Khasic languages

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.

• Proto-Khasian
  • War (Amwi, Mnar)
  • Proto–Pnar-Khasi-Lyngngam
    • Lyngngam (former Garo-speakers)
    • Template:Tree list/branching
      • Pnar (Jaintia)
      • Khasi
      • Maharam (Maram)

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).

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).

English gloss	Proto-Khasian	Lyngngam	Maram	Khasi	Pnar	Mnar	War
cooked rice	*ʤaː	ʥa	ʤa	ja	ʤa	ci	ʧi
moon	*bnəːj	bni	bne	bnai	bnaj	pni	pnʊ
to sing	*rwəːj	rəŋwi	rwej	rwái	rwaj	–	rvʊ
four	*saːw	saw	saw	sáw	so	sɔu	ria
river	*waʔ	–	waɁ	wah	waɁ	waɁ	waɁ
all	*barɔɁ	prok	barɔʔ	baroh	warɔʔ	–	bərɒʔ
pig	*sniaŋ	sɲaŋ	sniaŋ	sniang	sniaŋ	cʰɲaŋ	rniŋ
sand	*ʧʔiap	ʥʔep	ʧiʔɛp	shyiap	ʧʔiap	ʃʔip	ʃʔiap
to drink	*di:ʔ/c	dec	dɔc	dih	diʔ	deʔ	deʔ
flower/star	*kʰloːr	kʰlor	kʰlɔr	khlúr	kʰlor	–	khlʊə
tongue	*tʰnləːc	təloc	tʰl̩let	thyllied	tʰl̩leɟ	kʰlut	kʰlit
ice/freeze	*tʰaʔ	tʰaʔ	tʰaʔ	thah	tʰaʔ	tʰaʔ	tʰaʔ

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

	Masculine	Feminine	Plural
1st person	*ŋa (topic/oblique); *ʔɔ (default)	*ŋa (topic/oblique); *ʔɔ (default)	*ʔi
2nd person	*me	*pʰa	*pʰi
3rd person (animate)	*ʔu	*ka	*ki
3rd person (inanimate ~ diminutive)	*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

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.

• Pre-Khasian *b- > *p-, *ɓ- > *b- chain shift
  • Proto-Austroasiatic *b- > proto-Khasian *p-
  • Proto-Austroasiatic *ɓ- > proto-Khasian *b-
• Pre-Khasian *d- > *t-, * ɗ- > *d- chain shift
  • Proto-Austroasiatic *d- > proto-Khasian *t-
  • Proto-Austroasiatic *ɗ- > proto-Khasian *d-
• Pre-Khasian *-l > *-n/*-Ø
• Pre-Khasian *-h > *-s > *-t
• Pre-Khasian *-ʔ > *-Ø >, *-k > *-ʔ chain shift
• Pre-Khasian *g- > *k-

See also

• List of Proto-Khasian reconstructions (Wiktionary)

References

• Sidwell, Paul. 2011. Proto-Khasian and Khasi-Palaungic. Journal of the South East Asia linguistics society Template:Webarchive, Vol. 4.2, pages 144-168, December 2011.
• Sidwell, Paul. 2011b. Proto-Khasian (or -War-Khasi); reconstruction and classification. Presented at SEALS 21, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand.
• Sidwell, Paul. 2018. The Khasian Languages: Classification, Reconstruction, and Comparative Lexicon. Languages of the World 58. Munich: Lincom Europa. Template:ISBN

External links

• Khasian Languages Project (by Paul Sidwell)