Tangkhulic languages

Tangkhulic
Tangkhulic
Geographic; distribution	Tibeto-Burman Central Tibeto-Burman (?) Kuki-Chin–Naga Tangkhul–Maring Tangkhulic; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	sino1246

The Tangkhulic and Tangkhul languages are a group of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken mostly in northeastern Manipur, India. Conventionally classified as "Naga," they are not clearly related to other Naga languages, and (with Maringic) are conservatively classified as an independent Tangkhul–Maring branch of Tibeto-Burman, pending further research.

The Maringic languages appear to be closely related to the Tangkhulic family, but not part of it.

Languages

Tangkhulic languages include:

Tangkhul (Indian Tangkhul)
Somra (Burmese Tangkhul)
Akyaung Ari
Kachai
Huishu
Tusom
Suansu
Challow
Kongai

The Tangkhulic languages are not particularly close to each other. Suansu, Challow, and Kongai were only documented starting from 2019.^[1]

Brown's "Southern Tangkhul" (

Tangkhul area have language more closely related to the Angami-Pochuri

language group.

Makuri, and Para are "Naga" languages spoken in and around Leshi Township, Myanmar. These four languages could possibly classify as Tangkhulic languages or Ao languages.^[3]

Classification

Mortensen (2003:5) classifies the Tangkhulic languages as follows.

Tangkhulic
Northern: Huishu

North-Central: Champhung

East-Central
Eastern
Kachai

Phadāng

Central
Standard Tangkhul

Ukhrul

Southern
Brown's 'Central Tangkhul'

South-Central
Khangoi

Brown's 'Northern Tangkhul'

Reconstruction

Proto-Tangkhulic, the reconstructed ancestral proto-language of the Tangkhulic languages, has been reconstructed by Mortensen (2012).^[4]

Mortensen (2003:5-7)

Proto-Tibeto-Burman

(PTB) to Proto-Tangkhulic.

PTB
*s- > *th-; PTB *ts-, *sy- > *s-
PTB *dz-, *dzy-, *tsy- > *ts-
PTB *ky-, *gy- > *ʃ-
PTB *kr-, *tsy- > *c-
Neutralization of vowel length distinctions in non-low vowels
Dissimilation of aspiration in prefixes

Proto-Tangkhulic also has the nominalizing prefix *kV-.^[5]

Proto-Tangkhulic

lexical innovations are:^[5]

*war ‘mushroom’ (found exclusively in Tangkhulic)

*kɔ.phuŋ ‘mountain’ (found exclusively in Tangkhulic)

*kɔ.mi ‘to give’ (found exclusively in Tangkhulic)

*khaj ‘fish’ (also found in some
Zeme and Angami
languages)

*pan ‘hand’ (also found in some Zeme languages)

*pej ‘foot’ (also found in some Zeme and Angami languages)

References

^ IVANI, Jessica K & ZAKHARKO, Taras. 2023. Linguistic diversity in North-East India: a comparative look at neighboring languages Suansu, Kongai and Challow. 26th Himalayan Languages Symposium, 4-6 September 2023. Paris: INALCO.
^ David Mortenson and Jennifer Keogh. 2011. Sorbung, an Undocumented Language of Manipur: its Phonology and Place in Tibeto-Burman. In JEALS 4, vol 1. http://jseals.org/JSEALS-4-1.pdf
^ Barkman, Tiffany. 2014. A descriptive grammar of Jejara (Para Naga). MA thesis, Chiang Mai: Payap University.
^ Mortensen, David R. 2012. Database of Tangkhulic Languages. (unpublished ms. contributed to STEDT).
^ ^a ^b ^c Mortensen, David R. (2003). “Comparative Tangkhul.” Unpublished Qualifying Paper, UC Berkeley.

George van Driem (2001) Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region. Brill.
Mortensen, David R. and James A. Miller (2013). “A reconstruction of Proto-Tangkhulic rhymes.” Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 36(1): 1-32.
Mortensen, David R. (2012). Database of Tangkhulic Languages. (unpublished ms. contributed to STEDT).
Mortensen, David R. (2003). “Comparative Tangkhul.” Unpublished Qualifying Paper, UC Berkeley.
Mortensen, David. 2014. The Tangkhulic Tongues - How I Started Working on Endangered Languages.

[1] IVANI, Jessica K & ZAKHARKO, Taras. 2023. Linguistic diversity in North-East India: a comparative look at neighboring languages Suansu, Kongai and Challow. 26th Himalayan Languages Symposium, 4-6 September 2023. Paris: INALCO.

[2] David Mortenson and Jennifer Keogh. 2011. Sorbung, an Undocumented Language of Manipur: its Phonology and Place in Tibeto-Burman. In JEALS 4, vol 1. http://jseals.org/JSEALS-4-1.pdf

[3] Barkman, Tiffany. 2014. A descriptive grammar of Jejara (Para Naga). MA thesis, Chiang Mai: Payap University.

[Mortensen2012-4] Mortensen, David R. 2012. Database of Tangkhulic Languages. (unpublished ms. contributed to STEDT).

[Mortensen2003-5] Mortensen, David R. (2003). “Comparative Tangkhul.” Unpublished Qualifying Paper, UC Berkeley.

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