Kristine A. Hildebrandt, Oliver Bond, Dubi Nanda Dhakal
We examine kinship terms in three closely related Tamangic varieties: Manange, Nar, and Phu. Using Proto-Tamangic and Proto Tibeto-Burman reconstructions, we track cognate forms as well as structural innovations. Our account allows a first examination of lexico-semantic aspects of Phu, an under-documented representative of the Nar-Phu complex. While Nar-Phu is usually treated as a single language, considerable differences exist in the organization of all three kinship term systems. Kinship terms are considered to be conservative, basic vocabulary and thus indicative of close within-family relationships, but our study shows that even closely related varieties can show considerable differences in kin nomenclature.
{"title":"Kinship in three Tamangic varieties","authors":"Kristine A. Hildebrandt, Oliver Bond, Dubi Nanda Dhakal","doi":"10.1075/LTBA.17002.HIL","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/LTBA.17002.HIL","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 We examine kinship terms in three closely related Tamangic varieties: Manange, Nar, and Phu. Using Proto-Tamangic and Proto Tibeto-Burman reconstructions, we track cognate forms as well as structural innovations. Our account allows a first examination of lexico-semantic aspects of Phu, an under-documented representative of the Nar-Phu complex. While Nar-Phu is usually treated as a single language, considerable differences exist in the organization of all three kinship term systems. Kinship terms are considered to be conservative, basic vocabulary and thus indicative of close within-family relationships, but our study shows that even closely related varieties can show considerable differences in kin nomenclature.","PeriodicalId":41542,"journal":{"name":"Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2018-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49184683","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cross-linguistically, fricatives are the rarest types of rhotics, found in a few African and European languages ( Ladefoged & Maddieson 1996 ) and as allophones in some Romance languages ( Jesus & Shadle 2005 ; Recasens 2002 ; Bradley 2006 ; Colantoni 2006 ). Acoustic data from Nusu, phonotactic reasoning, and a cognate comparison demonstrate the presence of alveolar fricative rhotics in Tibeto-Burman. The Nusu rhotic appears in syllable-initial position as the first or second consonant and can be realized as alveolar approximants [ɹ] or [ɹʲ], non-sibilant voiced and voiceless fricatives [ɹ, ɹ], as well as voiced sibilant [ʐ]. In other studies on Nusu, these fricative rhotics have sometimes been reported as retroflex voiced sibilants ( Sun & Lu 1986 ; Fu 1991 ), but intra-speaker and cross-variety comparison point to classification as rhotics. Evidence from other Tibeto-Burman languages suggests that alveolar fricative rhotics are not limited to Nusu. Together these data challenge the tradition of generally interpreting alveolar fricatives as sibilants.
{"title":"The case for alveolar fricative rhotics with evidence from Nusu","authors":"Elissa Ikeda, S. Lew","doi":"10.1075/LTBA.40.1.01IKE","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/LTBA.40.1.01IKE","url":null,"abstract":"Cross-linguistically, fricatives are the rarest types of rhotics, found in a few African and European languages ( Ladefoged & Maddieson 1996 ) and as allophones in some Romance languages ( Jesus & Shadle 2005 ; Recasens 2002 ; Bradley 2006 ; Colantoni 2006 ). Acoustic data from Nusu, phonotactic reasoning, and a cognate comparison demonstrate the presence of alveolar fricative rhotics in Tibeto-Burman. The Nusu rhotic appears in syllable-initial position as the first or second consonant and can be realized as alveolar approximants [ɹ] or [ɹʲ], non-sibilant voiced and voiceless fricatives [ɹ, ɹ], as well as voiced sibilant [ʐ]. In other studies on Nusu, these fricative rhotics have sometimes been reported as retroflex voiced sibilants ( Sun & Lu 1986 ; Fu 1991 ), but intra-speaker and cross-variety comparison point to classification as rhotics. Evidence from other Tibeto-Burman languages suggests that alveolar fricative rhotics are not limited to Nusu. Together these data challenge the tradition of generally interpreting alveolar fricatives as sibilants.","PeriodicalId":41542,"journal":{"name":"Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area","volume":"40 1","pages":"1-39"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2017-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1075/LTBA.40.1.01IKE","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47682340","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
It is shown how Kiranti languages often express a semantically single clausal negation of a declarative verbal main clause with two clausal negators. We conjecture that the second negator has its origin in a copula and that the reinterpretation and integration of the copula into a negative construction follows the scenario known as a “Jespersen Cycle”.
{"title":"Kiranti double negation: A copula conjecture","authors":"J. Auwera, F. Vossen","doi":"10.1075/LTBA.40.1.02VAN","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/LTBA.40.1.02VAN","url":null,"abstract":"It is shown how Kiranti languages often express a semantically single clausal negation of a declarative verbal main clause with two clausal negators. We conjecture that the second negator has its origin in a copula and that the reinterpretation and integration of the copula into a negative construction follows the scenario known as a “Jespersen Cycle”.","PeriodicalId":41542,"journal":{"name":"Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area","volume":"40 1","pages":"40-58"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2017-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1075/LTBA.40.1.02VAN","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48997604","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The development of the Gamale Kham labial-palatal approximants /ɥ/ and /ɥ/ has previously been attributed to the loss of the Proto-Kham initial *p- or the coda *-p. The vowels /i/ and /e/ which occurred in the adjacent syllable nucleus were rounded, resulting in the front rounded vowels /y/ and /o/. Following this development, /w/ and /j/ merged to /ɥ/ in Gamale and Eastern Parbate Kham ( Watters 2002 ; 2004 ; 2005 ). This study evaluates this theory and suggests two alternative explanations: that Proto-Kham may have had either two front rounded vowels *y and *o, or a *ɥ phoneme. In the second case, the work refers to a possible correspondence between a Proto-Kham *ɥ and the Proto-Tibeto-Burman complex *jw.
{"title":"On the origin of Gamale Kham labial-palatal approximants","authors":"Christopher P. Wilde","doi":"10.1075/LTBA.40.1.03WIL","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/LTBA.40.1.03WIL","url":null,"abstract":"The development of the Gamale Kham labial-palatal approximants /ɥ/ and /ɥ/ has previously been attributed to the loss of the Proto-Kham initial *p- or the coda *-p. The vowels /i/ and /e/ which occurred in the adjacent syllable nucleus were rounded, resulting in the front rounded vowels /y/ and /o/. Following this development, /w/ and /j/ merged to /ɥ/ in Gamale and Eastern Parbate Kham ( Watters 2002 ; 2004 ; 2005 ). This study evaluates this theory and suggests two alternative explanations: that Proto-Kham may have had either two front rounded vowels *y and *o, or a *ɥ phoneme. In the second case, the work refers to a possible correspondence between a Proto-Kham *ɥ and the Proto-Tibeto-Burman complex *jw.","PeriodicalId":41542,"journal":{"name":"Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area","volume":"40 1","pages":"59-89"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2017-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1075/LTBA.40.1.03WIL","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43998333","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
I will first describe (1) the linguistic situation in modern-day Assam (Northeast India) and the historical hypotheses that might explain it. These hypotheses are subjected to criticism. Next, I will analyse (2) in detail, the phonological concordances in the Tibeto-Burman languages and dialects of Central Assam that form the Boro-Garo group. I will present detailed criteria – the most detailed of all will concern the diphthongs – with examples, which will enable us to classify the languages. Using these criteria will also allow us to take advantage of certain ancient sources of information on dialects which are, in some cases, extinct. The study (3) of other Tibeto-Burman languages will consolidate our criteria and specify their historical development. Finally (4), I will propose a historical reconstruction of linguistic layers, after which (5) I will emphasise the importance of the distinction, central to our discussion, between language change and ethnic change (where cultural and physical anthropology follow distinct paths) before proposing a basis for a more general investigation of the Boro-Garo languages. Northeastern India is home to a great number of languages, mainly from the Tibeto-Burman, Mon-Khmer, Tai and Indo-Aryan groups. This paper first summarises the current historical interpretations of this plethora, and concentrates on the Tibeto-Burman languages spoken in the lowlands, sc. the Boro-Garo subgroup. A phonological comparative assessment of the data provides a classification with definite criteria, and suggests historical interpretation. Central to this comparative study are the vowel systems, the analysis of which allows us to understand far better (and to use more appropriately) the older lexical lists from 1805. The result of this assessment is a new direction of research, when it appears that the Zeliangrong languages (traditionally taken as Southern Naga) offer a remarkable and certainly unexpected linguistic link between the Boro-Garo and the Kuki Chin (and Naga) languages. The paper exemplifies how language histories remain distinct from ethnic and political developments, and makes a useful contribution to a finer historical understanding of complex human situations.
{"title":"The linguistic reconstruction of the past","authors":"François Jacquesson, Seino van Breugel","doi":"10.1075/LTBA.40.1.04VAN","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/LTBA.40.1.04VAN","url":null,"abstract":"I will first describe (1) the linguistic situation in modern-day Assam (Northeast India) and the historical hypotheses that might explain it. These hypotheses are subjected to criticism. Next, I will analyse (2) in detail, the phonological concordances in the Tibeto-Burman languages and dialects of Central Assam that form the Boro-Garo group. I will present detailed criteria – the most detailed of all will concern the diphthongs – with examples, which will enable us to classify the languages. Using these criteria will also allow us to take advantage of certain ancient sources of information on dialects which are, in some cases, extinct. The study (3) of other Tibeto-Burman languages will consolidate our criteria and specify their historical development. Finally (4), I will propose a historical reconstruction of linguistic layers, after which (5) I will emphasise the importance of the distinction, central to our discussion, between language change and ethnic change (where cultural and physical anthropology follow distinct paths) before proposing a basis for a more general investigation of the Boro-Garo languages. Northeastern India is home to a great number of languages, mainly from the Tibeto-Burman, Mon-Khmer, Tai and Indo-Aryan groups. This paper first summarises the current historical interpretations of this plethora, and concentrates on the Tibeto-Burman languages spoken in the lowlands, sc. the Boro-Garo subgroup. A phonological comparative assessment of the data provides a classification with definite criteria, and suggests historical interpretation. Central to this comparative study are the vowel systems, the analysis of which allows us to understand far better (and to use more appropriately) the older lexical lists from 1805. The result of this assessment is a new direction of research, when it appears that the Zeliangrong languages (traditionally taken as Southern Naga) offer a remarkable and certainly unexpected linguistic link between the Boro-Garo and the Kuki Chin (and Naga) languages. The paper exemplifies how language histories remain distinct from ethnic and political developments, and makes a useful contribution to a finer historical understanding of complex human situations.","PeriodicalId":41542,"journal":{"name":"Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area","volume":"40 1","pages":"90-122"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2017-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1075/LTBA.40.1.04VAN","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42798941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
As is well known, it is not uncommon in TB that nominalized clauses are used in various types of constructions, such as relative clauses, purpose clauses, verb complements, and free-standing independent clauses. Noonan (1997) , for instance, shows the multi-functionality of the nominalized clause with a nominalizer -wa in Chantyal (Tamangic). The current article discusses another nominalizer -la(ŋ) in Tamangic. In many Tamangic languages/dialects the suffix la(ŋ) may be used to form possessive pronominal expressions (e.g. ‘someone’s/something’s one’). It can thus be more specifically described as a pronominalizer. There is evidence that in many Tamangic dialects the suffix has developed into a genitive marker. This paper further suggests a possibility that la(ŋ) is historically related to a number of verb suffixes, such as complementizers and finite verb suffixes used in free-standing independent clauses.
{"title":"The (pro)nominalizer -la(ŋ) in Tamangic: Its link to genetives, complementizers, and finite verb suffixes","authors":"I. Honda","doi":"10.1075/LTBA.17006.HON","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/LTBA.17006.HON","url":null,"abstract":"As is well known, it is not uncommon in TB that nominalized clauses are used in various types of constructions, such as relative clauses, purpose clauses, verb complements, and free-standing independent clauses. Noonan (1997) , for instance, shows the multi-functionality of the nominalized clause with a nominalizer -wa in Chantyal (Tamangic). The current article discusses another nominalizer -la(ŋ) in Tamangic. In many Tamangic languages/dialects the suffix la(ŋ) may be used to form possessive pronominal expressions (e.g. ‘someone’s/something’s one’). It can thus be more specifically described as a pronominalizer. There is evidence that in many Tamangic dialects the suffix has developed into a genitive marker. This paper further suggests a possibility that la(ŋ) is historically related to a number of verb suffixes, such as complementizers and finite verb suffixes used in free-standing independent clauses.","PeriodicalId":41542,"journal":{"name":"Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area","volume":"40 1","pages":"243-284"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2017-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1075/LTBA.17006.HON","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"58994041","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Review of Lauren Gawne & Nathan W. Hill (eds.). 2016. Evidential systems of Tibetan languages. Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 40(2), 285–303","authors":"Manuel Widmer","doi":"10.1075/LTBA.00002.WID","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/LTBA.00002.WID","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41542,"journal":{"name":"Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area","volume":"40 1","pages":"285-303"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2017-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1075/LTBA.00002.WID","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"58993390","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The goal of this paper is to use string edit distance to describe the synchronic relationship between the Tibetan speech varieties located on the Northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. String edit distance provides a statistical way to compare a large number of linguistic features, in essence producing a statistical bundle of isoglosses. In this way, it can be used as a tool in dialect mapping and synchronic clustering. In this paper, the aggregate distance matrix produced by string edit distance reveals that the great degree of phonetic continuity on the grasslands of the northeastern edge of the plateau is matched by an equal degree of phonetic discontinuity in the mountains forming the eastern border of the plateau. While the dialects located on the grasslands can be grouped together into one cluster, the dialects in the mountains can be grouped together into six clusters.
{"title":"Phonetic distance and dialect clustering on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau","authors":"Abe Powell, Hiroyuki Suzuki","doi":"10.1075/LTBA.17004.POW","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/LTBA.17004.POW","url":null,"abstract":"The goal of this paper is to use string edit distance to describe the synchronic relationship between the Tibetan speech varieties located on the Northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. String edit distance provides a statistical way to compare a large number of linguistic features, in essence producing a statistical bundle of isoglosses. In this way, it can be used as a tool in dialect mapping and synchronic clustering. In this paper, the aggregate distance matrix produced by string edit distance reveals that the great degree of phonetic continuity on the grasslands of the northeastern edge of the plateau is matched by an equal degree of phonetic discontinuity in the mountains forming the eastern border of the plateau. While the dialects located on the grasslands can be grouped together into one cluster, the dialects in the mountains can be grouped together into six clusters.","PeriodicalId":41542,"journal":{"name":"Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area","volume":"40 1","pages":"161-178"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2017-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1075/LTBA.17004.POW","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"58993474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
It is widely recognized that Khamti Shan is unique among Tai languages in evidencing a basic (A)OV word order, quite likely due to extensive language contact with Tibeto-Burman languages. Much less recognized in Khamti Shan is that some functional objects take a postposition marker, revealing a striking, but not necessarily unexpected, resemblance to a Tibeto-Burman-like anti-ergative construction. The deictic mai² ‘here’ grammaticalizes an anti-ergative function in which it acts as a marker for certain monotransitive ‘objects’ which are analyzed as pragmatically foregrounded referents in the information structure of the sentence.
{"title":"Khamti Shan anti-ergative construction: A Tibeto-Burman influence?","authors":"Douglas Inglis","doi":"10.1075/LTBA.17001.ING","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/LTBA.17001.ING","url":null,"abstract":"It is widely recognized that Khamti Shan is unique among Tai languages in evidencing a basic (A)OV word order, quite likely due to extensive language contact with Tibeto-Burman languages. Much less recognized in Khamti Shan is that some functional objects take a postposition marker, revealing a striking, but not necessarily unexpected, resemblance to a Tibeto-Burman-like anti-ergative construction. The deictic mai² ‘here’ grammaticalizes an anti-ergative function in which it acts as a marker for certain monotransitive ‘objects’ which are analyzed as pragmatically foregrounded referents in the information structure of the sentence.","PeriodicalId":41542,"journal":{"name":"Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area","volume":"1 1","pages":"133-160"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2017-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1075/LTBA.17001.ING","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"58993704","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper addresses Prins’ (2016) recent proposal of a m(ə)‑ non-volitional prefix in the Kyomkyo dialect of Situ, showing that alternative analyses are preferable. In addition, it offers an account of some irregular anticausative forms in Situ, and presents evidence for a possible volitional mə‑ prefix in Gyalrong languages. 1
{"title":"A note on volitional and non-volitional prefixes in Gyalrong languages","authors":"Guillaume Jacques","doi":"10.1075/LTBA.17003.JAC","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/LTBA.17003.JAC","url":null,"abstract":"This paper addresses Prins’ (2016) recent proposal of a m(ə)‑ non-volitional prefix in the Kyomkyo dialect of Situ, showing that alternative analyses are preferable. In addition, it offers an account of some irregular anticausative forms in Situ, and presents evidence for a possible volitional mə‑ prefix in Gyalrong languages. 1","PeriodicalId":41542,"journal":{"name":"Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area","volume":"40 1","pages":"124-132"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2017-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1075/LTBA.17003.JAC","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"58993797","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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