. Languages of Mainland Southeast Asia: The State of the Art. Berlin, Mouton de Gruyter: 205 – 261.
  3. ↑ McWhorter, John H. 2007. Language Interrupted: Signs of non-native acquisition in standard language grammars. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  4. ↑ van Driem, George (2008). "The Naga Language Groups within the Tibeto- Burman Language Family" (PDF). In Oppitz, Michael; Kaiser, Thomas; von Stockhausen, Alban; Wettstein, Marion (eds.). Naga Identities: Changing Local Cultures in the Northeast of India. Benteli. pp. 311–321. ISBN   978-90-5349-680-0. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 April 2016.
  5. ↑ Post, Mark. 2012. Morphological typology, North East India and Mainland Southeast Asia . Mainland Southeast Asian Languages: The State of the Art in 2012. Workshop held at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.
  6. ↑ Post, Mark W. (2013). Defoliating the Tani Stammbaum: An exercise in areal linguistics. Paper presented at the 13th Himalayan Languages Symposium. Canberra, Australian National University, Aug 9.
  7. ↑ Macario, Macario (2015). Konnerth, Linda; Morey, Stephen; Sarmah, Priyankoo; Teo, Amos (eds.). North East Indian Linguistics. Vol. 7. Canberra: Asia-Pacific Linguistics, Australian National University. pp. 213–233. hdl:1885/95392. ISBN   9781922185273.
  8. ↑ "Tani Lipi". Omniglot.com. 10 August 2021.
  9. ↑ Unknown (7 February 2013). "Mishing Renaissance: Troubles in the Tani-Lipi". Mishing Renaissance. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  10. ↑ Barbora, Madhumita; Post, Mark (2008), Post, Mark; Morey, Stephen (eds.), "Quest for a Script", North East Indian Linguistics, Foundation Books, pp. 255–270, doi:10.1017/upo9788175968431.017, ISBN   978-81-7596-843-1 , retrieved 1 June 2024
  11. ↑ "Daily Current Affairs on Tangams: A little-known community of Arunachal Pradesh for UPSC Civil Services Examination (General Studies) Preparation". abhipedia.abhimanu.com. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  12. ↑ nelitreview. "Tumter Riba". Tumblr. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  13. ↑ Unknown (21 January 2013). "Nending Ommo [nẽndĩ́ ommò]: The Quintessence of Apatani Language (Prelude)". Nending Ommo [nẽndĩ́ ommò]. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  14. ↑ Modi, Yankee. "Towards an understanding of language distribution in the Tani area: Social organization, expansion and migration". (2015) in Mark W. Post, Stephen Morey and Scott DeLancey (Eds.) Language and Culture in Northeast India and Beyond: In Honor of Robbins Burling. Canberra, Asia-Pacific Linguistics: 245-264.

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The Tani people refers to the Adi, Apatani, Galo, Mising, Nyishi and Tagin people of India and China. They are part of the Sino-Tibetan ethnic group. Sharing common beliefs and ancestries, they speak various Tani languages and reside in the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, as well as the Tibet Autonomous Region in China.

The Galo language is a Sino-Tibetan language of the Tani group, spoken by the Galo people. Its precise position within Tani is not yet certain, primarily because of its central location in the Tani area and the strong effects of intra-Tani contacts on the development of Tani languages. It is an endangered language according to the general definitions, but prospects for its survival are better than many similarly-placed languages in the world.

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References

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