Damu is a poorly documented
Tani (
Sino-Tibetan
Sino-Tibetan, also cited as Trans-Himalayan in a few sources, is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 billion native speakers of Chinese languages. ...
) language spoken in Tibet. Only 80 speakers of this language were reported to exist in 1985,
[Ouyang 1985] and the language community was experiencing strong language contact with speakers of
Bodic
The Tibeto-Kanauri languages, also called Bodic, Bodish–Himalayish, and Western Tibeto-Burman, are a proposed intermediate level of classification of the Sino-Tibetan languages, centered on the Tibetic languages and the Kinnauri dialect cluste ...
languages at that time. No documentation or description of the Damu language other than some brief remarks and a wordlist in Ouyang (1985) appears to exist, and it is not known whether the Damu community is still intact and speaking their language.
The precise genetic affiliation of Damu remains unclear. Although Sun (1993) clearly identified Damu as a member of the
Tani languages, he noted some difficulties that prevented its precise alignment within either Western Tani or Eastern Tani. In addition, Sun speculated that Damu might represent a northern variety of the
Tangam language
Tangam is an endangered Sino-Tibetan language of the Tani languages, Tani subgroup spoken in Arunachal Pradesh state in North-East India. The total number of Tangam speakers has been alternatively estimated at 150 and 253. The primary Tangam v ...
. Post (2013a) concluded that Tangam and Damu are in fact distinct, despite sharing a number of features. In particular, both Tangam and Damu share an early sound change which would suggest aligning them with Western Tani, despite sharing an overall Eastern Tani–like profile.
[Post 2013b]
Phonology
* Vowel length is only contrastive in open syllables.
* /ɹ̩/ and /ɻ̩/ are only found in loanwords from
Tibetan
Tibetan may mean:
* of, from, or related to Tibet
* Tibetan people, an ethnic group
* Tibetan language:
** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard
** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...
.
Additionally, the following diphthongs have been observed: /iu/, /iə/, /ia/, /iaː/, /yu/, /yo/, /yə/, /ui/, /ue/, /ei/, /əɯ/.
References
* Ouyang, Jueya (1985). 珞巴族语言简志(崩尼-博嘎尔语)
uobazu Yuyan Jianzhi (Bengni Boga'eryu)/Brief Description of the Luoba Nationality Language (The Bengni-Bokar Language) Beijing, 民族出版社
inzu Chubanshe/Nationalities Press
* Post, Mark W. (2013a)
'The Tangam language of Kugɨŋ Təəraŋ.'Paper presented at the 46th International Conference of Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics. Hanover, Dartmouth College, Jul 10.
* Post, Mark W. (2013b)
'Defoliating the Tani ''Stammbaum'': An exercise in areal linguistics.'Paper presented at the 13th Himalayan Languages Symposium. Canberra, Australian National University, Aug 9.
* Sun, Tian-Shin Jackson (1993). A Historical-Comparative Study of the Tani (Mirish) Branch of Tibeto-Burman. PhD Dissertation. Department of Linguistics. Berkeley, University of California.
Tani languages
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