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 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. ...
, centered on 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 ...
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 sp ...
. 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); the
Tani languages; the
Bodo–Garo languages and perhaps the
Konyak languages); the
Kukish languages (Kuki–Naga plus perhaps the
Karbi language, the
Meitei language and 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 censu ...
); and the
Burmish languages (
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 ...
, 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
Sino-Tibetan languages
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. ...
. Matisoff includes Bodish and West Himalayish with the
Lepcha language 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.
References
Further reading
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{{Sino-Tibetan branches
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