Karenic languages
Karenic | |
---|---|
Ethnicity | Karen people |
Geographic distribution | South-eastern Myanmar, Western Thailand |
Native speakers | 4.5 million (2017)[1] |
Linguistic classification | Sino-Tibetan
|
Proto-language | Proto-Karenic |
Subdivisions |
|
ISO 639-2 / 5 | kar |
Glottolog | kare1337 |
The Karen (
Classification
Because they differ from other Tibeto-Burman languages in morphology and syntax, Benedict (1972: 2–4, 129) removed the Karen languages from Tibeto-Burman in a Tibeto-Karen branch, but this is no longer accepted.[3][6]
A common geographical classification distinguishes three groups:
- Northern
- Pa’o
- Central
- The area of greatest diversity, including Kayah (Red Karen or Karenni), Kayaw (Brek), Bwe (Bghai), Geba and many more.
- Southern
- Pwo and Sgaw
Kayan (Padaung) is transitional between the northern and central groups.[7] The languages with the most speakers are Sgaw, Pwo and Pa’o.
Manson (2011)
Manson (2011) classifies the Karen languages as follows, with each primary branch characterized by phonological innovations:[8]
- Karen
- Peripheral: proto-voiceless stop initials appearing as aspirated stops (e.g. *p > pʰ)
- Pa’o
- Pwo
- Northern: merger of nasal finals (e.g. *am, *an > aɴ), merger of stop-final rhymes with the open counterpart (e.g. *aʔ, *a > a)
- Central: vowel raising (e.g. *a > ɛ)
- Eastern Kayah
- Bwe
- Paku (?)
- Geker/Kayan Geku, Gekho(?; may be Central or Southern)
- Kayaw, Manu (?; may be Central or Southern)
- Southern: merger of nasal-final rhymes, with the rhyme subsequently raised (e.g. *am, *aŋ > ɔ)
- Paku
- Dermuha, Palaychi
The classifications of Geker, Gekho, Kayaw, and Manu are ambiguous, as they may be either Central or Southern.
Shintani (2012)
However, at the time of publication,
The Nangki (sometimes called Langki), documented in Shintani (2016), is one of the Kayan languages belonging to the Kakhaung subgroup. It is spoken only in one village.
Kadaw is spoken in
Below is a classification of the Karenic languages by Hsiu (2019) based on a phylogenetic analysis of Shintani's published lexical data. The results support the overall structure of Shintani's (2012) classification.[16]
- Karenic
- Pa'o
- Northern
- Southern
- Karen
- Kayan (Padaungic)
- Kayin Phyu
- Yathu Gekho
- Thaidai
- Padaung cluster: Padaung, Yinbaw, Kangan ("lowland") Kayan, Kakhaung ("highland") Kayan
- Gekhocluster: Gekho, Kadaw, Taungmying
- Nagi (Nangki) Kayan
- Latha ("North") Kayan, Zayein
- Thamidai
- Kayah (Karenni)
- West Kayah, Manaw
- Yingtalay
- Manu-Bwe
- Mopwa-Pwo-Sgaw
- Kayan (Padaungic)
Luangthongkum (2019)
Luangthongkum (2019) recognizes three branches of Proto-Karen, namely Northern, Central, and Southern, but is agnostic about how the three branches fit together.[17]
- Karenic
- Northern
- Northern Pa-O
- Southern Pa-O
- Northern
- Central
- Southern
- Northern Sgaw
- Southern Sgaw
- Northern Pwo
- Southern Pwo
- Northern
Note: Western Bwe Karen (Blimaw, Geba) preserves the implosives or preglottalised obstruents ɓ/ʔb and ɗ/ʔd, as well as voiceless sonorants such as hn, hl, and so forth.
Reconstruction
References
- ^ a b Eberhard, David M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2019). Ethnologue: Languages of the World (22nd ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.
- ^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh
- ^ ISBN 0-7007-1129-5.
- ^ "Burmese/Myanmar script and pronunciation". Omniglot.com. Retrieved 2015-05-05.
- ^ "The Sino-Tibetan Language Family". Berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2015-05-05.
- ^ .
- ISBN 978-1-138-78332-4. p. 933.
- ^ Manson, Ken (2011). "The subgrouping of Karen" (PDF). Southeast Asian Linguistics Society. Retrieved 2015-05-05.
- Shintani Tadahiko(2012). A handbook of comparative Brakaloungic languages. Tokyo: ILCAA.
- ^ Shintani Tadahiko. 2018. The Thaidai language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 116. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
- ^ Shintani Tadahiko. 2017. The Gokhu language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 111. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
- ^ Shintani, Tadahiko. 2017. The Blimaw language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 112. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
- ^ Shintani Tadahiko. 2016. The Nangki language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 109. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
- ^ a b Shintani Tadahiko. 2015. The Kadaw language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 106. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
- ^ Shintani, Tadahiko. 2020. The Thamidai language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 126. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
- ^ Hsiu, Andrew (2019). "Karenic". Sino-Tibetan Branches Project. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
- ISSN 1836-6821.
- George van Driem (2001) Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region. Brill.
Further reading
- Dawkins, Erin and Audra Phillips (2009) A Sociolinguistic Survey of Pwo Karen in Northern Thailand Chiang Mai: Payap University.
- Dawkins, Erin and Audra Phillips (2009) An investigation of intelligibility between West-Central Thailand Pwo Karen and Northern Pwo Karen. Chiang Mai: Payap University.
- Manson, Ken. 2010. A bibliography of Karen linguistics
Reconstructions
- Jones, Robert B. Jr. 1961. Karen linguistic studies: Description, comparison, and texts. University of California Publications in Linguistics 25. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
- Luangthongkum, Theraphan. 2013. A view on Proto-Karen phonology and lexicon. Unpublished ms. contributed to STEDT.
Vocabulary lists
- Shintani, Tadahiko. 2014. The Zayein language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 102. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
- Shintani, Tadahiko. 2015. The Kadaw language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 106. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
- Shintani, Tadahiko. 2016. The Nangki language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 109. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
External links
- Free Anglo-Karen Dictionary
- A grammar of the Sgaw Karen
- Drum Publication Group—Online Sgaw Karen language materials. Includes an online English - Sgaw Karen Dictionary.
- Karen Teacher Working Group—Several Karen fonts available for download.