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)^[1] on the basis of shared morphological evidence.

DeLancey (2018)^[2] 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

• Bodo–Garo
• Lushai-Naga
• Meitei
• Meyor

DeLancey (2015) also considers the possibility of the Nungish branch being part of Central Tibeto-Burman. However, James Matisoff (2013)^[4] considers similarities between Jingpho and Nungish to be due to contact. Thus, Nungish is not particularly closely related to Jingpho, and is not a Sal language. On the other hand, Matisoff (2013) notes that Lolo-Burmese, particularly Burmish, appears to be more closely related to Nungish than to Jingpho.

Taking all of these language branches into account results in Central Tibeto-Burman consisting of the Meyor, Sal, and Kuki-Chin–Naga groupings, and possibly Nungish. Question marks (?) signify uncertain or unconfirmed membership of a language group within Central Tibeto-Burman.

Central Tibeto-Burman

• Nungish?
• Meyor–Miju
• Sal (Bodo-Konyak-Jinghpaw)
  • Bodo–Garo
  • Konyak
  • Kachin–Luic
  • Dhimal
    ?
• Kuki-Chin–Naga
  • Kuki-Chin
  • Ao?
  • Angami–Pochuri?
  • Tangkhulic?
  • Zeme
    ?

Evidence

DeLancey (2015) lists the following morphological features shared by different Central Tibeto-Burman subgroups.

Jinghpaw and Nocte-Tangsa

• Cislocative
  r- verbal operator
• Perfective glottalization

Jinghpaw and Northwest Kuki-Chin (Monsang-Moyon)

• Change-of-state s- prefix on agreement words
• Plural m- prefix on agreement words
• Copula ni as a verbal operator

Furthermore, Monsang-Moyon (Northwest Kuki-Chin), Nocte-Tangsa, and Meyor all share a k- copula.

References