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 Sino-Tibetan (also referred to as Trans-Himalayan) is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. Around 1.4 billion people speak a Sino-Tibetan language. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 ...

, centered on the

Tibetic languages The Tibetic languages form a well-defined group of languages descending from Old Tibetan.Tournadre, Nicolas. 2014. "The Tibetic languages and their classification." In ''Trans-Himalayan linguistics, historical and descriptive linguistics of the ...

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 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 spe ...

. 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 language Newar (; , ) is a Sino-Tibetan languages, Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Newar people, the indigenous inhabitants of Nepal Mandala, which consists of the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding regions in Nepal. The language is known officially ...

); the Tani languages; the Bodo–Garo languages and perhaps the Konyak languages); the

Kukish languages The Kuki-Chin languages (also called Kukish or South-Central Tibeto-Burman languages) are a branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages, Sino-Tibetan language family spoken in northeastern India, western Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh. Most not ...

(Kuki–Naga plus perhaps the Karbi language, the

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 ...

and the

Mru language Mru, also known as Mrung (Murung), is a Sino-Tibetan languages, Sino-Tibetan language of Bangladesh and Myanmar. It is spoken by a community of Mru people, Mrus (Mros) inhabiting the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh with a population of 22 ...

); and the

Burmish languages The Burmish languages are a subgroup of the Sino-Tibetan languages consisting of Burmese (including Standard Burmese, Arakanese, and other Burmese dialects such as the Tavoyan dialects) as well as non-literary languages spoken across Myanmar an ...

(

Lolo-Burmese languages The Lolo-Burmese languages (also Burmic languages) of Burma and Southern China form a coherent branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages, Sino-Tibetan family. Names Until ca. 1950, the endonym ''Lolo'' was written with Graphic pejoratives in written C ...

, perhaps also the Nung language and Trung). Matisoff (1978, 2003) largely follows Benedict's scheme, stressing the teleological value of identifying related characteristics over mapping detailed family trees in the study of Tibeto-Burman and

. Matisoff includes Bodish and West Himalayish with the

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 ...

as a third branch. He unites these at a higher level with Mahakiranti as ''Himalayish.'' Van Driem (2001) notes that the Bodish, West Himalayish, and Tamangic languages (but not Benedict's other families) appear to have a common origin. Bradley (1997) takes much the same approach but words things differently: he incorporates West Himalayish and Tamangic as branches within his "Bodish", which thus becomes close to Tibeto-Kanauri. This and his ''Himalayan'' family constitute his Bodic family.

Conceptions of Tibeto-Kanauri

References

Further reading