Karenic languages explained

Karenic
Map:Karen languages map.svg
Region:South-eastern Myanmar, Western Thailand
Ethnicity:Karen people
Familycolor:Sino-Tibetan
Fam2:Tibeto-Burman
Child1:Sgaw
Child2:Pa'O
Child3:Pwo
Protoname:Proto-Karenic
Iso2:kar
Glotto:kare1337
Glottorefname:Karenic
Speakers:4.5 million
Date:2017
Ref:[1]

The Karen [2] or Karenic languages are tonal languages spoken by some 4.5 million Karen people.[1] They are of unclear affiliation within the Sino-Tibetan languages.[3] The Karen languages are written using the Karen script.[4] The three main branches are Sgaw (commonly known as Karen), Pwo and Pa'O. Karenni (also known as Kayah or Red Karen) and Kayan (also known as Padaung) are a branch of Karen languages. They are unusual among the Sino-Tibetan languages in having a subject–verb–object word order; other than Karen, Bai and the Chinese languages, Sino-Tibetan languages have a subject–object–verb order.[5] This is likely due to influence from neighboring Mon and Tai languages.[6]

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 SgawKayan (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

    The classifications of Geker, Gekho, Kayaw, and Manu are ambiguous, as they may be either Central or Southern.

    Shintani (2012)

    Shintani Tadahiko (2012:x)[9] gives the following tentative classification, proposed in 2002, for what he calls the "Brakaloungic" languages, of which Karen is a branch. Individual languages are marked in italics.

    However, at the time of publication, Shintani (2012) reports that there are more than 40 Brakaloungic languages and/or dialects, many of which have only been recently reported and documented. Shintani also reports that Mon influence is present in all Brakaloungic languages, while some also have significant Burmese and Shan influence.

    The Kayan languages are spoken in Kayah State, southern Shan State, and northern Karen State. There are four branches according to Shintani (2016),[13] namely Kangan ("lowland dwellers"), Kakhaung ("highland dwellers"), Lawi ("South"), and Latha ("North"). 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 Kayah State, and has nasalized vowels but no final nasal consonants.[14] It has more Burmese than Shan influence. Thamidai is yet another Karenic language.[15]

    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]

    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

    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

    See main article: Proto-Karenic language.

    References

    Further reading

    Reconstructions

    Vocabulary lists

    External links

    Notes and References

    1. Book: Eberhard . David M. . Gary F. . Simons . Charles D. . Fennig . 2019 . Ethnologue: Languages of the World . 22nd . Dallas, Texas . SIL International .
    2. Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh
    3. Book: The Sino-Tibetan Languages . Graham Thurgood, Randy J. LaPolla. 2003. Routledge. 0-7007-1129-5.
    4. Web site: Burmese/Myanmar script and pronunciation. Omniglot.com. 2015-05-05.
    5. Web site: The Sino-Tibetan Language Family. Berkeley.edu. 2015-05-05.
    6. Matisoff . James A. . Sino-Tibetan Linguistics: Present State and Future Prospects . Annual Review of Anthropology . 20 . 469–504 . Annual Reviews Inc. . 1991 . 10.1146/annurev.an.20.100191.002345.
    7. Book: Eastern Kayah Li . David . Solnit . 932–941 . The Sino-Tibetan Languages . Graham . Thurgood . Randy J. . LaPolla . Routledge . 2nd . 2017 . 978-1-138-78332-4. p. 933.
    8. Web site: The subgrouping of Karen . Ken . Manson . 2011 . Southeast Asian Linguistics Society . 2015-05-05.
    9. [Shintani Tadahiko]
    10. 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).
    11. 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).
    12. 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).
    13. 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).
    14. 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).
    15. 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).
    16. Web site: Hsiu. Andrew. Karenic. Sino-Tibetan Branches Project. 2019. 2023-03-09.
    17. Luangthongkum. Theraphan. 2019. A View on Proto-Karen Phonology and Lexicon. Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society. 12. 1. i-lii. 1836-6821. 10524/52441. free.

    This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Karenic languages".

    Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.