Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area - Volume 45, Issue 2, 2022

Kho-Bwa, Hrusish, Mishmic, Tani, and Tshangla are language clusters that have been recurrently proposed as subgroups of the Trans-Himalayan (also known as Tibeto-Burman and Sino-Tibetan) language family. Nonetheless, their internal classification, as well as the relation with each other and with other linguistic groups in the family, is hitherto unresolved. We use lexical data on these groups and dated phylogenies to investigate such internal classifications. We base our examination on previous research into the language family in the Tibet-Arunachal area, and follow a computer-assisted approach of language comparison to perform Bayesian phylolinguistic analysis. As earlier phylogenetic studies on this family included little data related to this geographic area, we took a subset of the best available dataset and extended it with vocabularies for the Kho-Bwa and Hrusish clusters, also including one Mishmic, two Tani, two Tshangla, and five East Bodish languages to cover the major languages and linguistic subgroups neighboring these clusters. Our results shed light on the internal and external classification of the Kho-Bwa, Hrusish and Bodish languages, and allow us to share valuable experience on the extent to which similar approaches can be applied to the phylogenetic analysis of the Trans-Himalayan language family.

There are four distinct forms conveying the meaning of ‘human, person, man’ across Gyalrongic languages. The default type (Japhug tɯ-rme), the rounded type (Khroskyabs vɟú), the Stau type (Geshiza vdzi) and the uvular type (Geletuo taˈʁap). Except for the default type, which has cognates in many other Sino-Tibetan languages, the origins of the other types are to date obscure and understudied. This paper first studies the phenomena of preinitial denasalisation and palatal fortition in the history of Khroskyabs, and then puts forward etymological solutions to the rounded and Stau types based on these sound changes. Both types are historical compounds with the first element related to the default type. The second element of the rounded type is cognate with Tangut lụʶ¹ ‘man’, and the second element of the Stau type is cognate with Proto-Loloish *tsaŋ¹ ‘man’ (Bradley 1979).

This paper looks at two closely related Tibeto-Burman languages of Nepal, Chepang and Bhujel, in relation to certain supra-segmental features they possess which are involved in the distinction of minimal pairs. Since these features include pitch and glottalisation, the possible phonemic analyses of these in terms of either a supra-segmental solution (tone) or a segmental one (glottal plosive) are discussed. Given the latter, a non-tonal analysis for the present state of these languages, and the possibilities of one or both of these becoming tonal languages in the future, are considered. Also, Chepang is unusual in possessing a whistled form of speech and the relation of this to the spoken language is described. These features are exemplified in the Appendices by waveforms, fundamental frequency (F0) contours and spectrogram illustrations, and also by sound files.

This paper discusses the cultural knowledge of Thadou-Kuki which constitutes one of the least explored genres of language use, with the hope that it will remain a source of information for future generation speakers and scholars. The paper provides examples of the vast pool of knowledge that lies underneath the traditional culture. It discusses two types of cultural knowledge in Thadou-Kuki, namely, material and oral culture transmitted from one generation of speakers to the other; these have not received the kind of attention that they deserve. The study shows how both material and oral culture are fast disappearing due to onslaughts from different quarters: the shift from traditional to a more sedentary lifestyle, the shift from traditional religion to Christianity, and finally the shift from traditional modes of entertainment to modern forms of entertainment. Many of the phenomena discussed in the paper apply to many of the other languages spoken in the hills of Northeast India, which are faced with similar threats.

The use of ནས་ -nas to mark cross-clausal co-reference in Version I of the Old Tibetan Rāmāyaṇa reveals accusative alignment in Tibetan syntax, which in turn vindicates the notion of ‘subject’ applied to Tibetan.

The Bodo-Garo group of languages consisting of Kāchārī or Bodo, Lālung (autonym Tiwa), Dīmā-sā, Gārō, Koch, Rābhā, Tipurā (autonym Kokborok), Chutiyā (autonym Deori) and Morān (Grierson 1903) are mainly spoken by about four million people in north-east India.1

BG exhibit systematic processes of formation of causative verbs through prefixation, suffixation and very rarely, infixation. Lexical causative verbs are also employed in these languages whereas periphrastic causatives are found in the form of verb stacking. This study aims at finding out the causative prefixes which co-occur with the root verbs to form their causative counterparts; categorizing the prefixes in terms of their occurrences with certain roots; and, analyzing the environments and linguistic conditioning of the occurrences of the prefixes. This study also discusses several syntactic and semantic features associated with causation.