Kuki-Chin languages
Kuki-Chin | |
---|---|
Kukish | |
Ethnicity | Kuki, Mizo, Zomi, Naga, Mara,Chin |
Geographic distribution | India, Burma, Bangladesh |
Linguistic classification | Sino-Tibetan
|
Subdivisions | |
Glottolog | kuki1246 (Kuki-Chin) karb1240 (Karbic) |
The Kuki-Chin languages are a branch of 50 or so Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in northeastern India, western Burma and eastern Bangladesh. Most speakers of these languages are known as Kukī in Assamese and as Chin in Burmese; some also identify as Lushei. Mizo is the most widely spoken of the Kuki-Chin languages.
Kuki-Chin is sometimes placed under Kuki-Chin–Naga, a geographical rather than linguistic grouping.
Most Kuki-Chin languages are spoken in and around Chin State, Burma, with some languages spoken in Sagaing Division, Magway Region and Rakhine State as well. In Northeast India, many Northern Kuki-Chin languages are also spoken in Mizoram State and southern Manipur State, India, especially in Churachandpur District. Northerwestern Kuki-Chin languages are spoken mostly in Chandel District, Manipur.
Kuki-Chin is alternatively called South-Central Trans-Himalayan (or South Central Tibeto-Burman) by Konnerth (2018).[1]
Internal classification
The Karbi languages may be closely related to Kuki-Chin, but Thurgood (2003) and van Driem (2011) leave Karbi unclassified within Sino-Tibetan.[2][3]
The Kuki-Chin branches listed below are from VanBik (2009), with the Northwestern branch added from Scott DeLancey, et al. (2015),[4] and the Khomic branch (which has been split off from the Southern branch) from Peterson (2017).[5]
- Kuki-Chin
- Central: Mizo (Lushai), Bawm (Sunthla and Panghawi), Tawr, Hmar, Hakha (Lai Pawi,Mi-E,Zokhua), Pangkhua
- Maraic: Mara (Tlosai,Hawthai,Zyhno,Sizo,Heima,Lialai), Zyphe, Senthang, Zotung, Lautu
- Northern: Falam (Hallam, incl. Laizo, Zahao,Simpi, Chorei), Suantak-Vaiphei, Hrangkhol, Zo (Zou), Biate (Bete), Paite, Tedim (Tiddim), Thado (Kuki), Chiru, Gangte, Simte, Vaiphei, Siyin (Sizaang), Ralte, Ngawn
- Southern: Shö (Asho/Khyang, Bualkhaw, Chinbon), Thaiphum, Daai (Nitu), Mün, Matu, Welaung (Rawngtu), Kaang, Laitu, Rungtu, Songlai, Sumtu
- Khomic: Khumi (Khumi proper and Khumi Awa), Mro, Rengmitca, etc.
- Northwestern: Monsang (Naga), Moyon (Naga), Lamkang (Naga), Aimol–Saihriem, Anal (Naga), Tarao (Naga), Koireng (Kolhreng), Kom, Chothe (Naga), Mongmi Maring, Sorbung, Purum (Naga),[5] Kharam (Naga),[5] etc.
Other unclassified Kuki-Chin languages include Darlong and Ranglong.
The recently discovered Sorbung language may be mixed language that could classify as either a Kuki-Chin or Tangkhul language (Mortenson & Keogh 2011).[6]
Anu-Hkongso speakers self-identify as ethnic Chin people, although their language is closely related to Mru rather than to Kuki-Chin languages. The Mruic languages constitute a separate Tibeto-Burman branch, and are not part of Kuki-Chin.[5]
VanBik (2009)
Kenneth VanBik's (2009:23) classified the Kuki-Chin languages based on shared sound changes (phonological innovations) from Proto-Kuki-Chin as follows.
Kuki-Chin
- Central: *k(ʰ)r-, *p(ʰ)r- > *t(ʰ)r-; *k(ʰ)l-, *p(ʰ)l- > *t(ʰ)l-; *y- > *z-
- Maraic: *kr- > *ts-; *-ʔ, *-r, *-l > -Ø; *-p, *-t, *-k > *-ʔ
- Peripheral: *r- > *g-
Peterson (2024)
David A. Peterson's (2017:206)[5] internal classification of the Kuki-Chin languages is as follows.
- Kuki-Chin
- Northwestern: Purum (Naga), Koireng, Monsang (Naga), etc.
- Central
- Peripheral
Peterson's Northeastern branch corresponds to VanBik's Northern branch, while Peterson's Northwestern corresponds to the Old Kuki branch of earlier classifications.
See also
- Lai languages
- Pau Cin Hau script
- Kuki-Chin Swadesh lists (Wiktionary)
Notes
- ^ Konnerth, Linda. 2018. The historical phonology of Monsang (Northwestern South-Central/“Kuki-Chin”): A case of reduction in phonological complexity. Himalayan Linguistics, Vol. 17(1): 19-49.
- ^ Thurgood, Graham (2003) "A subgrouping of the Sino-Tibetan languages: The interaction between language contact, change, and inheritance." In G. Thurgood and R. LaPolla, eds., The Sino-Tibetan languages, pp. 13–14. London: Routledge, ISBN 978-0-7007-1129-1.
- ^ van Driem, George L. (2011a), "Tibeto-Burman subgroups and historical grammar", Himalayan Linguistics Journal, 10 (1): 31–39, archived from the original on 12 January 2012.
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suggested) (help) - ^ DeLancey, Scott; Krishna Boro; Linda Konnerth1; Amos Teo. 2015. Tibeto-Burman Languages of the Indo-Myanmar borderland. 31st South Asian Languages Analysis Roundtable, 14 May 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Peterson, David. 2017. "On Kuki-Chin subgrouping." In Picus Sizhi Ding and Jamin Pelkey, eds. Sociohistorical linguistics in Southeast Asia: New horizons for Tibeto-Burman studies in honor of David Bradley, 189-209. Leiden: Brill.
- ^ David Mortenson and Jennifer Keogh. 2011. "Sorbung, an Undocumented Language of Manipur: its Phonology and Place in Tibeto-Burman", in JEALS 4, vol 1.
References
- George van Driem (2001) Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region. Brill, ISBN 978-90-04-12062-4.
- VanBik, Kenneth. 2009. Proto-Kuki-Chin: A Reconstructed Ancestor of the Kuki-Chin Languages. STEDT Monograph 8. ISBN 0-944613-47-0.
Further reading
- Button, Christopher. 2011. Proto Northern Chin. STEDT Monograph 10. ISBN 0-944613-49-7. http://stedt.berkeley.edu/pubs_and_prods/STEDT_Monograph10_Proto-Northern-Chin.pdf
- Hill, Nathan W. (2014). "Proto-Kuki-Chin initials according to Toru Ohno and Kenneth VanBik". Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society. 7: 11–30.
- Lam Thang, Khoi (2001). A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto Chin (PDF) (MA thesis). Chiang Mai: Payap University.
- Mann, Noel, and Wendy Smith. 2008. Chin bibliography. Chiang Mai: Payap University.
- S. Dal Sian Pau. 2014. The comparative study of Proto-Zomi (Kuki-Chin) languages. Lamka, Manipur, India: Zomi Language & Literature Society (ZOLLS). [Comparative word list of Paite, Simte, Thangkhal, Zou, Kom, Tedim, and Vaiphei]
- Smith, Wendy and Noel Mann. 2009. Chin bibliography with selected annotations. Chiang Mai: Payap University.
- VanBik, Kenneth (2009). Proto-Kuki-Chin: A Reconstructed Ancestor of the Kuki-Chin Languages. STEDT Monograph. Vol. 8. ISBN 0-944613-47-0.