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Tibeto-Burman
The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non- Sinitic members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken throughout the Southeast Asian Massif ("Zomia") as well as parts of East Asia and South Asia. Around 60 million people speak Tibeto-Burman languages. The name derives from the most widely spoken of these languages, Burmese and the Tibetic languages, 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 linguists criticize this classification, as the non-Sinitic Sino-Tibetan languages lack any shared innovations in phonology or morphology to show that they comprise a clade of the phylogenetic tree. History During the 18th century, several scholars noticed parallel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proto-Tibeto-Burman Language
Proto-Tibeto-Burman (commonly abbreviated PTB) is the reconstructed ancestor of the Tibeto-Burman languages, that is, the Sino-Tibetan languages, except for Chinese. An initial reconstruction was produced by Paul K. Benedict and since refined by James Matisoff. Several other researchers argue that the Tibeto-Burman languages ''sans'' Chinese do not constitute a monophyletic group within Sino-Tibetan, and therefore that Proto-Tibeto-Burman was the same language as Proto-Sino-Tibetan. Issues Reconstruction is complicated by the immense diversity of the languages, many of which are poorly described, the lack of inflection in most of the languages, and millennia of intense contact with other Sino-Tibetan languages and languages of other families. Only a few subgroups, such as Lolo-Burmese, have been securely reconstructed. Benedict's method, which he dubbed "teleo-reconstruction", was to compare widely separated languages, with a particular emphasis on Classical Tibetan, Jing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meitei Language
Meitei (; ) also known as Manipuri ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of northeast India. It is the official language and the lingua franca of Manipur and an additional official language in four districts of Assam. It is one of the scheduled languages of India, constitutionally scheduled official languages of the Indian Republic. Meitei is the most widely-spoken Tibeto-Burman languages, Tibeto-Burman language of India and the third most widely spoken language of northeast India after Assamese language, Assamese and Bengali language, Bengali. There are million States of India by Meitei speakers, Meitei native speakers in India according to the 2011 census, million of whom are found in the state of Manipur, where they represent the majority of its population. There are smaller communities in neighbouring Indian states, such as #Assam, Assam (), #Tripura, Tripura (), #Nagaland, Nagaland (), and elsewhere in the country (). The language is also spoken by smaller groups ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sal Languages
The Sal languages, also known as the Brahmaputran languages, are a branch of Tibeto-Burman languages spoken in northeast India, as well as parts of Bangladesh, Myanmar (Burma), and China. Alternative names ''Ethnologue'' calls the group "Jingpho–Konyak-Garo–Bodo", while Scott DeLancey (2015) refers to it as "Bodo-Konyak-Garo-Jinghpaw" (BKJ). Glottolog lists this branch as �Brahmaputran (brah1260)��, as the languages occur around the Brahmaputra Valley. Classification within Sino-Tibetan 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. considers the Sal languages, which he refers to as Garo-''Bodo-Konyak-Jinghpaw'' (BKJ), to be part of a wider Central Tibeto-Burman group. Internal classification noted that the Bodo–Garo, Konyak, and Jingpho (Kachin) languages, as well as the extinct Chairel language, shared distincti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burmo-Qiangic Languages
The Burmo-Qiangic or Eastern Tibeto-Burman languages are a proposed family of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Southwest China and Myanmar. It consists of the Lolo-Burmese and Qiangic branches, including the extinct Tangut language. Classification Guillaume Jacques & Alexis Michaud (2011)Jacques, Guillaume, and Alexis Michaud. 2011.Approaching the historical phonology of three highly eroded Sino-Tibetan languages" ''Diachronica'' 28:468–498. argue for a Burmo-Qiangic branch of Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman) with two primary subbranches, Qiangic and Lolo-Burmese. Similarly, David Bradley (2008) proposes an Eastern Tibeto-Burman branch that includes Burmic ( Lolo-Burmese) and Qiangic. Bradley notes that Lolo-Burmese and Qiangic share some unique lexical items, even though they are morphologically quite different; whereas all Lolo-Burmese languages are tonal and analytical, Qiangic languages are often non-tonal and possess agglutinative morphology. However the position of Naic is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Tibeto-Burman Languages
Central Tibeto-Burman or Central Trans-Himalayan is a proposed branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family proposed by Scott DeLancey (2015) on the basis of shared morphological evidence. DeLancey (2018)DeLancey, Scott (2018). ''Internal and external history of the Central branch of Tibeto-Burman/Trans-Himalayan''. Paper presented at the 28th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, held May 17-19, 2018 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. considers Central Tibeto-Burman to be a linkage rather than a branch with a clearly nested internal structure. DeLancey's Central Tibeto-Burman group includes many languages in Matisoff's (2015: 1123–1127)Matisoff, James A. 2015''The Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus'' Berkeley: University of California.PDF proposed Northeast Indian areal group, which includes Tani, Deng (Digaro), “ Kuki-Chin–Naga”, Meitei, Mikir, Mru, and Sal. Languages DeLancey considers there to be strong morphological evidence for the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tibeto-Kanauri Languages
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 cluster. The conception of the relationship, or if it is even a valid group, varies between researchers. Conceptions of Tibeto-Kanauri Benedict (1972) originally posited the Tibeto-Kanauri Bodish–Himalayish relationship, but had a more expansive conception of Himalayish than generally found today, including Qiangic, Magaric, and Lepcha. Within Benedict's conception, Tibeto-Kanauri is one of seven linguistic nuclei, or centers of gravity along a spectrum, within Tibeto-Burman languages. The center-most nucleus identified by Benedict is the Jingpho language (including perhaps the Kachin–Luic and Tamangic languages); other peripheral nuclei besides Tibeto-Kanauri include the Kiranti languages (Bahing–Vayu and perhaps the Newar langua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tani Languages
The Tani language, often referred to as Tani languages, encompasses a group of closely related languages spoken by the Tani people in the northeastern region of India, primarily in the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. These languages belong to the Sino-Tibetan family and include several major dialects such as in Mising people, Mising, Galo people, Galo, Apatani people, Apatani, Adi people, Adi, Tagin people, Tagin, and Nyishi people, Nyishi. Background The Tani languages are spoken by about 2,170,500 people of Arunachal Pradesh, including the Adi people, Adi, Apatani people, Apatani, Galo people, Galo, Mising people, Mising, Nishi people, Nyishi, Tagin people, Tagin, and of the East Kameng, West Kameng, Papumpare, Lower Subansiri, Upper Subansiri, West Siang, East Siang, Upper Siang, Lower Dibang Valley and Lohit districts of Arunachal Pradesh and Dhemaji district, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur district, North Lakhimpur, Sonitpur district, Sonitpur, Majuli etc. districts of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kuki-Chin-Mizo Languages
The Kuki-Chin languages (also called Kukish or South-Central Tibeto-Burman languages) are a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family spoken in northeastern India, western Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh. Most notable Kuki-Chin-speaking ethnic groups are referred to collectively as the Zo people which includes the Mizo, Kuki, Chin and Zomi people. Kuki-Chin is alternatively called ''South-Central'' Trans-Himalayan (or ''South Central'' Tibeto-Burman) by Konnerth (2018), because of negative connotations of the term "Kuki-Chin" for many speakers of languages in this group. Kuki-Chin is sometimes placed under Kuki-Chin–Naga, a geographical rather than linguistic grouping. Geographical distribution * Northwestern ("Old Kuki"): Chandel district of Manipur, India; Tamu Township of Sagaing Region, Myanmar. * Northeastern ("Kuki-Zo"): Chandel district, Churachandpur district, Kangpokpi district, Noney district, Tamenglong district, and Tengnoupal districts of Manipu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mruic Languages
Mruic or Mru–Hkongso is a small group of Sino-Tibetan languages consisting of two languages, Mru and Anu-Hkongso. Their relationship within Sino-Tibetan is unclear. Peterson & Wright (2009)Peterson, David A. and Jonathan Wright. 2009. ''Mru-Hkongso: a new Tibeto-Burman grouping''. Paper presented at The 42nd International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics (ICSTLL 42), Chiang Mai. proposed the name ''Mru–Hkongso''. DeLancey (2021) also uses the name ''Mru–Hkongso''. Classification Matisoff (2015)Matisoff, James A. 2015''The Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus'' Berkeley: University of California.PDF classifies Mru as part of the Northeast Indian areal group, a linkage that includes Tani, Deng (Digaro), " Kuki-Chin–Naga", Meithei, Mikir, and Sal. On the other hand, Bradley (1997) classifies Mru as part of Lolo-Burmese, based on Löffler's (1966) observations that Mru shares many phonological and lexical resemblances with Lolo- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tangkhulic Languages
The Tangkhulic and Tangkhul languages are a group of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken mostly in northeastern Manipur, India. Conventionally classified as "Naga," they are not clearly related to other Naga languages, and (with Maringic) are conservatively classified as an independent Tangkhul–Maring branch of Tibeto-Burman, pending further research. The Maringic languages appear to be closely related to the Tangkhulic family, but not part of it. Languages Tangkhulic languages include: * Tangkhul (Indian Tangkhul) * Somra (Burmese Tangkhul) * Akyaung Ari * Kachai * Huishu * Tusom * Suansu * Challow * Kongai The Tangkhulic languages are not particularly close to each other. Suansu, Challow, and Kongai were only documented starting from 2019. Brown's "Southern Tangkhul" ( Southern Luhupa?) is a Kuki-Chin rather than Tangkhulic language. It has strong links with the recently discovered Sorbung language, which is also not Tangkhulic despite being spoken by ethnic Tangkhul. some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lepcha Language
Lepcha language, or Róng language ( Lepcha: ; ''Róng ríng''), is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Lepcha people in Sikkim, India and parts of West Bengal, Nepal, and Bhutan. Despite spirited attempts to preserve the language, Lepcha has already effectively been lost everywhere in favour of Nepali. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) lists Lepcha as an endangered language with the following characterization. The Lepcha language is spoken in Sikkim and Darjeeling district in West Bengal of India. The 1991 Indian census counted 39,342 speakers of Lepcha. Lepcha is considered to be one of the indigenous languages of the area in which it is spoken. Unlike most other languages of the Himalayas, the Lepcha people have their own indigenous script (the world's largest collection of old Lepcha manuscripts is kept in Leiden, with over 180 Lepcha books). Lepcha is the language of instruction in some schools in Sikkim. In comparison to o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tshangla Language
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 Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and the Pemako region of Tibet. Tshangla is the principal pre-Tibetan language of Bhutan. Classification Tshangla is frequently assumed to be close to the Tibetic languages. Bradley (2002) includes in among the East Bodish languages. Van Driem (2011), however, leaves it unclassified within Sino-Tibetan, pending further research. Bodt (2012:188-189) classifies Tshangla as a Bodish language, but notes that Tshangla (like East Bodish) is related to, but not directly descended, from Classical Tibetan. Grollmann & Gerber (2023) note that Tshangla is not particularly closely related to Bodish at all and should be placed in a separate part of the Trans-Himalayan linguistic phylum. Varieties Tshangla is a d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
