Classification of Southeast Asian languages
There have been various classification schemes for Southeast Asian languages (see the articles for the respective language families). Language families include:
A number of language groups in Arunachal Pradesh traditionally considered to be Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman) may in fact constitute independent language families or isolates (Roger Blench 2011). (See Language isolates and independent language families in Arunachal)
Macrofamilies
Austro-Tai links the Austronesian and Tai-Kadai languages. Austric links the languages of Southeast Asia apart from Sino-Tibetan. Sagart proposes instead Sino-Austronesian, linking Austronesian and Sino-Tibetan; Starosta proposed a family called East Asian that covered both this and Austric. Genetic similarities between the peoples of East and Southeast Asia have led some to speculate about "Haplogroup O" languages. In a different direction, the Dené–Caucasian hypothesis links Sino-Tibetan to languages of Siberia (Dene–Yeniseian) and the Caucasus.
Proto-languages
- Proto-Austronesian [1] [2]
- Proto-Tai–Kadai language
- Proto-Austroasiatic language
- Proto-Mon–Khmer [15][16]
- Proto-Munda language
- Proto-Sino-Tibetan language
- Proto-Hmong–Mien [20]
Comparison
The following table compares the phonemic inventories of various recently reconstructed proto-languages of Southeast Asia.
| Proto-language | Proto-Kra | Proto-Tai | Proto-Hlai | Proto-S. Tai–Kadai | Proto-Austronesian | Proto-Tibeto-Burman | Proto-Mon–Khmer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source | Ostapirat (2000) | Pittayaporn (2009)[1] | Norquest (2007)[2] | Norquest (2007)[2] | Blust (2009)[3] | Matisoff (2003)[4] | Shorto (2006)[5] |
| Consonants | 32 | 33–36 | 32 | 28–29 | 25 | 23 | 21 |
| Vowels | 6 | 7 | 4–5 | 5–7 | 4 | 5–6 | 7 |
| Diphthongs | 4 | 5 | – | 1+ | 4 | 2+ | 3 |
| Consonantal finals | 7 | 10–11 | – | – | – | 6 | – |
| Vowel length contrast |
No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Maps of language families
-
Distribution of Sino-Tibetan -
Distribution of Hmong–Mien -
Distribution of Tai–Kadai -
Distribution of Austronesian – Greenhill, Blust & Gray (2008) -
Distribution of Austroasiatic
See also
- Languages of China
- Haplogroup O (Y-DNA)#Languages families and genes
- SEAlang library
- Writing systems of Southeast Asia
- Category:Linguists of the Southeast Asian languages
- Category:Linguists of the Austronesian languages
External links
- Hartmann, John (Professor of Thai). "Outline: Spoken and Written Languages of Southeast Asia." Northern Illinois University.
- Migliazza, Brian. 2004. Southeast Asia Language Families.
Sino-Tibetan branches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Himalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim) |
|  | |||
| Eastern Himalayas (Tibet, Bhutan, Arunachal) | |||||
| Myanmar and Indo- Burmese border |
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| East and Southeast Asia |
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| Dubious (possible isolates) (Arunachal) |
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| Proposed groupings | |||||
| Proto-languages | |||||
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches. | |||||
| Major groups |  | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard forms | |||||||||
| Phonology | |||||||||
| Grammar | |||||||||
| Idioms | |||||||||
| Input | |||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| Literary forms |
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| Scripts |
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| Sovereign states |
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| States with limited recognition | |
| Dependencies and other territories | |
Notes
- ^ Pittayaporn, Pittayawat. 2009. The Phonology of Proto-Tai. Ph.D. dissertation. Department of Linguistics, Cornell University.
- ^ a b Norquest, Peter K. 2007. A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Hlai. Ph.D. dissertation. Tucson: Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona.
- ^ Blust, Robert A. 2009. The Austronesian Languages. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. ISBN 0-85883-602-5, ISBN 978-0-85883-602-0.
- ^ Matisoff, James. 2003. Handbook of Proto-Tibeto-Burman: System and Philosophy of Sino-Tibetan Reconstruction. University of California publications in linguistics, v. 135. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- ^ Shorto, Harry L., et al. 2006. A Mon–Khmer Comparative Dictionary. Canberra: Australian National University. Pacific Linguistics. ISBN 0-85883-570-3.