Karenic languages

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The Karen or Karenic languages are tonal languages spoken by some seven million Karen people. They are of unclear affiliation within the Sino-Tibetan languages. The Karen languages are written using the Burmese script. The three main branches are Sgaw, Pwo, and Pa'o. Karenni (also known as Kayah or Red Karen) and Kayan (also known as Padaung) are related to the Sgaw branch. 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. This is likely due to influence from neighboring Mon and Tai languages.

Video Karenic languages

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.

The internal structure of the family is as follows:

Pa'o
Pwo (Eastern, Western, Northern, Phrae Pwo)
Sgaw-Bghai
- Bghai: Lahta, Padaung (Kayan), Bwe (Bghai), Geko, Geba
- Brek (Bwe)
- Kayah: Eastern Kayah, Western Kayah, Yintale, Manumanaw
- Sgaw: Sgaw, Paku Karen, Mopwa

Manson (2011)

Manson (2011) classifies the Karen languages as follows, with each primary branch characterized by phonological innovations:

Karen

Peripheral: proto-voiced stop initials appearing as aspirated stops (e.g. *p > p?)
- Pa'o
- Pwo
Northern: merger of nasal finals (e.g. *am, *an > a?), merger of stop-final rhymes with the open counterpart (e.g. *a?, *a > a)
- Kayan
- Lahta
- Yinbaw
- Yintale
Central: vowel raising (e.g. *a > ?)
- Western Kayah, Eastern Kayah
- Geba, Bwe
- Paku (?)
- Geker, 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, *a? > ?)
- Sgaw, Paku
- Dermuha, Palaychi

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

Shintani (2012)

Shintani Tadahiko (2012:x) 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.

Brakaloungic

Pao
- Pao
Karen
- Kayah-Padaung
  - Kayah
  - Pado-Thaido-Gekho
    - Thaidai
    - Pado-Gekho
      - Gekho
      - Padaung
        Padaung (Kayan)
        
        Gekho (Yathu Gekho)
- Bwe
  - Bweba-Kayaw
    - Kayaw
    - Bweba
      - Geba
      - Bwe
- Sgaw-Pwo
  - Pwo
  - Mobwa
    - Mopwa
    - Blimaw
  - Pako-Sgaw
    - Sgaw
    - Pakubwa
      - Paku
      - Monebwa
      - Thalebwa

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), 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. It has more Burmese than Shan influence.

Maps Karenic languages

Tones

Ken Manson (2009) reconstructs three proto-Karen tonal categories *A, *B and *B' for syllables with vocalic or nasal codas, and a fourth category *C for syllables with a glottal stop coda. These tones subsequently split in different ways in different subgroups, conditioned by the manner of the initial consonant. Manson gave a sample of diagnostic words for use during field elicitation to classify Karenic languages:

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Sound changes

Theraphan Luangthongkum lists the following sound changes that had taken place during the transition from Proto-Tibeto-Burman (PTB; James Matisoff's reconstruction) to Proto-Karenic (PK; Luangthongkum's own reconstruction).

Retention of the PTB low central vowel *a in PK
Retention of the PTB final nasals *-m, *-n, *-? in PK
PTB *voiced onsets > PK *voiceless or *glottalised onsets
PTB prefix *s- followed by a stem with *voiced sonorant > PK *voiceless initials
PTB *voiceless unaspirated stop initials > PK *voiceless aspirated stop initials
PTB voiced rhotic *-r > PK *-Ø
PTB *voiceless alveolar fricative *-s > PK *voiceless alveolar stop *-t
PTB *voiceless stop finals have remained *voiceless stop or have become glottal stop *-? in PK
PTB high back vowel *u > PK mid back vowel *o (vowel lowering)
PTB off-gliding rhyme *-iy > PK monophthong *-i
PTB off-gliding rhyme *-ey > PK monophthong *-e
PTB off-gliding rhymes *-ay and *-a:y > PK monophthong *-e
PTB off-gliding rhyme *-?y > PK off-gliding rhyme *-ej(ey)
PTB *prefix-stem and/or *-infix-stem > PK *CC-

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References

George van Driem (2001) Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region. Brill.

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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.

Source of the article : Wikipedia

Karenic languages

Jumat, 18 Mei 2018