Khasic languages

Quality 0.50 · 3 views · Updated 2 months ago

Family of Austroasiatic languages native to the Shillong Plateau

title: "Khasic languages" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["khasian-languages"] description: "Family of Austroasiatic languages native to the Shillong Plateau" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khasic_languages" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Family of Austroasiatic languages native to the Shillong Plateau ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox language family"]

FieldValue
nameKhasic
regionIndia, Bangladesh
familycolorAustroasiatic
fam2Khasi–Palaungic
protonameProto-Khasic
glottokhas1268
glottorefnameKhasian
mapcaptionMap of the Khasic languages
mapKhasic Map.png
::

| name = Khasic | region = India, Bangladesh | familycolor = Austroasiatic | fam2 = Khasi–Palaungic | protoname = Proto-Khasic | glotto = khas1268 | glottorefname = Khasian | mapcaption = Map of the Khasic languages | map = Khasic Map.png

The Khasic or Khasian languages are a family of Austroasiatic languages native to the Shillong Plateau and spoken by the Khasi, Pnar and other related ethnic groups. Most of them reside in the northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya where Khasi speakers form a plurality of the population. Smaller Khasic-speaking pockets are found in Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Sylhet Division of Bangladesh.

Languages

Sidwell (2018: 27–31) classifies the Khasian languages as follows.

Varieties called Bhoi are dialects of both Pnar and Khasi.

External relationships

Paul Sidwell (2011) suggests that Khasian is closely related to Palaungic, forming a Khasi–Palaungic branch.

The following eight Khasian-Palaungic isoglosses have been identified by Sidwell (2018: 32).

::data[format=table] | Gloss | Proto-Khasian (Sidwell 2018) | Proto-Palaungic (Sidwell 2015) | |---|---|---| | blood | *snaːm | *snaːm | | claw/nail | *trʧʰiːm | *rənsiːm | | hair | *sɲuʔ | *ɲuk | | man/husband | trmɛ (Amwi) | *-meʔ | | rain | *slap; slɛ (Amwi) | *clɛʔ | | swim | *ɟŋiː | *ŋɔj | | two | *ʔaːr | *ləʔaːr | | water | *ʔum | *ʔoːm | ::

Lexical innovations

Sidwell (2018: 23) lists the following Khasian lexical innovations (i.e., defining lexical forms) that are found exclusively in the Khasian branch, but not in other Austroasiatic branches). ::data[format=table]

English glossProto-KhasianLyngngamMaramKhasiPnarMnarWarcooked ricemoonto singfourriverallpigsandto drinkflower/startongueice/freeze
*ʤaːʥaʤajaʤaciʧi
*bnəːjbnibnebnaibnajpnipnʊ
*rwəːjrəŋwirwejrwáirwaj–rvʊ
*saːwsawsawsáwsosɔuria
*waʔ–waɁwahwaɁwaɁwaɁ
*barɔɁprokbarɔʔbarohwarɔʔ–bərɒʔ
*sniaŋsɲaŋsniaŋsniangsniaŋcʰɲaŋrniŋ
*ʧʔiapʥʔepʧiʔɛpshyiapʧʔiapʃʔipʃʔiap
*di:ʔ/cdecdɔcdihdiʔdeʔdeʔ
*kʰloːrkʰlorkʰlɔrkhlúrkʰlor–khlʊə
*tʰnləːctəloctʰl̩letthylliedtʰl̩leɟkʰlutkʰlit
*tʰaʔtʰaʔtʰaʔthahtʰaʔtʰaʔtʰaʔ
::

Reconstruction

Proto-Khasian and Proto-Pnar-Khasi-Lyngngam have been reconstructed by Paul Sidwell (2018). Proto-Khasian is estimated to have originated about 2,000-2,500 years ago, with War splitting from other Khasian linguistic varieties about 1,500 years ago (Sidwell 2018: 20).

Proto-Khasian morphology includes a causative *pN- prefix and verbalizing *-r- infix (Sidwell 2018: 66-67).

The following reconstructed paradigmatic and closed class morphemes in Proto-Khasian are from Sidwell (2018: 51-67).

;Personal pronouns ::data[format=table] | Masculine | Feminine | Plural | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person (animate) | 3rd person (inanimate ~ diminutive) | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | *ŋa (topic/oblique); *ʔɔ (default) | *ŋa (topic/oblique); *ʔɔ (default) | *ʔi | | | | | | *me | *pʰa | *pʰi | | | | | | *ʔu | *ka | *ki | | | | | | *ʔi | *ʔi | *ʔi | | | | | ::

;Demonstratives

  • *ni 'proximal'
  • *tu 'mesiodistal'
  • *taj 'distal (visible)'
  • *te 'mesioproximal'
  • *tɛ 'distal (non-visible)'

;Negators

  • *ʔǝm 'not'
  • *ham 'do not'
  • *ta 'not'

;Prepositions/case markers

  • *ha 'locative/oblique'
  • *ʤɔŋ 'to possess'
  • *da 'instrumental'
  • *ba (?) 'and/with'
  • *tV 'oblique'

;Tense/aspect morphemes

  • *la:j 'to go'
  • *dɛp 'finish'
  • *diʔ 'to go'
  • *daː 'have'
  • *ʤuʔ 'same'

;Morphological affixes

  • *pN- 'prefix'
  • *-r- 'verbalizer'

;Numerals ::data[format=table] | Gloss | Proto-Khasian | Proto-Pnar- Khasi-Lyngngam | |---|---|---| | one | *wiː~*miː | | | one | *ʧiː | | | two | *ʔaːr | | | three | *laːj | | | four | *saːw | | | five | *san | | | six | *tʰruː | | | seven | | *ʰnɲəw | | eight | | *pʰraː | | nine | | *kʰndaːj | | ten | *pʰəw | | ::

Sound changes

Sidwell (2018) lists the following sound changes from Pre-Khasian (i.e., the ancestral stage of Khasian that preceded Proto-Khasian) to Proto-Khasian.

References

References

  1. Sidwell, Paul. "Khasian Languages Project".
  2. Sidwell, Paul. 2015. ''[http://chl.anu.edu.au/research/publications/518/palaungic-languages-classification-reconstruction-and-comparative-lexicon The Palaungic Languages: Classification, Reconstruction and Comparative Lexicon] {{Webarchive. link. (2019-10-23 ''. München: Lincom Europa.)

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

khasian-languages