Kho-Bwa languages

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For Southeast Kamengic languages, see Hrusish languages.
Kho-Bwa
Kamengic
Bugunish
Geographic
distribution		Arunachal Pradesh
Linguistic classificationSino-Tibetan
  • Kho-Bwa
Subdivisions
Language codes
Glottologkhob1235

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.

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.[3] Jackson Sun, George van Driem, and multiple handbooks and language classification databases after them also label Kho-Bwa languages as Tibeto-Burman or otherwise Sino-Tibetan.[4][5] Roger Blench, however, does not accept a Sino-Tibetan origin of these languages, claiming that similarities to such could instead be due to an 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

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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)

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Lieberherr & Bodt (2017)[6] consider Puroik to be a Kho-Bwa language, and classify the Kho-Bwa languages as follows.

Tresoldi et al. (2022)

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Based on computational phylogenetic analyses from Tresoldi et al. (2022), the phylogenetic tree of Kho-Bwa is roughly as follows:[7]

  • 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

Shared characteristics

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Common characteristics between Western Kho-Bwa and Puroik are given by Lieberherr & Bodt (2017).

Prefixes

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Kho-Bwa languages share the following prefixes:

  • *a- in front of adjectives
  • *kV- prefix before multiple parts of the head, such as the head itself, eyes, ears, and hair
  • Some element in front of the names of a specific subset of objects in the sky, namely the moon, sun, stars, clouds, rain and snow. The prefixes themselves however, although they resemble each other, are not identical; Puroik prefixes *ham- while Western Kho-Bwa prefixes *nam-.

Sound changes

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Kho-Bwa languages share the following sound changes:

  • The fortition of Sino-Tibetan initial *m- to *b-.
  • Outright loss of initial *s-.

Examples

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In the below tables, the other Sino-Tibetan cognates are taken from Lieberherr & Bodt (2017), but the proto-Western Kho-Bwa forms are taken from Bodt (2024) and the Proto-Puroik forms are from Lieberherr (2015).

Fortition of *m to *b in Kho-Bwa
Word "fire" "dream" "not" "person"
Kho-Bwa Proto-Western Kho-Bwa *baj *ban *ba *bi
Proto-Puroik *bai *baŋ̄ *ba *bii
Other Sino-Tibetan Proto-Kuki-Chin *may *maŋ — *mii
Tibetan me — ma mi
Loss of *s- in Kho-Bwa
Word "die" "kill" "three"
Kho-Bwa Proto-Western Kho-Bwa *i *at *um
Proto-Puroik *ii *at *ɨm̄
Other Sino-Tibetan Proto-Kuki-Chin *thii *that *thum
Tibetan shi gsod gsum

Vocabulary

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The following table of Kho-Bwa basic vocabulary items is from Blench (2015).[8] Proto-Western Kho-Bwa (Proto-WKB) reconstructions are from Bodt (2024).

Gloss Mey (Shergaon) Mey (Rupa) Sartang (Jergaon) Sartang (Rahung) Lish (Khispi) Chug (Duhumbi) Proto-WKB
one hǎn han hèn hân hin hin *hin
two ɲǐt ɲik nìk ně ɲes niʃ *nʲis
three ùŋ uŋ ùŋ ùún ʔum om *um
four pʰʃì bsi sì psì pʰəhi psi *bli
five kʰù kʰu kʰù kʰu kʰa kʰa *kʰa
six ʧùk kit ʧìk ʨěy ʧʰuʔ ʧyk *kʰrʲuk
seven ʃìt sit sìk sǐ, sě ʃis his *sʲit
eight sàʤát sarʤat sàrgè sàrʤɛ́ saɾgeʔ saɾgeʔ *sar.gʲat
nine tʰkʰí dʰikʰi tʰkʰì tɛ̀kʰɯ́ ṱʰikʰu ṱʰikʰu *da.kʰu
ten sɔ̀ ̃ sõ sã̀ sɔ ʃan ʃan *sʷan
head kʰruk kʰruk kʰrǔk kʰruʔ kʰoloʔ kʰloʔ *kʰa.rok
nose nupʰuŋ nəfuŋ nfùŋ apʰuŋ hempoŋ heŋpʰoŋ *n̥a.pʰoŋ
eye khibi kivi kábì kʰaʔby kʰumu kʰum *kʰa.bu
ear kʰtùŋ gtʰiŋ gtʰìŋ ktèíŋ kʰutʰuŋ kʰutʰuŋ *kʰa.tʰuŋ
tongue laphõ lapon ? le loi loi *luj
tooth nuthuŋ tokʧe mísìŋ nitʰiŋ ʃiŋtuŋ hintuŋ *n̥a.tʰuŋ
arm ik ik ìk ik hu hut *qʷut
leg là lapon lɛ̌ lɛ̌ lei lai *laj
belly ʃrìŋ sliŋ srìŋ sriŋ hiɲiŋ hiliŋ *sʲa.rʲiŋ,
*n̥a.rʲiŋ
bone skìk skik àhík skik ʃukuʃ ʃukuʃ *sʲa.kʰrus,
*a.kʰrus
blood hà ha(a) hɛ̀ ha hoi hoi *hruj
face dòŋpù bo mi zə̀í doʔ doŋpa (various)
tooth ntùŋ tokʧe mísìŋ ptə̀íŋ ʃiŋtuŋ hintuŋ *n̥a.tʰuŋ
stomach àlà karbu ʧàk phriŋ hiɲiŋ hiliŋ (various)
mouth ʧàw nəʧaw so ʨʨǒ hoʧok kʰoʧu *-tsʰʷa
rain ʧuuma nimi nʧʰù ʧuʧuba namu namu *nam.tsʰa,
*nam.mu

See also

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Further reading

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  • Ismail Lieberherr and Timotheus Adrianus Bodt. (2017) Sub-grouping Kho-Bwa based on shared core vocabulary. Himalayan Linguistics 16(2). 26–63. Paper (CLDF Dataset on Zenodo doi:10.5281/zenodo.2553234)
  • Binny Abraham, Kara Sako, Elina Kinny, Isapdaile Zeliang (2018). Sociolinguistic Research among Selected Groups in Western Arunachal Pradesh: Highlighting Monpa. SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2018–009. (CLDF Dataset on Zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.3537601)
  • Bodt, T. and J.-M. List (2019). Testing the predictive strength of the comparative method: An ongoing experiment on unattested words in Western Kho-Bwa languages. Papers in Historical Phonology 4.1. 22–44. doi:10.2218/pihph.4.2019.3037 (CLDF Dataset on Zenodo doi:10.5281/zenodo.3537604)
  • Bodt, Timotheus A.; List, Johann-Mattis (2021). "Reflex prediction: A case study of Western Kho-Bwa". Diachronica. doi:10.1075/dia.20009.bod.

References

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  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. ^ a b c Roger Blench & Mark Post (ms, 2024) (De)Classifying Arunachal Languages: Reconsidering the Evidence, p. 4–8.
  3. ^ a b 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. ^ van Driem (2001), vol. 2, p. 473.
  5. ^ Wu, Bodt & Tresoldi (2022). The three authors also note that "Despite these doubts [regarding Puroik], the most commonly consulted handbooks (Burling 2003; Genetti 2016) and online language catalogues (Eberhard et al. 2019; Hammarström et al. 2021) list Kho-Bwa as a branch of the Trans-Himalayan family."
  6. ^ Lieberherr, Ismael; Bodt, Timotheus Adrianus. 2017. Sub-grouping Kho-Bwa based on shared core vocabulary. In Himalayan Linguistics, 16(2).
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ Blench, Roger. 2015. The Mey languages and their classification. Presentation given at the University of Sydney, 21 August 2015.
  • van Driem, George (2001). Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region. Brill.
  • Blench, Roger. 2011. (De)classifying Arunachal languages: Reconsidering the evidence
  • Lieberherr, Ismael (2015). "A progress report on the historical phonology and affiliation of Puroik". In Linda Konnerth; Stephen Morey; Priyankoo Sarmah; Amos Teo (eds.). North East Indian Linguistics (NEIL) 7,. Canberra: College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University. pp. 235–286.
  • Lieberherr, Ismael; Bodt, Timotheus Adrianus (2017). "Sub-grouping Kho-Bwa based on shared core vocabulary". Himalayan Linguistics. 16 (2).
  • Abraham, Binny, Kara Sako, Elina Kinny, Isapdaile Zeliang. 2018. Sociolinguistic Research among Selected Groups in Western Arunachal Pradesh: Highlighting Monpa. SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2018–009.
  • Wu, Mei-Shin; Bodt, Timotheus A.; Tresoldi, Tiago (2022). "Bayesian phylogenetics illuminate shallower relationships among Trans-Himalayan languages in the Tibet-Arunachal area". Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area. 45 (2): 171–210. doi:10.1075/ltba.21019.wu. ISSN 0731-3500.
  • Bodt, Timotheus A. (2024). Proto-Western Kho-Bwa: Reconstructing a Community's Past through Language. Language and Linguistics Monograph Series. Vol. 67. Taipei: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica. ISBN 978-626-7341-64-3.