The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non-
Sinitic
The Sinitic languages (漢語族/汉语族), often synonymous with "Chinese languages", are a group of East Asian analytic languages that constitute the major branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. It is frequently proposed that there is ...
members of the
Sino-Tibetan language family
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. ...
, over 400 of which are spoken throughout the
Southeast Asian Massif
The term Southeast Asian Massif was proposed in 1997 by anthropologist Jean Michaud to discuss the human societies inhabiting the lands above approximately in the southeastern portion of the Asian landmass, thus not merely in the uplands of conven ...
("Zomia") as well as parts of
East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both Geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The modern State (polity), states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. ...
and
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
. Around 60 million people speak Tibeto-Burman languages. The name derives from the most widely spoken of these languages,
Burmese and the
Tibetic languages
The Tibetic languages form a well-defined group of languages descended from Old Tibetan (7th to 9th centuries).Tournadre, Nicolas. 2014. "The Tibetic languages and their classification." In ''Trans-Himalayan linguistics, historical and descriptiv ...
, which also have extensive literary traditions, dating from the 12th and 7th centuries respectively. Most of the other languages are spoken by much smaller communities, and many of them have not been described in detail.
Though the division of Sino-Tibetan into Sinitic and Tibeto-Burman branches (e.g. Benedict, Matisoff) is widely used, some
historical linguist
Historical linguistics, also termed diachronic linguistics, is the scientific study of language change over time. Principal concerns of historical linguistics include:
# to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages
# ...
s criticize this classification, as the non-Sinitic Sino-Tibetan languages lack any
shared innovations in
phonology
Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...
or
morphology
Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to:
Disciplines
* Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts
* Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...
to show that they comprise a
clade of the
phylogenetic tree.
History
![The origin and spread of the Sino-Tibetan language family](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/The_origin_and_spread_of_the_Sino-Tibetan_language_family.png)
During the 18th century, several scholars noticed parallels between Tibetan and Burmese, both languages with extensive literary traditions.
In the following century,
Brian Houghton Hodgson
Brian Houghton Hodgson (1 February 1800 or more likely 1801 – 23 May 1894) was a pioneer naturalist and ethnologist working in India and Nepal where he was a British Resident. He described numerous species of birds and mammals from the Hima ...
collected a wealth of data on the non-literary languages of the Himalayas and northeast India, noting that many of these were related to Tibetan and Burmese.
Others identified related languages in the highlands of Southeast Asia and south-west China.
The name "Tibeto-Burman" was first applied to this group in 1856 by
James Logan, who added
Karen in 1858.
Charles Forbes viewed the family as uniting the Gangetic and Lohitic branches of
Max Müller
Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born philologist and Orientalist, who lived and studied in Britain for most of his life. He was one of the founders of the western academic disciplines of Indian ...
's
Turanian {{Short description, List of groups of people
Turanian is a term that has been used in reference to diverse groups of people. It has had currency in Turanism, Pan-Turkism, and historic Turkish nationalism.
Many of the uses of the word are obsolete. ...
, a huge family consisting of all the Eurasian languages except the
Semitic, "Aryan" (
Indo-European
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...
) and Chinese languages.
The third volume of the ''
Linguistic Survey of India
The Linguistic Survey of India (LSI) is a comprehensive survey of the languages of British India, describing 364 languages and dialects. The Survey was first proposed by George Abraham Grierson, a member of the Indian Civil Service and a linguist ...
'' was devoted to the Tibeto-Burman languages of
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
.
Julius Klaproth
Heinrich Julius Klaproth (11 October 1783 – 28 August 1835) was a German linguist, historian, ethnographer, author, orientalist and explorer. As a scholar, he is credited along with Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat, with being instrumental in turni ...
had noted in 1823 that Burmese, Tibetan and Chinese all shared common basic
vocabulary
A vocabulary is a set of familiar words within a person's language. A vocabulary, usually developed with age, serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge. Acquiring an extensive vocabulary is one of the la ...
, but that
Thai,
Mon and
Vietnamese
Vietnamese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia
** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam.
* Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam
** Overse ...
were quite different.
Several authors, including Ernst Kuhn in 1883 and
August Conrady
August Conrady (Chi. 孔好古) (28 April 1864, Wiesbaden - 4 June 1925, Leipzig) was a German sinologist and linguist. From 1897 he was professor at the University of Leipzig.
Conrady first studied classical philology, comparative linguistics and ...
in 1896, described an "Indo-Chinese" family consisting of two branches, Tibeto-Burman and Chinese-Siamese.
The
Tai languages
The Tai or Zhuang–Tai languages ( th, ภาษาไท or , transliteration: or ) are a branch of the Kra–Dai language family. The Tai languages include the most widely spoken of the Tai–Kadai languages, including Standard Thai or Si ...
were included on the basis of vocabulary and typological features shared with Chinese.
Jean Przyluski introduced the term ''sino-tibétain'' (Sino-Tibetan) as the title of his chapter on the group in
Antoine Meillet and
Marcel Cohen Marcel Samuel Raphaël Cohen (February 6, 1884 – November 5, 1974) was a French linguist. He was an important scholar of Semitic languages and especially of Ethiopian languages. He studied the French language and contributed much to general lingui ...
's ''Les Langues du Monde'' in 1924.
The Tai languages have not been included in most Western accounts of Sino-Tibetan since the Second World War, though many Chinese linguists still include them.
The link between Tibeto-Burman and Chinese is now accepted by most linguists, with a few exceptions such as
Roy Andrew Miller
Roy Andrew Miller (September 5, 1924 – August 22, 2014) was an American linguist best known as the author of several books on Japanese language and linguistics, and for his advocacy of Korean and Japanese as members of the proposed Altai ...
and
Christopher Beckwith
Christopher I. Beckwith (born October 23, 1945) is an American philologist and distinguished professor in the Department of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
He has a B.A. in Chinese from Ohio State Unive ...
.
More recent controversy has centred on the proposed primary branching of Sino-Tibetan into Chinese and Tibeto-Burman subgroups.
In spite of the popularity of this classification, first proposed by Kuhn and Conrady, and also promoted by
Paul Benedict
Paul Benedict (September 17, 1938 – December 1, 2008) was an American actor who made numerous appearances in television and films, beginning in 1965. He was known for his roles as The Number Painter on the PBS children's show ''Sesame Street ...
(1972) and later
James Matisoff
James Alan Matisoff ( zh, , t=馬蒂索夫, s=马蒂索夫, p=Mǎdìsuǒfū or zh, , t=馬提索夫, s=马提索夫, p=Mǎtísuǒfū; born July 14, 1937) is Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a no ...
, Tibeto-Burman has not been demonstrated to be a valid family in its own right.
Overview
Most of the Tibeto-Burman languages are spoken in remote mountain areas, which has hampered their study. Many lack a written standard.
It is generally easier to identify a language as Tibeto-Burman than to determine its precise relationship with other languages of the group.
The subgroupings that have been established with certainty number several dozens, ranging from well-studied groups of dozens of languages with millions of speakers to several
isolate
Isolate may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Isolate'' (film), a 2013 Australian film
* ''Isolate'' (Circus Maximus album), 2007
* ''Isolate'' (Gary Numan album), 1992
Language
* Isolating language, with near-unity morpheme/word ...
s, some only newly discovered but in danger of extinction.
These subgroups are here surveyed on a geographical basis.
Southeast Asia and southwest China
![Ethnolinguistic map of Burma 1972 en](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Ethnolinguistic_map_of_Burma_1972_en.svg)
The southernmost group is the
Karen languages
The Karen () or Karenic languages are tonal languages spoken by some seven million Karen people. They are of unclear affiliation within the Sino-Tibetan languages. The Karen languages are written using the Karen script. The three main branches ...
, spoken by three million people on both sides of the Burma–Thailand border. They differ from all other Tibeto-Burman languages (except Bai) in having a
subject–verb–object word order, attributed to contact with
Tai–Kadai and
Austroasiatic languages
The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family in Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. These languages are scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China and are t ...
.
The most widely spoken Tibeto-Burman language is
Burmese, the national language of Myanmar, with over 32 million speakers and a literary tradition dating from the early 12th century. It is one of the
Lolo-Burmese languages
The Lolo-Burmese languages (also Burmic languages) of Burma and Southern China form a coherent branch of the Sino-Tibetan family.
Names
Until ca. 1950, the endonym ''Lolo'' was written with derogatory characters in Chinese, and for this reas ...
, an intensively studied and well-defined group comprising approximately 100 languages spoken in Myanmar and the highlands of Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Southwest China. Major languages include the
Loloish languages
The Loloish languages, also known as Yi in China and occasionally Ngwi or Nisoic, are a family of fifty to a hundred Sino-Tibetan languages spoken primarily in the Yunnan province of China. They are most closely related to Burmese and its rel ...
, with two million speakers in western
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
and northern
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...
, the
Akha language
Akha is the language spoken by the Akha people of southern China ( Yunnan Province), eastern Burma ( Shan State), northern Laos, and northern Thailand.
Western scholars group Akha, Hani and Honi into the Hani languages, treating all three as se ...
and
Hani language
The Hani language (Hani: or '; ; vi, Tiếng Hà Nhì) is a language of the Loloish (Yi) branch of the Tibeto-Burman linguistic group spoken in China, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam by the Hani people.
Distribution
In China, Hani is spoken most ...
s, with two million speakers in southern Yunnan, eastern Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, and
Lisu Lisu may refer to:
*Lisu people, an ethnic group of Southeast Asia
*Lisu language, spoken by the Lisu people
* Old Lisu Alphabet or Fraser Alphabet
*Lisu syllabary
* Lisu (Unicode block), the block of Unicode characters for the Lisu language.
*Lisu ...
and
Lahu in Yunnan, northern Myanmar and northern Thailand. All languages of the Loloish subgroup show significant Austroasiatic influence.
The
Pai-lang
Bailang or Pai-lang () is the earliest recorded Tibeto-Burman languages, Tibeto-Burman language, known from three short songs, totalling 44 four-syllable lines, recorded in a commentary on the ''Book of the Later Han''. The language is clearly ei ...
songs, transcribed in Chinese characters in the 1st century, appear to record words from a Lolo-Burmese language, but arranged in Chinese order.
![Ethnolinguistic map of China 1983](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Ethnolinguistic_map_of_China_1983.png)
The Tibeto-Burman languages of south-west China have been heavily influenced by Chinese over a long period, leaving their affiliations difficult to determine. The grouping of the
Bai language
The Bai language (Bai: ; ) is a language spoken in China, primarily in Yunnan Province, by the Bai people. The language has over a million speakers and is divided into three or four main dialects. Bai syllables are always open, with a rich set ...
, with one million speakers in Yunnan, is particularly controversial, with some workers suggesting that it is a sister language to Chinese. The
Naxi language of northern Yunnan is usually included in Lolo-Burmese, though other scholars prefer to leave it unclassified. The hills of northwestern Sichuan are home to the small
Qiangic and
Rgyalrongic groups of languages, which preserve many archaic features. The most easterly Tibeto-Burman language is
Tujia, spoken in the
Wuling Mountains
The Wuling Mountains () are a mountain range located in Central China, running from Chongqing Municipality and East Guizhou to West Hunan. They are home to many ethnic groups, including as the Tujia, Han, Miao, Dong, and Bai.
Wulingyuan
T ...
on the borders of Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou and Chongqing.
Two historical languages are believed to be Tibeto-Burman, but their precise affiliation is uncertain. The
Pyu language of central Myanmar in the first centuries is known from inscriptions using a variant of the
Gupta script. The
Tangut language
Tangut (Tangut: ; ) is an extinct language in the Sino-Tibetan language family.
Tangut was one of the official languages of the Western Xia dynasty, founded by the Tangut people in northwestern China. The Western Xia was annihilated by the Mo ...
of the 12th century
Western Xia
The Western Xia or the Xi Xia (), officially the Great Xia (), also known as the Tangut Empire, and known as ''Mi-nyak''Stein (1972), pp. 70–71. to the Tanguts and Tibetans, was a Tangut-led Buddhist imperial dynasty of China tha ...
of northern China is preserved in numerous texts written in the Chinese-inspired
Tangut script
The Tangut script ( Tangut: ; ) was a logographic writing system, used for writing the extinct Tangut language of the Western Xia dynasty. According to the latest count, 5863 Tangut characters are known, excluding variants. The Tangut characte ...
.
Tibet and South Asia
![South Asian Language Families](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/South_Asian_Language_Families.png)
Over eight million people in the
Tibetan Plateau
The Tibetan Plateau (, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or the Qing–Zang Plateau () or as the Himalayan Plateau in India, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central, South and East Asia covering most of the ...
and neighbouring areas in
Baltistan,
Ladakh
Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu ...
,
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...
,
Sikkim
Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Silig ...
and
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...
speak one of several related
Tibetic languages
The Tibetic languages form a well-defined group of languages descended from Old Tibetan (7th to 9th centuries).Tournadre, Nicolas. 2014. "The Tibetic languages and their classification." In ''Trans-Himalayan linguistics, historical and descriptiv ...
. There is an extensive literature in
Classical Tibetan
Classical Tibetan refers to the language of any text written in Tibetic after the Old Tibetan period. Though it extends from the 12th century until the modern day, it particularly refers to the language of early canonical texts translated from ot ...
dating from the 8th century. The Tibetic languages are usually grouped with the smaller
East Bodish languages
The East Bodish languages are a small group of non-Tibetic Bodish languages spoken in eastern Bhutan and adjacent areas of Tibet and India. They include:
* Dakpa (Tawang Monpa)
* Dzala
* Nyen, including Mangde and Phobjib
* Chali
* Bumthang
...
of Bhutan and
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares ...
as the
Bodish group.
Many diverse Tibeto-Burman languages are spoken on the southern slopes of the Himalayas.
Sizable groups that have been identified are the
West Himalayish languages
The West Himalayish languages, also known as Almora and Kanauric, are a family of Sino-Tibetan languages centered in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and across the border into Nepal. LaPolla (2003) proposes that the West Himalayish languages may b ...
of
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...
and western Nepal, the
Tamangic languages
The Tamangic languages, TGTM languages, or West Bodish languages, are a family of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in the Himalayas of Nepal. They are called "West Bodish" by Bradley (1997), from ''Bod'', the native term for Tibet. TGTM stands for ...
of western Nepal, including
Tamang
The Tamang (; Devanagari: तामाङ; ''tāmāṅ'') are an Tibeto-Burmese ethnic group of Nepal. In Nepal Tamang/Moormi people constitute 5.6% of the Nepalese population at over 1.3 million in 2001, increasing to 1,539,830 as of the 2011 ...
with one million speakers, and the
Kiranti languages
The Kiranti languages are a major family of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Nepal and India (notably Sikkim, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and Kumai) by the Kirati people.
External relationships
George van Driem had formerly proposed that the Kir ...
of eastern Nepal.
The remaining groups are small, with several isolates.
The
Newar language (Nepal Bhasa) of central Nepal has a million speakers and literature dating from the 12th century, and nearly a million people speak
Magaric languages
The Magar languages (or Magaric languages) are a small proposed family of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Nepal, notably including Magar language, Magar and Magar Kham language, Kham. ''(Ethnologue'' considers each to be a cluster of languages.) ...
, but the rest have small speech communities.
Other isolates and small groups in Nepal are
Dura,
Raji–Raute,
Chepangic and
Dhimalish.
Lepcha is spoken in an area from eastern Nepal to western Bhutan.
Most of the languages of Bhutan are Bodish, but it also has three small isolates,
'Ole ("Black Mountain Monpa"),
Lhokpu and
Gongduk and a larger community of speakers of
Tshangla
Tshangla is a Sino-Tibetan language of the Bodish branch closely related to the Tibetic languages. Tshangla is primarily spoken in Eastern Bhutan and acts as a lingua franca in the region; it is also spoken in the adjoining Tawang tract in the I ...
.
The
Tani languages
Tani (alternatively Miric, ''Adi–Galo–Mising–Nishi-Tagin'' (Bradley 1997), or ''Abor–Miri–Dafla'' (Matisoff 2003)), is a branch of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken mostly in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and neighboring regions.
Background
Th ...
include most of the Tibeto-Burman languages of Arunachal Pradesh and adjacent areas of Tibet.
The remaining languages of Arunachal Pradesh are much more diverse, belonging to the small
Siangic,
Kho-Bwa
The Kho-Bwa languages, also known as Bugunish and Kamengic, are a small family of languages spoken in Arunachal Pradesh, northeast India. The name ''Kho-Bwa'' was originally proposed by George van Driem (2001). It is based on the reconstructed ...
(or Kamengic),
Hruso,
Miju and
Digaro languages
The Digaro (Digarish), Northern Mishmi (Mishmic), or Kera'a–Tawrã languages are a small family of possibly Sino-Tibetan languages spoken by the Mishmi people of southeastern Tibet and Arunachal Pradesh.
The languages are Idu and Taraon (Di ...
(or Mishmic) groups.
These groups have relatively little Tibeto-Burman vocabulary, and Bench and Post dispute their inclusion in Sino-Tibetan.
The greatest variety of languages and subgroups is found in the highlands stretching from northern Myanmar to northeast India.
Northern Myanmar is home to the small
Nungish group, as well as the
Jingpho–Luish languages
The Jingpho-Luish, Jingpho-Asakian, Kachin–Luic, or Kachinic languages are a group of Sino-Tibetan languages belonging the Sal branch. They are spoken in eastern India and Burma, and consist of the Jingpho (also known as Kachin) language and ...
, including
Jingpho with nearly a million speakers.
The Brahmaputran or
Sal languages
The Sal languages are a branch of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in northeast India, parts of Bangladesh, and Burma.
Alternative names
'' Ethnologue'' calls the group "Jingpho–Konyak–Bodo", while Scott DeLancey (2015) refers to it as "Bodo-K ...
include at least the
Boro–Garo and
Konyak languages
The Konyak languages, or alternatively the Konyakian or Northern Naga languages, is a branch of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken by various Naga peoples in southeastern Arunachal Pradesh and northeastern Nagaland states of northeastern India. They ...
, spoken in an area stretching from northern Myanmar through the Indian states of
Nagaland
Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...
,
Meghalaya
Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: (a) the United Khasi Hills and J ...
, and
Tripura
Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the ea ...
, and are often considered to include the Jingpho–Luish group.
The border highlands of
Nagaland
Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...
,
Manipur
Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of ...
and western Myanmar are home to the small
Ao,
Angami–Pochuri,
Tangkhulic, and
Zeme groups of languages, as well as the
Karbi language
The Karbi language () is spoken by the Karbi (also known as Mikir or Arleng) people of Northeastern India.
It belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family, but its position is unclear. Grierson (1903) classified it under Naga languages, Shafer ...
.
Meithei, the main language of Manipur with 1.4 million speakers, is sometimes linked with the 50 or so
Kuki-Chin languages
The Kuki-Chin languages (also called Kuki-Chin-Mizo, Kukish or South-Central Tibeto-Burman languages) are a branch of 50 or so Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in northeastern India, western Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh. Most speakers of the ...
are spoken in
Mizoram
Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo", the self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo language means "lan ...
and the
Chin State
Chin State (, ) is a state in western Myanmar. The Chin State is bordered by Sagaing Division and Magway Division to the east, Rakhine State to the south, Bangladesh to the south-west, and the Indian states of Mizoram to the west and Ma ...
of Myanmar.
The
Mru language
Mru, also known as Mrung (Murung), is a Sino-Tibetan language of Bangladesh and Myanmar. It is spoken by a community of Mrus (Mros) inhabiting the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh with a population of 22,000 according to the 1991 census, ...
is spoken by a small group in the
Chittagong Hill Tracts
The Chittagong Hill Tracts ( bn, পার্বত্য চট্টগ্রাম, Parbotto Chottogram), often shortened to simply the Hill Tracts and abbreviated to CHT, are group of districts within the Chittagong Division in southeast ...
between Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Classification
There have been two milestones in the classification of Sino-Tibetan and Tibeto-Burman languages, and , which were actually produced in the 1930s and 1940s respectively.
Shafer (1955)
Shafer's tentative classification took an agnostic position and did not recognize Tibeto-Burman, but placed Chinese (Sinitic) on the same level as the other branches of a Sino-Tibetan family. He retained Tai–Kadai (Daic) within the family, allegedly at the insistence of colleagues, despite his personal belief that they were not related.
; Sino-Tibetan
: I. ''
Sinitic
The Sinitic languages (漢語族/汉语族), often synonymous with "Chinese languages", are a group of East Asian analytic languages that constitute the major branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. It is frequently proposed that there is ...
''
: II. ?? ''
Daic''
: III. ''Bodic''
::a. Bodish (
Gurung
Gurung (exonym; ) or Tamu (endonym; Gurung: ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the hills and mountains of Gandaki Province of Nepal. Gurung people predominantly live around the Annapurna region in Manang, Mustang, Dolpo, Kaski, Lamjung, Go ...
,
Tshangla
Tshangla is a Sino-Tibetan language of the Bodish branch closely related to the Tibetic languages. Tshangla is primarily spoken in Eastern Bhutan and acts as a lingua franca in the region; it is also spoken in the adjoining Tawang tract in the I ...
,
Gyarong,
Tibetic
The Tibetic languages form a well-defined group of languages descended from Old Tibetan (7th to 9th centuries).Tournadre, Nicolas. 2014. "The Tibetic languages and their classification." In ''Trans-Himalayan linguistics, historical and descriptiv ...
)
::b.
West Himalayish (incl.
Thangmi,
Baram,
Raji–Raute)
::c. West Central Himalayish (
Magar,
Chepang,
Hayu isplaced
::d.
East Himalayish
::e.
Newarish
::f.
Digarish
::g.
Midźuish
::h.
Hruish
::i.
Dhimalish
::j.
Miśingish
::k.
Dzorgaish
: IV. ''Burmic''
::a.
Burmish
::b.
Mruish
::c.
Nungish
::d. Katśinish (
Jingpho)
::e. Tśairelish
::f.
Luish
::g. Taman
::h.
Kukish
The Kuki-Chin languages (also called Kuki-Chin-Mizo, Kukish or South-Central Tibeto-Burman languages) are a branch of 50 or so Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in northeastern India, western Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh. Most speakers of the ...
: V. ''Baric''
::a.
Barish
::b. Nagish
: VI. ''
Karenic''
Benedict (1972)
A very influential, although also tentative, classification is that of , which was actually written around 1941. Like Shafer's work, this drew on the data assembled by the Sino-Tibetan Philology Project, which was directed by Shafer and Benedict in turn. Benedict envisaged Chinese as the first family to branch off, followed by Karen.
:Sino-Tibetan
:# Chinese
:# Tibeto-Karen
:#* Karen
:#* Tibeto-Burman
The Tibeto-Burman family is then divided into seven primary branches:
I. ''
Tibetan–Kanauri'' (a.k.a. Bodish–Himalayish)
: A. Bodish
::(
Tibetic
The Tibetic languages form a well-defined group of languages descended from Old Tibetan (7th to 9th centuries).Tournadre, Nicolas. 2014. "The Tibetic languages and their classification." In ''Trans-Himalayan linguistics, historical and descriptiv ...
,
Gyarung,
Takpa,
Tsangla,
Murmi & Gurung)
: B. Himalayish
:: i. "major"
Himalayish
:: ii. "minor"
Himalayish
:::(Rangkas, Darmiya, Chaudangsi, Byangsi)
::(perhaps also
Dzorgai,
Lepcha,
Magari)
II. ''
Bahing–Vayu''
: A. Bahing (
Sunuwar
The Sunuwar or Koinch (; ''Sunuwār Jāti'') is a Kirati tribe native to Nepal, parts of India (West Bengal and Sikkim) and southern Bhutan. They speak the Sunuwar language. According to the 2001 census of Nepal, 17% of the tribe follow the ...
,
Khaling)
: B. Khambu (
Sampang,
Rungchenbung,
Yakha, and
Limbu)
: C.
Vayu
Vayu (, sa, वायु, ), also known as Vata and Pavana, is the Hindu god of the winds as well as the divine massenger of the gods. In the '' Vedic scriptures'', Vayu is an important deity and is closely associated with Indra, the king of ...
–
Chepang
:(perhaps also
Newar)
III. ''
Abor–Miri–Dafla''
:(perhaps also
Aka,
Digaro,
Miju, and
Dhimal
The Dhimal or Dhemal(in Nepali:धिमाल) are an Kirati ethnic group residing in the eastern Terai of Nepal. They are a Sino-Tibetan-speaking ethnic group of the eastern Terai. They mainly reside in Morang and Jhapa districts of Nepal a ...
)
IV. ''
Kachin''
:(perhaps including
Luish)
V. ''
Burmese–Lolo''
: A.
Burmese–Maru
: B. Southern
Lolo
: C. Northern
Lolo
: D.
Kanburi Lawa
: E.
Moso
: F. Hsi-fan (
Qiangic and
Jiarongic languages
The Gyalrongic languages (also known as Rgyalrongic or Jiarongic) constitute a branch of the Qiangic languages of Sino-Tibetan, although some propose that it may be part of a larger Rung languages group, and do not consider it to be particularly ...
apart from Qiang and Gyarung themselves)
: G.
Tangut
:(perhaps also
Nung)
VI. ''
Boro-Garo''
: A. Boro
: B. Garo (
A·chik)
: C.
Tripuri (Kokborok)
: D. Dimasa
: E. Mech
: F. Rava (
Koch)
: G. Tiwa (Lalung)
: H. Sutiya
: I. Saraniya
: J. Sonowal
:(Perhaps also "
Naked Naga" a.k.a. Konyak)
VII. ''
Kuki–Naga'' (a.k.a. Kukish)
:(perhaps also
Karbi,
Meithei,
Mru)
Matisoff (1978)
James Matisoff
James Alan Matisoff ( zh, , t=馬蒂索夫, s=马蒂索夫, p=Mǎdìsuǒfū or zh, , t=馬提索夫, s=马提索夫, p=Mǎtísuǒfū; born July 14, 1937) is Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a no ...
proposes a modification of Benedict that demoted Karen but kept the divergent position of Sinitic. Of the 7 branches within Tibeto-Burman, 2 branches (Baic and Karenic) have
SVO-order languages, whereas all the other 5 branches have
SOV-order languages.
:Sino-Tibetan
:# Chinese
:# Tibeto-Burman
Tibeto-Burman is then divided into several branches, some of them geographic conveniences rather than linguistic proposals:
*Kamarupan (geographic)
**
Kuki-Chin–Naga (geographic)
**
Abor–Miri–Dafla
**
Boro–Garo
*
Himalayish (geographic)
**
Mahakiranti (includes
Newar,
Magar,
Kiranti
The Kirati people, also spelled as Kirant or Kiranti, are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group. They are peoples of the Himalayas, mostly the Eastern Himalaya extending eastward from Nepal to North East India (predominantly in the Indian state of Sikk ...
)
**
Tibeto-Kanauri (includes
Lepcha)
*
Qiangic
*Jingpho–Nungish–Luish
**
Jingpho
**
Nungish
**
Luish
*
Lolo–Burmese–
Naxi
*
Karenic
*
Baic
*
Tujia (unclassified)
Matisoff makes no claim that the families in the Kamarupan or Himalayish branches have a special relationship to one another other than a geographic one. They are intended rather as categories of convenience pending more detailed comparative work.
Matisoff also notes that Jingpho–Nungish–Luish is central to the family in that it contains features of many of the other branches, and is also located around the center of the Tibeto-Burman-speaking area.
Bradley (2002)
Since Benedict (1972), many languages previously inadequately documented have received more attention with the publication of new grammars, dictionaries, and wordlists. This new research has greatly benefited comparative work, and
Bradley
Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English.
Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular.
It is also an Anglicisation of t ...
(2002) incorporates much of the newer data.
I. Western (=
Bodic)
: A.
Tibetan–Kanauri
:: i.
Tibetic
The Tibetic languages form a well-defined group of languages descended from Old Tibetan (7th to 9th centuries).Tournadre, Nicolas. 2014. "The Tibetic languages and their classification." In ''Trans-Himalayan linguistics, historical and descriptiv ...
:: ii.
Gurung
Gurung (exonym; ) or Tamu (endonym; Gurung: ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the hills and mountains of Gandaki Province of Nepal. Gurung people predominantly live around the Annapurna region in Manang, Mustang, Dolpo, Kaski, Lamjung, Go ...
:: iii.
East Bodic (incl.
Tsangla)
:: iv.
Kanauri
: B.
Himalayan
:: i. Eastern (
Kiranti
The Kirati people, also spelled as Kirant or Kiranti, are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group. They are peoples of the Himalayas, mostly the Eastern Himalaya extending eastward from Nepal to North East India (predominantly in the Indian state of Sikk ...
)
:: ii. Western (
Newar,
Chepang,
Magar,
Thangmi,
Baram)
II. ''
Sal''
: A.
Baric (
Boro–Garo–
Northern Naga
The Konyak languages, or alternatively the Konyakian or Northern Naga languages, is a branch of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken by various Naga peoples in southeastern Arunachal Pradesh and northeastern Nagaland states of northeastern India. They a ...
)
: B.
Jinghpaw
: C.
Luish (incl.
Pyu
Pyu, also spelled Phyu or Phyuu, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. is a town in Taungoo District, Bago Region in Myanmar. It is the administrative seat of Phyu Township
Pyu Township is a township in Taungoo District in the ...
)
: D.
Kuki-Chin (incl.
Meithei and
Karbi)
III. ''Central'' (perhaps a residual group, not actually related to each other.
Lepcha may also fit here.)
: A.
Adi–Galo–Mishing–Nishi
: B.
Mishmi (
Digarish and
Keman)
: C.
Rawang
IV. ''North-Eastern''
: A.
Qiangic
: B.
Naxi–
Bai
: C.
Tujia
: D.
Tangut
V. ''South-Eastern''
: A.
Burmese–Lolo (incl.
Mru)
: B.
Karen
van Driem
George van Driem
George "Sjors" van Driem (born 1957) is a Dutch linguist associated with the University of Bern, where he is the chair of Historical Linguistics and directs the Linguistics Institute.
Education
* Leiden University, 1983–1987 (PhD, ''A Gramma ...
rejects the primary split of Sinitic, making Tibeto-Burman synonymous with Sino-Tibetan.
Matisoff (2015)
The internal structure of Tibeto-Burman is tentatively classified as follows by
Matisoff (2015: xxxii, 1123–1127) in the final release of the ''
Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus
The ''Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus'' (commonly abbreviated ''STEDT'') was a linguistics research project hosted at the University of California at Berkeley. The project, which focused on Sino-Tibetan historical linguistics, st ...
'' (STEDT).
[Matisoff, James A. 2015]
''The Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus''
Berkeley: University of California.
PDF
[Bruhn, Daniel; Lowe, John; Mortensen, David; Yu, Dominic (2015). ''Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus Database Software''. Software, UC Berkeley Dash. ]
*Northeast Indian areal group
**"North Assam"
***
Tani
***
Deng Deng may refer to:
* Deng (company), is a Danish engineering, electrical, solar power and sales company in Accra, Ghana
* Deng (state), an ancient Chinese state
* Deng (Chinese surname), originated from the state
** Deng Xiaoping, paramount leader ...
**
Kuki-Chin
**"
Naga" areal group
***Central Naga (
Ao group)
***
Angami–Pochuri group
***
Zeme group
***
Tangkhulic
**
Meithei
**Mikir /
Karbi
**
Mru
**
Sal
***
Boro–Garo
***Northern Naga /
Konyakian
***
Jingpho–Asakian
*Himalayish
**
Tibeto-Kanauri
***
Western Himalayish
***
Bodic
***
Lepcha
***
Tamangish
***
Dhimal
The Dhimal or Dhemal(in Nepali:धिमाल) are an Kirati ethnic group residing in the eastern Terai of Nepal. They are a Sino-Tibetan-speaking ethnic group of the eastern Terai. They mainly reside in Morang and Jhapa districts of Nepal a ...
**
Newar
**
Kiranti
The Kirati people, also spelled as Kirant or Kiranti, are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group. They are peoples of the Himalayas, mostly the Eastern Himalaya extending eastward from Nepal to North East India (predominantly in the Indian state of Sikk ...
**
Kham-
Magar-
Chepang
*Tangut-Qiang
**
Tangut
**
Qiangic
**
rGyalrongic
*
Nungic
*
Tujia
*Lolo-Burmese–Naxi
**
Lolo-Burmese
**
Naxi
*
Karenic
*
Bai
Other languages
The classification of
Tujia is difficult due to extensive borrowing. Other unclassified Tibeto-Burman languages include
Basum and the recently described
Lamo language. New Tibeto-Burman languages continue to be recognized, some not closely related to other languages. Recently recognized distinct languages include
Koki Naga.
Randy LaPolla
Randy John LaPolla () is a professor and former Head of Division at thDivision of Linguistics and Multilingual Studiesin Nanyang Technological University. He is also a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, elected 2008. He is curren ...
(2003) proposed a
Rung branch of Tibeto-Burman, based on morphological evidence, but this is not widely accepted.
Scott DeLancey (2015)
[DeLancey, Scott. 2015. "Morphological Evidence for a Central Branch of Trans-Himalayan (Sino-Tibetan)." ''Cahiers de linguistique - Asie oriental'' 44(2):122-149. December 2015. ] proposed a
Central branch of Tibeto-Burman based on morphological evidence.
Roger Blench and Mark Post (2011) list a number of divergent languages of
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares ...
, in northeastern India, that might have non-Tibeto-Burman substrates, or could even be non-Tibeto-Burman
language isolates:
*
Kamengic
**
Bugun (Khowa)
**
Mey (Sherdukpen) of Shergaon
**
Mey (Sherdukpen) of Rupa
**
Sartang
**
Chug and
Lish
*
Mishmi">orthernMishmi (Digarish)
**
Idu (Luoba)
**
Taraon (Digaru)
*
Siangic
**
Koro Koro may refer to:
Geography
*Koro Island, a Fijian island
* Koro Sea, in the Pacific Ocean
* Koro, Ivory Coast
*Koro, Mali
* Koro, Wisconsin, United States, an unincorporated community
Languages
*Koro language (India), an endangered language spo ...
**
Milang
Milang ( ) is a town and locality located in the Australian state of South Australia on the west coast of Lake Alexandrina (South Australia), Lake Alexandrina about south-east of the state capital of Adelaide city centre, Adelaide and about nor ...
*
Puroik (Sulung) -
East Kameng District
East Kameng district is one of districts of Arunachal Pradesh state in northeastern, India. It shares an international border with China in the north and district borders with West Kameng district to the west, Pakke-Kessang district to the sou ...
*
Hruso (Aka) - Thrizino Circle,
West Kameng District
West Kameng (pronounced ) is a district of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India. It accounts for 8.86% of the total area of the state. The name is derived from the Kameng river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, that flows through the distri ...
*
Miji (Sajolang, Dimai, Dhimmai)
*
Miju
Blench and Post believe the remaining languages with these substratal characteristics are more clearly Sino-Tibetan:
*East Bodish
**
Meyor (Zakhring)
**
Monpa of Tawang -
Tawang District
Tawang district (Pron:/tɑ:ˈwæŋ or təˈwæŋ/) is the smallest of the 26 administrative districts of Arunachal Pradesh state in northeastern India. With a population of 49,977, it is the eighth least populous district in the country (out o ...
**
Monpa of Kalaktang (Tshangla)
**
Monpa of Zemithang
**Monpa of Mago-Thingbu
*Tani:
Nah
Notes
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
**
Further reading
* Mann, Noel Walter. 1998.
A phonological reconstruction of Proto Northern Burmic'. Unpublished thesis. Arlington: The University of Texas.
*
External links
Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT)''Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area''(journal)
Himalayan languages site(by
George van Driem
George "Sjors" van Driem (born 1957) is a Dutch linguist associated with the University of Bern, where he is the chair of Historical Linguistics and directs the Linguistics Institute.
Education
* Leiden University, 1983–1987 (PhD, ''A Gramma ...
)
Sino-Tibetan Branches Project (STBP)Tibeto-Burman bibliography website
{{Authority control
Languages of Tibet