The Mijiic languages: distribution, dialects, wordlist and classification

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THE MIJIIC LANGUAGES: DISTRIBUTION, DIALECTS,

WORDLIST AND CLASSIFICATION

WORKING DOCUMENT ONLY

[Preferably don’t use before consulting me]

Roger Blench Kay Williamson Educational Foundation 8, Guest Road Cambridge CB1 2AL United Kingdom Voice/ Ans (00-44)-(0)1223-560687 Mobile worldwide (00-44)-(0)7847-495590 E-mail [email protected] http://www.rogerblench.info/RBOP.htm

Cambridge, 8 June, 2015

The Mijiic languages Roger Blench. Main text

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACRONYMS AND CONVENTIONS.......................................................................................................... II 1. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 General ................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Locations of Miji communities............................................................................................................. 1

2. PHONOLOGY ............................................................................................................................................ 3 2.1. Consonants............................................................................................................................................ 3 2.2 Vowels..................................................................................................................................................... 7 2.3 Tones....................................................................................................................................................... 9

3. MORPHOLOGY......................................................................................................................................... 9 4. THE CLASSIFICATION OF MIJI......................................................................................................... 12 APPENDIX: DATASHEETS....................................................................................................................... 12 TRANSCRIPTION ....................................................................................................................................... 13 BODY PARTS ............................................................................................................................................... 13 PERSONS, FAMILY .................................................................................................................................... 15 HOUSES AND ARCHITECTURE ............................................................................................................. 17 HOUSEHOLD ITEMS ................................................................................................................................. 17

Dress ........................................................................................................................................................... 18 Tools etc...................................................................................................................................................... 18

AGRICULTURE........................................................................................................................................... 19 CROPS ........................................................................................................................................................... 19 FOODS........................................................................................................................................................... 19 NATURAL WORLD .................................................................................................................................... 19 PLANT PARTS ............................................................................................................................................. 21 ANIMAL PARTS.......................................................................................................................................... 21 ANIMALS...................................................................................................................................................... 22

Domestic ..................................................................................................................................................... 22 WILD ANIMALS.......................................................................................................................................... 22

Mammals.................................................................................................................................................... 22 Insects ......................................................................................................................................................... 23 Reptiles etc. ................................................................................................................................................ 24 Fish ............................................................................................................................................................. 24

PRONOUNS .................................................................................................................................................. 24 NUMERALS.................................................................................................................................................. 25 COLOURS..................................................................................................................................................... 26 VERBS ........................................................................................................................................................... 26 REFERENCES.............................................................................................................................................. 36

TABLES Table 1. Miji consonants 3 Table 2. Miji vowels 7 Table 3. Animal names in Nafra Miji 9 Table 4. Miji and Bangru body parts with an m- prefix 10 Table 5. Lexemes shared between Miji and Bodo-Garo 12

MAPS Map 1. Western Miji villages 2 Map 2. Eastern Miji villages 2 Map 3. Bangru [Northern Miji] villages 2

The Mijiic languages Roger Blench. Main text

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FIGURES

Figure 1. Relationships of Mijiic languages 12

ACRONYMS AND CONVENTIONS

# quasi-reconstruction * regular reconstruction C consonant C1 first consonant IPA International Phonetic Association N nasal

The Mijiic languages. Roger Blench Main text

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1. Introduction

1.1 General

The language known variously as Miji, Dhammai and Sajolang is spoken in the West and East Kameng and Lower Subansiri districts of Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India. The Miji call themselves Dmay, but this name is not in common use and official publications use composites such as Sajolang (Miji). Miji will be used in the present paper as the most most widely recognised term. The only significant published information on Miji is Simon (n.d.) which is more notable for its defects than its contribution to knowedge. Simon (n.d.) is based on the Nafra dialect, the westernmost form. Grewal (1997) also has Miji data, mostly example sentences compared to Hruso, but these do not seem very reliable and are passed over here. Abraham et al. (2005) include rather wayward phonetic transcriptions of Miji words in their survey report. Christopher Weedall is working on a description of the language and has presented on it at several conferences. Weedall (submitted) in a paper on the syllable structure of Miji of Nafra puts forward a rather different view of Miji phonology from that given here, for reasons that are at present unclear. Until recently, the existence of a language known as Bangru was only rumoured. However an ethnographic thesis and subsequent report (Ramya 2011, 2012) confirms that this is a genuine ethnic group, but also that it is a language related to Miji. Hence the title of this paper, referring to the ‘Mijiic’ languages. Ramya’s transcriptions are orthographic, but the underlying similarities are easily seen when compared to Miji. Blench (2015) publishes some comparative data on Miji and Bangru in support of this assumption. Two dialects of Miji are recognised in Nafra, whose relationsip shows both regular sound-shifts and complete lexical replacement, as well as differences in tone and phonology. Some people have heard of a third ‘northern’ dialect, but information is extremely vague. However, it is clear from the data in Ramya that this is Bangru. Bangru is not close enough to Miji to be treated as a dialect, and therefore Mijiic is best seen as a small phylum. There has been some interest in developing Miji, both for mother tongue education and for scripture translation. Mr. Dorjee Sanchuju has attended courses both in Mysore and Tezpur with a view to developing a practical orthography. While some informal conventions have been developed, no formal phonological statement has been published, or perhaps even been prepared. The section on phonology makes some comments on the existing conventions. In view of the impoverished existing datase, this paper1 aims to make available an extended wordlist, and to set out some preliminary phonology and morphology on that basis. The data was all recorded, analysed and then retranscribed, making some corrections and assigning some forms to Eastern and Western dialects. Hence the printed lists do not entirely match the recorded material. The preliminary nature of the analysis should be evident.

1.2 Locations of Miji communities

Simon (n.d.) lists only the villages in the immediate area of Nafra, the Western Miji. These are all in Nafra Circle, West Kameng District. The villages identified by the present survey are shown in Map 1 which is superimposed on the Administrative Atlas of Arunachal Pradesh;

1 The data was recorded at the end of November 2011, with the kind assistance of Dorjee Sanchuju. The transcription has been done since then, and revised several times. This preliminary version is circulated for the academic community, pending checking of transcriptions and corrections.


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Map 1. Western Miji villages

Map 2 shows the Eastern Miji villages, which are part of Lada Circle, East Kameng District. Map 3 shows the Bangru or Northern Miji villages all within Sarli Circle, Lower Subansiri District, according to the information given in Nafra. The only published text on these people is Ramya (2012) who says ‘ They are seen spread in Sarli town and in a few villages viz. Bala, Lee, Lower Lichila, Upper Lichila, Machane, Milli, Molo, Nade, Namju, Palo, Rerung, Sape, Sate, Wabia, and Walu’. Many of these are not to be found on the Administrative Atlas of Arunachal Pradesh, but some of those shown are clearly the same as in Ramya’s list.

Map 2. Eastern Miji villages

Map 3. Bangru [Northern Miji] villages

SARLI


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2. Phonology

2.1. Consonants

Miji consonants are shown in Table 1; Table 1. Miji consonants

Bilabial Labio-dental

Dental Alveolar Palato-alveolar

Retroflex Palatal Velar Labial-velar

Glottal

Plosive p(ʰ) b t(ʰ) d k(ʰ) g ʔ Nasal m n ɳ ɲ ŋ Trill r Tap ɽ Fricative f(ʰ) v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ ʑ x h ɦ Affricate ʦ ʧ(ʰ) ʤ ʨ Approximant ʋ y w Lateral fricative

ɬ ɮ

Lateral l ɭ Aspiration Aspiration is heard phonetically on voiceless obstruents, thus /pʰ/, /tʰ/, /kʰ/, /ʧʰ/, but there is no evidence that this is contrastive. There are two examples of the fricative /fʰ/ with apparent aspiration;

break (cup) fʰren burn fʰram

There is no example of an initial non-aspirated /f/, so again this can be treated as non-contrastive. The glottal fricative has a voiced counterpart /ɦ/;

blow v. ɦə open ɦyuŋ

Two words have a highly atypical final -h;

breathe nətuʰharvest (beans) puʰ

Fricatives The range of fricatives is very large, and it is not clear that all of these are contrastive. Some are quite rare and it is not easy to find minimal pairs. The following sections give the sounds identified with potential examples. Alveolar fricatives /s/ and /z/

ceiling s.giã bag s.zaŋ bead sampi


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body zaʔ leg zǎy son zvə

Palatal fricative /ʑ/

house-rat nɛ ʑu thorn gʑu

Lateral fricatives /ɬ/ and /ɮ/

clothing, cloth geɬoŋfish sp. II sɬɯ

moon, month ɮǔ bring ɮɨŋ

Velar fricative /x/

disappoint d.xə Dental fricatives /θ/ and /ð/

chest mθm kʸu heart θɔŋ vyu wrist gi mpθɛ hearth θɔʔəθŋ

knee zay gðu bedbug ðoorã carry ðoy

Alveolar fricative /z/ with buzzing The /z/ is pronounced with a distinct buzzing of the tongue against the roof of the mouth. Similar sounds are still more frequent in neighbouring Hruso. I have symbolised this as z for lack of an obvious IPA representation.

lie down zə Affricates Alveolar affricate /ʦ/ The voiceless alveolar affricate /ʦ/ is almost entirely confined to large animals, which suggests that it could be treated as an allomorph of the /s/ and /ʃ/ prefixes which occur with other animals.


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barking deer ʦʦhũ bear tʦã deer ʦʦə musk deer ʦʦɲǎw praise ʦi

Palato-alveolar affricates /ʧ(ʰ)/ and /ʤ/

shelf I baʧaŋ spoon panʧɔ belt kʧitan pin II b.ʧʰenroy shoe I lay ʧʰran

spear ʤɔŋ chili pepper ʤayu sun ʤo cow ʤfɨʔ pangolin, anteater ʃgʤɔ

Palatal affricate /ʨ/ taro, arum ʨaʔ fish ʨěy animal ʨũ wash s.t. I ʨey Retroflex A retroflex series is clearly present but examples are very rare. These consonants are not fully retroflex as in mainland India. The tongue comes up to touch the alveolar ridge, but does not turn up towards the roof of the mouth. /ɳ/

mother aɳi /ɽ/

complete, finish ɽulʌn do, make ɽǔ imitate ɽtl

/ɭ/

eleven ɭɛu take ɭu valley na ɭu


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Approximants /ʋ/

hair ʋópyùbasket, oranges ʋaŋ ginger dʋǒ water ʋɯ

/β/ has a single attestation and is presumably a free variant of /b/ or v/ dao βay Glottal stop The glottal stop occurs in a variety of places and may have a different functional load according to its position. Most common is final position, where it may be related to a prosody such as creaky voice. The glottal stop is sometimes hard to hear, as emphatic pronunciation gives a sound similar to final glottalisation. A glottal stop is often heard between a sequence of two similar vowels which are not a long vowel. Thus;

arrive I daʔaytɔ arrive II kaʔatɔ attack tmaʔakey bathe ʒaʔa te yellow kʃəʔəlɔ advise ʧɔʔɔte

Strikingly, all of these are verbs and perhaps ‘yellow’ is also a stative verb. There are exceptions, where a VV sequence of identical vowels is articulated separately, without constituting a long vowel.

explain ʧɔ.ɔtɛ Long consonants There is some evidence for long consonants in Miji. The following examples are heard on the recordings. Long consonants are widespread in the Mishmic languages in northern Arunachal Pradesh.

salt llǔ eye mmreʔ

The following is an example of a ‘doubled’ consonant, where each segment is articulated separately, and thus is not contrastive for length. The restriction to a single animal type argues for some old morphological process.

barking deer ʦʦhũ deer ʦʦə musk deer ʦʦɲǎw


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Palatalised consonants

pʸ ʋopyu hair bʸ ɲubyuŋ nose tʸ nɛtʸǔ breath kʸ mθm kʸu chest vʸ θɔm vʸu heart mʸ mɔmyuʔ beard nʸ mɲu breast rʸ mryɔnza throat lʸ zam plʸaʔ lightening

Labialised consonants

husband mdwǎy landslide ra dwǒ

2.2 Vowels

The vowels of Miji are shown in Table 2;

Table 2. Miji vowels Vowels Front Central Back Close i u Close-Mid e ə/ɨ [ə] o õ Open-Mid ɛ [ɛ] ɔ ɔ Open a [ã]

No contrastive pair has been identified for distinguishing the mid and high central vowels /ə/ and/ɨ/. Phonetic variation may represent differences between speakers. Long vowels Miji appears to have contrastive length for a small set of vowels. There are no long nasalised vowels.

wall tɛɛtuŋ latrine, toilet gíírɔ pigsty ʤɔɔrṹ

Nasal vowels Miji appears to have a near-complete set of nasalised vowels. In languages of this area, these are often in free variation with final -ŋ, and it is possible some speakers will have a smaller set of nasalised vowels. Miji permits a nasal coda, as in stʰən ‘nine’, but for some reason, this is very rare. Evidence for individual nasalised vowels includes;


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/ã/

ceiling sgiã ice kriã flying squirrel ʃbiã wildfowl bzu pʸã

/ə/

bush-rat sp. 3 gʒɔ lə /ɛ/

fruit wo tɛ /õ/

animal sʨõ /ɔ/

latrine, toilet gìírɔ roof dkʸɔ insect biθɔ

/ũ/

pigsty ʤɔɔrũ barking deer ʦ.ʦhũ

Dissimilar VV sequences are rare, but are recorded in the following words;

widower gmɔəbu Rare vowels A high back unrounded vowel /ɯ/ is heard in several words in isolation, for example ʋɯ ‘water’. However, this is realised as /u/ and /o/ in compound forms. Other examples are;

tree sp. gvɯ angry, to be tkʰɯbake, cook kʰɯ

A mid unrounded back vowel /ʌ/ occurs in;

get loose mʌn A retracted central vowel /ə/ occurs in;

pour pə


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The vowel is articulated with the lower lip drawn in and kept tense. The IPA symbol is not very helpful, since it can be confused with other orthographic conventions. This sound is also found in the Kman language. Creaky voice? Creaky voice is found in some languages of this region, although it has not been the subject of phonetic investigation. Creaky voice phonation in Miji on final vowels can be more economically treated as a final glottal. However, in some cases where there is a VV sequence of dissimilar vowels, this would not be an analytic option, since Miji permits glottals between VV sequences. An example is;

break (cup) brea where the creaky articulation of /e/is extremely clear. In another example a creaky voice mid-vowel /e/ appears to be followed by the same vowel without cereaky voice.

drag bree One example of a central vowel with creaky voice /ə/ is recorded.

climb up k.bə

2.3 Tones

Miji appears to have a simple tonal system, not unlike some neighbouring languages. There are two tones, High (H ˊ) and Low (L ˋ) plus a rising tone (R ˇ). However, these are highly restricted in occurrence and Miji probably only has two contrastive word tones, level and rising. Thus;

fish ʨěy wash s.t. I ʨey

Tone remains to be further investigated, as some words seem to be tonally flat, either entirely low tone or effectively toneless.

3. Morphology

Miji word level morphology is extremely complex and little understood. Blench (2015) suggests that traces of a former nominal prefix system with semantic associations can be discerned in animal names and body parts. Table 3 gives an example from Western Miji, an only doubtfully Sino-Tibetan language spoken around Nafra in Arunachal Pradesh. The palatal fricative /ʃ/ is the most common prefix, but I am assuming s~ʦ are probably its allomorphs.

Table 3. Animal names in Nafra Miji

Gloss ʃ s/ʦ animal sʨõ horse ʃgrɔ stallion ʃgrɔ mbǔ mare ʃgrɔ mněʔ colt ʃgrɔ i sheep ʃgθɔʔ goat ʃprn dog ʃazi barking deer ʦʦhũ deer ʦʦə flying squirrel ʃbiã


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Gloss ʃ s/ʦ leopard ʃnmu monkey ʃbǒ musk deer ʦʦɲǎwpangolin, anteater ʃgʤɔ wild cat ʃgrɛ wild dog ʃkʃə sparrow slǐʔ ant ʃɲi fish sp. I sθɯ fish sp. II sviaʔ fish sp. III sgiɔʔ

Miji languges also have a very marked m- prefix related to body parts, both for humans and animals. Table 4 shows a comparative list of Western and Eastern Miji as well as Bangru, with an etymological commentary. The Bangru citations are orthographic, and on comparative grounds, assume the vowel following the m- prefix is epenthetic. Forms in square brackets are cited for completeness, where one branch has an m- prefix and the other lacks it. Table 4. Miji and Bangru body parts with an m- prefix

Gloss W. Miji E. Miji Bangru Comment arm, hand

(m)gǐ (m)gǐ m(e)gey No Tibeto-Burman cognates

beard mɔmyuʔ mmɯʔ m(a)maŋ Widespread Tibeto-Burman root, though not with m- prefix

bone mriaŋ mriaŋ mnii Possibly cf. Northern Naga *raŋ brain mɲɔʔ mɲɔʔ No certain external cognates, though cf. Bodic, e.g.

Tshangla ȵok taŋ breast mɲu mnɯʔ m- ‘body part prefix’ plus widespread Tibeto-Burman

etymon *nu(w) chest mθm kʸu mɭoŋ

kəʔ The kV- element has widespread Tibeto-Burman

cognates. cf. Puroik tə kɯ chin mugudza mguʨǎ No Tibeto-Burman cognates ear mʒɔʔ mzɔʔ m(i)bwa No certain external cognates, but cf. Memba namʤo eye mmreʔ mreʔ No Tibeto-Burman cognates face mgmiaʔ mkmiaʔ m(e)kwii/mekuyi Matisoff (2003) proposes #s.myal for PTB. The best

cognates are in Maraic, e.g. Lakher h.mia, but the velar preceding the Miji stem is of unknown origin.

finger mgi tso m(e)gey ʧowa cf. ‘arm’ flesh mzaʔ mʒaʔ #sa is widespread in Tibeto-Burman, but this may be

coincidence heart luŋ, [θɔm

vʸu] mloŋ #luŋ is widespread in Naga complex languages

kidney mkbɔ mpega Neither root has a Tibeto-Burman cognate liver mtn m(a)tayiŋ cf. Chin roots such as Thado tʰin, and possibly proto-

Tani *zin. lungs mloŋ wasayi cf. ‘heart’ mouth mugɔ m(i)niŋ STEDT relates gɔ to proposed PTB #ku(w) but this

seems unlikely. Some Tani languages have apparent cognates, e.g. Apatani a.gũ but this is not apparently proto-Tani. The Bangru form has no obvious


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Gloss W. Miji E. Miji Bangru Comment cognates.

navel mʃmay No Tibeto-Burman cognates. The ʃ- appears to be an earlier prefix.

neck [dmuzɔ] m(i)niŋri Scattered attestations in Kuki and Chin, e.g. Lushai #riŋ. Possibly related to much more widespread #luŋ

nose [ɲubyuŋ] m(i)niiko Miji has ɲi ‘blow nose’. Chin languages have common niit for ‘blow nose’

rib mpelowa No Tibeto-Burman cognates. shoulder mfa mpoʧ Miji has very scattered Tibeto-Burman cognates, e.g.

Chinbon pá, though forms with a back high vowel are widespread. No obvious cognates for Bangru.

stomach mrǒ mulgu No Tibeto-Burman cognates. thigh mləʔ murʰ No clear Tibeto-Burman cognates. Isolated Thado

mʌl, also possibly metathesis of Bodic lum (e.g. Tshangla).

throat mryɔnza No Tibeto-Burman cognates. tooth mtr m(e)tʰu No clear Tibeto-Burman cognates, except possible

Puroik kətuŋ vein mdtʔ No clear Tibeto-Burman cognates. wrist gi mvθɛ No clear Tibeto-Burman cognates. Animals horn mʃʒɔ m(e)ws No clear Tibeto-Burman cognates. tail mdmray m(u)lwe Tibeto-Burman has widespread *may or similar. If

this is cognate then it is an example of multiple re-affixing

hump mkbʸu Isolated possible cognate Bokar (Tani) gur bɯŋ tusk mtǔ No Tibeto-Burman cognates. In many Sino-Tibetan

languages, the same word as ‘tooth’ but not here. udder mɲǔʔ Possibly cf. Tangkhulic Huishu ʔa-nə-nuk fur, feather

mɔmyǔʔ Widespread Tibeto-Burman mu(l) but not other language shows palatalisation

wing mkʨi No clear Tibeto-Burman cognates. The table shows that Mijiic has a strong preference for an m- prefix for human and animal body parts, even where this is not attested in external cognates. There is limited comparative evidence for a Tibeto-Burman m- prefix, see for example Matisoff (2008:183) on *m-ley~*m-li for ‘penis’. Doublets It will be seen that Miji often has two or three words for even common concepts. For example;

close I pigaŋ close II ʃəʔəgaŋ

block (river) waygaŋ obstruct (s.o., s.t.) daʔagaŋ block (road) III rogaŋ

The common element in all these is /gaŋ/ which presumably means something like ‘close, block off’. However, it is only used in these composite forms, to describe different types of blocking. The key elements


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that differentiate these words are clearly unrelated, despite all having the gaŋ element which makes it an interesting case for assigning cognacy.

4. The classification of Miji

Miji has long been classified with the ‘North Assam’ languages and this is generally repeated in subsequent publications (e.g. Bradley 1997). However, there is no data in Konow (1909) and Shafer (1947) may be the first citation of linguistic material. However, ‘North Assam’ is something of a catch-all for the languages of this area (Blench & Post 2014) and the evidence that languages as distinctive as Miji, Hruso and Koro are related to one another, let alone to Tibeto-Burman, remains elusive. Apart from some basic numerals, 2,4,5, few Miji lexemes resemble reconstructed Tibeto-Burman forms. The datasheets show whatever Tibeto-Burman cognates I have been able to establish 2 . Even some of these are uncertain and they are geographically scattered, arguing that chance may be responsible. The theoretical difficulty is distinguishing between regional lexemes and true inherited forms. I therefore argue that the Mijiic languages constitute a small independent phylum. There is a persistent idea in the literature that Miji is related to its eastern neighbour Hruso and that there is a subgroup ‘Hrusish’, an idea which seems to derive from Shafer (1947) but perpetuated in Bodt (2014). This latter paper is rightly titled ‘impressions’ since it is conspicuous for its lack of data. Miji, Hruso and Koro share a great deal culturally, but show virtually no linguistic resemblances, except for sporadic loanwords, as might be expected between any two neighbouring languages. This can be clearly seen in the Appendix Table. Some comparisons in Shafer (1947) suggest that Miji shares common lexical items with Bodo-Garo, and rather less to wider Tibeto-Burman languages. Table 5 presents some of these items, based on recent sources;

Table 5. Lexemes shared between Miji and Bodo-Garo Gloss Miji Garo two gni gini three gətʰən git tam four bli bri die ʧi ʧi (Deuri) goat ʃprn prun (Kokborok) snake nabʸǔ ʒi-bɯw (Boro) Sources: Burling (n.d.), Jacquesson (n.d.)

While these are basic lexicon, they are few and suggest a contact relationship rather than genetic affiliation. Bangru is undoubtedly related to Miji, as the numerals in the Appendix Table show. However, it has considerable divergent lexicon. In some cases, this is due to borrowing from Nah and Nyishi. More surprising are the cases where it shows similarities to Hruso. Figure 1 shows a tree of the relationships of Mijiic languages.

Appendix: Datasheets

The following wordlists are based on the typical categories used by Simon (n.d.) with appropriate additions. The Western dialect was recorded throughout, but Eastern Miji was only partly recorded. The Bangru

2 This revised version incorporates some suggestions due to Guillaume Jacques, for which my thanks

Figure 1. Relationships of Mijiic languages Proto-Mijiic

Bangru Eastern Miji

Western Miji


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examples are from Ramya (2012) with some simple conversions as below. Some examples of a suggested orthography are given, but this is not recommended.

Transcription

This version of the wordlist uses symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). To read them easily they can be converted as follows;

ʤ j ʧ c, ch ʃ sg ʒ zh ŋ ng ɲ ny ɔ open ‘o’ as in ‘pot’ ɛ open ‘e’ as in English ‘bet’ ə like ‘ir’ in English ‘bird’ ˜ nasalisation. Sounds like the vowel in French vin.

Doubled vowels means the vowel is long, or drawn out. For the more complex symbols, please read the text of the paper.

Body parts

Gloss Miji Orth East Miji Bangru Comment ankle mey arm (m)gǐ mëgi (m)gǐ mëgi back gbaŋ kbaŋ këbang kuyoŋ cf. Nyishi koyuŋ beard mɔmyúʔ mmɯʔ mëmuh mamaŋ belly nguʔ nëguh nguʔ nëguh meswe blood ʒây zhai ʒay zhai yea cf. Dirang Monpa, Tsangla ʑi.

Blood is typically si/hi/ti throughout this region, which might be connected

body zaʔ zah ʒa zhah muʤo bone mriaŋ mëriang mriaŋ mëriang mnii brain mɲɔʔ mënyoh mɲɔʔ mënyoh breast mɲu mnɯʔ mënüh m- ‘body part prefix’ plus

widespread Tibeto-Burman etymon *nu, e.g. Idu nu, Kuki-Chin nu, Tsangla nu etc. Palatalisation is uncommon but occurs sporadically across Sino-Tibetan including Old Chinese ñiu. See Matisoff (2008: 81 ff.) for further discussion.

breath nɛtʸǔ ntɯʰ nëtüh buttocks ʃkn driu ʃkrn

nərəɯ shëkran nërëu

cheek kmi adzn

kmi aʤn

këmia dzën

chest mθm kʸu mɭoŋ mëlong schwa with retracted tongue root


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Gloss Miji Orth East Miji Bangru Comment kəʔ këuh

chin mugudza mguʨǎ mëgutsha ear mʒɔʔ mzɔʔ mëzoh mibwa cf. Memba namʤo, elbow paŋ skuŋ paŋ ʧəŋ

ku pang tshën ku

eye mmreʔ mreʔ mreh cf. Japhug tɯ-mɲaʁ. Possibly compare widespread Tibeto-Burman roots *mik though form unexplained

eye-brow mreʔ ʃkam

mreh shëkam

face mgmiaʔ mkmiaʔ mëkëmiah mekwii/mekuyi

faeces yǐ ləyʔ lëih finger mgi tsɔʔ megey

ʧowa

flesh mzaʔ mëzah mʒaʔ mëzhah foot = leg forehead tookyaŋ tookiang tookyaŋ tookiang maʧak cf. Nyishi tuktey hair ʋópyù gupəɯ gupëu gepe hand (m)gi megey head ǔw gǔ go kayiŋ Possibly compare Tibeto-Burman

roots such as Burmese, Trung u, but the Bangru form suggests this had an initial velar lost in Miji and that this is therefore cognate with widespread Tibeto-Burman k(ʰ)u roots

heart θɔŋ vyu mloŋ jaw mug kidney mkʰbɔ mpega knee zay gðu mela kpe leg zǎy check layʔ laih melea lip liver mtn matayiŋ cf. Northern Chin thin, Sorbung

məthín, Tangkhulic *thin. A rare case where the m- prefix for body parts is attested outside Mijiic.

lungs mloŋ wasayi

marrow pugnii moustache as beard mouth mùgǒ miniŋ nail megey

kiiŋ cf. Nyishi lakʃiŋ

navel mʃmay neck dmùzɔ miniŋri nipple


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Gloss Miji Orth East Miji Bangru Comment nose ɲubyuŋ miniiko palm megey ku penis mullow rib mpelowa saliva ʒay mu shoulder mpa mpoʧ skin miipya spine keʧayi stomach mrǒ mulgu sweat frn neiye tear thigh mləʔ murʰ throat mryɔnza thumb megey

nea

toe zǎy tsɔʔ tongue ʤáksí miniiŋ

ple The first element can be compared to Tibetan honorific term ldʑags 'the licker' for 'tongue'. Since Bangru is quite different, I suggest this is a loan from Tibetan.

tooth mtr metʰu urine bri cf. widespread Qiangic and

rGyalrongic (r/l)-bi (Japhug tɯ-rmbi). This is not a widespread root in Tibeto-Burman and a metathesis is required to make Miji cognate

vagina vein mdtʔ waist gtsě wrist gi mpθɛ

Persons, family

Gloss Miji Orth Bangru Comment ancestor alo abu boy ɲii brai brother akʰfona ako brother-in-law miibo child amǎy ɲii bamay cousin korayiŋ daughter ʒmrǎy muʤu

ɲiway

descendants saŋte-saŋte cf. Nyishi sangtam-sangtam enemy mɲiri father abǒ miibi abo is widespread in the region, especially in Tani

languages. cf. Hruso àú father-in-law alo father’s elder awǎy


16

Gloss Miji Orth Bangru Comment brother father’s younger brother

akʰfɔ

father’s sister amǒ father’s sister daughter

ku and sister’s son

friend mʤɔ girl ɲii baray grandfather abo kʰɛ grandmother aɳi kʰɛ grandson meʧemya

nyiib

grand-daughter

meʧemya-nyiiwai

husband mdwǎy melgya in-law ɲaahaŋ man = person ɲiib cf. Nah ɲi mother aɳi aɳi ?

aNi post-alveolar n

mother-in-law, mother’s elder sister

atʰrǒ asse

mother’s elder brother

aðǔ kiini

mother’s younger brother

akʰʸu cf. Puroik a³³ kɔ³³, elder brother, Bokar a kɯ , Tawra akwa mother;’s brother, Tibetan a khə father’’s brother. My hypothesis, in view of the linguistic geography, is that these are all Tibetan loanwords in some way.

mother’s younger sister

aʧowa

neighbour old man vkʰraŋ ɲuko old woman maykʰraŋ byako orphan, young male

ʤepe

people ɲǔ nà person ɲǔ priest kawaye relatives sister amona mesebya sister-in-law miɲii son zvə muʤu ɲiib son in-law magbu,

magtey

village chief gbian mku widow gmǒy kowaweʰ widower gmɔəbu wife mdzi mii woman nmrani ɲii bay


17

Houses and architecture

Gloss Miji Orth Comment ceiling sgiã sëgiang post, vertical ʧɔrúŋ cattle yard door vɛɛpi floor nɛ pyaŋ granary hearth θɔʔəθŋ house nɛ kitchen dmay θɔʔ latrine, toilet gíírɔ pigsty ʤɔɔrṹ post, centre poultry yard dukəʒaʔ rafter, crossways roof dkʸɔ veranda kbiɔnθɛ wall tɛɛtuŋ ? pantuŋ

Household items

bamboo jar n.viaŋ basket, rice bu basket, oranges ʋaŋ bed, wooden frame b.raŋ beer-filter k.ʤe blanket book ʧazi s.lam box, wooden piaŋ brass vessel broom nam ʃwe comb bram cooking pot I bərtɔŋ cup t.laŋ ladle for water biyuŋ lamp, pine torch may ʧun mat rɔ mortar ze yənəlɔ voiced labial fricative needle tgam z.rey paper pestle pθəl very hard to hear this pillow gukoŋ plate gǎ < Assamese shelf I baʧaŋ shelf II t.maŋ spoon panʧɔ thread ge kʰran trivet ʃ.bo


18

Gloss Miji Orth Comment winnowing tray pray

Dress

bag s.zaŋ bangle, small kam kʰɔn re bead sampi belt kʧitan clothing, cloth geɬoŋ coat panlɔʔ dress, women nəmenəra geɬoŋ ear-ring zo rioŋ hat I ʃ.po saŋ hat II rago hat III gu t.ɲɔ hat IV dampan necklace nanay saŋ pin I t.kʰə pin II b.ʧʰenroy pipe may k.ʧoŋ ring gilan shoe I lay ʧʰran shoe II lay mia shoe III lay sɛʔ laih hleh trousers do naʔa walking stick ge paŋ Tools etc. Miji Comment arrow kʰre axe b.le bow nəʔ bullet may bu ʒɛn dao βay dao, long βay ʧn dao, short βay ʧənʒə digging stick gubaŋ na tarʔə [? transcription]gun may bu cf. ‘lightening’ hammer ʧàmpǒ hoe ʧankə hoe, big baray quiver t.via seed, seedling tay ʒo loy shield sickle vay ʧənʒi spear ʤɔŋ


19

Agriculture

Gloss W Miji Orth E Miji Orth Bangru Comment

Crops

banana drθal check luʔlaŋ lluhllang bean ʒeʒo zhezho ʒɛnʒu zhënzhu cassava ɲǎw ɲǎwʔ nyauh cucumber bθěy pθoyʔ pëluih chili pepper ʤayu zayəw jayiw garlic kʰyomǔ ginger dʋǒ gourd greens tʰálò panlo panllo lemon bdzn maize sbɛʔ millet pyɔʔ tamay cf. Puroik tamayi millet katsɛ orange narn paddy ɛ potato lasɲɔ pumpkin rice ɛngn rice, cooked savo mʧi soya bean dbǒ sugar-cane gθaŋʤaŋ sweet potato ɲɔ kinʤaŋ taro, arum ʨaʔ walnut maaŋu wheat pyɔʔ

Foods

dry meat sʧǔŋ mkʰyaŋ egg do rǐn ‘hen’ + rǐn fish ʨěy food savo meat sʧǔŋ suʰ milk ʃə ɲu salt llǔ llu post-alveolar

Natural world

Gloss W Miji Orth Bangru Comment ashes may mɔʔ lagbow cave vo wareŋ


20

Gloss W Miji Orth Bangru Comment clay naʔ cloud wabe coal may bǔ myibʤiŋ darkness ga, nega day dust na nmoʔ earthquake nohe fire may mee, mii This root is widely attested in Tibeto-Burman and is

reconstructed by JAM as *mey flame myaʤo firewood may wuʔ go foam yemo gravel meme ground, soil na lat mayi cf. Hruso nnɔ, hail eajaii ice krìã karawa jungle b.bu siimi lake, sea v.bã kanaŋ landslide ra d.wǒ light kyaŋ lightening zaŋ blia der lowa moon, month

ɮǔ libayiŋ cf. PTB *s.la,

mountain, hill

pʰuŋ gaŋ cf. Hruso pʰǔ

mud na dzo wataŋ cf. Hruso nɔ gdzə, night, darkness

ocean sətərəlu peak toŋ ʧuŋ plain na ʒn noyaŋ plateau na mʧuŋ

mθaŋ

rain frɔ niidi raining rainbow ʒma dkey magi goŋ river ʋu dɔ river, big wukru biti riverbank ʋu gin sand I bayi sand II ʃgri shadow lirii

ʤeme

sky na ʤaŋ ludlu steam ʋo n.ryu myakʰ cf. Nyishi makʰ snow dlɛʔ tene, ʧake star dtsuŋ liʧii cf. Hruso litsi stone g.loŋ karpe -loŋ with a back vowel and differing prefixes is widely


21

Gloss W Miji Orth Bangru Comment attested throughout the region including Proto-Tani lɯŋ, Proto-Chin luŋ and other cited in STEDT

storm yomu digayiŋ tana

cf. ‘thunder’

stream ʋo dzə wuʤu sun ʤo ʤu cf. Nah doni thunder zaŋ grn digayiŋ valley na ɭu kua trowa water ʋɯ wee, wii cf. Bugun, Mey kʰo, Puroik kua waterfall ʋu r.tsaŋ kwase wind, air yǒ lowa world ʧaŋgo

doggo cf. Nyishi

Plant parts

Gloss W Miji Comment bamboo bràú bark wo priʔ branch wo ntsaŋ bush wǒ zəʔ cane ʃǔ creeper, vine

wo dgrǐ

flower wo vɔʔ grass tsɛ JAM reconstructs PTB as r.tswa.n. However, cf. Byangsi tsì, Tsangla tsi,

Amdo tsa. This root is completely absent in the immediate neighbours of Miji, which (again) suggests a loanword from Tibetic languages and the PTB form is poorly supported.

fruit wò tɛ leaf mleʔ cf. Meithei la, Mikir lo, Bodo lay, Proto-Northern Naga *lay. m- prefix

unexplained root wo krn thorn gʑu tree wněʔ tree sp. I bʒàú tree sp. II gmòú tree sp. III gvɯ

Animal parts

Gloss W Miji Orth Bangru Comment horn mʃʒɔ mews Widespread Tibeto-Burman g.roŋ or similar, but the only direct

parallel I can find is Jingpho n³¹ ʒuŋ³³ and even then the Miji initials are unexplained

hoof zagtɔ tail mdmray mulwe Tibeto-Burman has widepsread may, mei etc. and some languages

have an r- prefix eg. Aimol rəmei which gives proposed PTB *r-may. How to account for this reversal and the d- prefix?


22

Gloss W Miji Orth Bangru Comment hump mkbʸu tusk mtʰǔ udder mɲǔ fur, feather

mɔmyǔ

wing mkʰʧi

Animals

Gloss W Miji Orth Bangru Comment

Domestic

animal ʨũ domestic animal

nɛs ʨũ ‘house + animal’

horse ʃgrɔ stallion ʃgrɔ mbǔ mare ʃgrɔ mněʔ colt ~ mule ʃgrɔ i ass, donkey cow ʤfɨʔ něʔ se bull ʤfɨʔ bɨ calf ʤfɨʔ zəʔ se

muʤu

mithun ʃɨʔ cf. Koro su, Miji ʃu and widely in the region pig ʒɔʔ boar ʒɔʔ bu sow ʒɔʔ neʔ sheep ʃgθɔʔ ram ʃgθɔʔ bu ewe ʃgθɔʔ neʔ goat ʃprn shupren sapayiŋ dog ʃázì cat gáʃù hen do do ney cock do blã do prow duck ùsɔ wiib ʤu drake ùsɔ bù duck, female ùsɔ neʔ Wild animals

nə miya ms ʨũ

Mammals

barking deer ʦʦhũ bat vavʸu papɲaŋ bear tʦã suʧow deer ʦʦə sema elephant aʧʰi cf. Hruso aʦə but < Hindi ? flying squirrel, giant

ʃbiã negyane

fox


23

leopard ʃnmu lion bàràgí dowa monkey ʃbǒ poroŋ musk deer ʦʦɲǎw pangolin, anteater

ʃgʤɔ

porcupine siʃi house-rat nɛ ʑu swaɲii bush-rat sp. 1

gʒɔ sɔ

bush-rat sp. 2

ʑu maʔ

bush-rat sp. 3

gʒɔ lə

sambar deer squirrel θɛ tiger tndrãw ganii wild cat ʃgrɛ wild dog ʃkʃə wolf fusu Birds bird bzəʔ puʤu eagle glyã kiiri kite glyã si crow akramɔ kiiri

loma

sparrow sli dove laga

bima

pigeon tumbʤu parrot bli

swadii

hornbill gʤi, ʃmgrãw

vulture kayə bu kayaŋ

wildfowl bzu pʸã nest matayi

Insects

insect biθɔ ant ʃɲi bedbug ðoorã bee mǐ honey mǐ ʤã butterfly bapɛʔ caterpillar grimey centipede cockroach ʒaŋziʔ dragonfly ɲǎŋ earthworm buθin firefly ɲɔ housefly bʒum lǒ


24

leech dvɛʔ mosquito sirndã spider riamɛ insect sp. ʤakʰam insect sp. amreamre r is tense

Reptiles etc.

snake nabʸǔ The –bu root is widely found in neighbouring languages,

e.g. Tani bɯ, Hruso bü, Tawra tabu, Garo pu, Nocte pu. No examples of na- prefix, however, but this is deleted in Miji words for individual snakes.

snake sp. I bʸǔ lǒ snake sp. II bʸǔ tã snake sp. III bʸǔ nmɔʔ snake sp. IV bʷǐ savo snake sp. V bu kpre snake sp. VI dbʸǔ mǔ frog ʒǒ frog ʒǒ brǎn frog ʒǒ bvɔʔ lizard gecko tortoise áʤírɔ turtle crab pásì ládɛ

Fish

fish, generic tʰri ʧezmeyi fish sp. I ʨʷe lɨn fish sp. II sɬɯ fish sp. III sviaʔ fish sp. IV b.hù vəhù ? fish sp. V br.heʔ fish sp. VI sgiũ fish sp. VII kʸaŋri fish sp. VIII ɲìɔ

Pronouns

Gloss W Miji Bangru CommentI, me ɲaŋ ɲo you ni ɲi he, she, it ayi we aɲi kaɲi you pl. ʤe they ayra ʧo Demonstratives this h.nay


25

these h.ra that (level) payʧu that (above speaker) tʰaŋʧu that (below speaker) poʧu those payʧura there pyaʧ Interrogatives How much, many? k.ɲa kunururo What? tn taŋ ʧa When? kukʰren kunuruʧo Where? koro Which? kuwe taŋ Who? tl ti Why? k.dutɛ taŋ bo Quantity some may anyone all miʃyuŋ whoever whatever many, much nothing a little, few

Numerals

Gloss W Miji Ort

ho E

Miji Ortho Bangru Comment

one ùŋ ung uŋ ung akey two gnì gni krn krën kanayiŋ three gˋtʰən gëth

ën ktʰm këthom katayiŋ cf.

four bˋlí play pëllai porayi cf. Milang pə, poss. Miji bli, Koro kople

five buŋə pŋu pëngu puŋ six rɛʔ reʔ raʔm rahm reh seven miaʔ miah miaʔ miah moyi cf. eight sɨgeʔ ʃəgəʔ shëgëh sagaik cf. nine stʰən sëth

ën ʃətʰən shëthën sataŋ cf.

ten l n llën lɨn llën raŋ eleven ɭɛu twelve l n gnì thirteen l n gˋtʰən fourteen l n bˋlí fifteen l n bgu sixteen l n rɛʔ seventeen l mbiaʔ eighteen l n səgeʔ


26

Gloss W Miji Ortho

E Miji

Ortho Bangru Comment

nineteen l n twenty gnì l n twenty-one thirty gˋtʰən forty bˋlí fifty buŋə sixty seventy eighty ninety hundred b.lǒ two hundred b.lǒ gnì thousand házárìm first second last

Colours

Gloss W Miji Orth Comment black mmɔ blue mʤɔʔɔʧa brown mʧi.s.liŋ green mlɔ red mʧʰu white mgrǎŋ yellow kʃəʔəlɔ

Verbs

Gloss W Miji Comment abandon, leave prɔ absent, to be ŋɔ abuse I re abuse II nal ache (m)nɔ m- prefix is probably a nominaliser admire m.zime advise ʧɔʔɔte afraid, to be rem agree roy angry, to be I tkʰɯ angry, to be II nan answer ʧɔʔɔpla arise pyɔ arrange likumbayʒã arrest I ʧɔm arrest II kaygaŋ = ‘catch’


27

Gloss W Miji Comment arrive I daʔaytɔ arrive II kaʔatɔ ashamed, to be I nraymoy ashamed, to be II

ray

ask for pən assemble I daʔaykm assemble II daʔaytmu attack tmaʔakey bad, harmful, be

mɲi

bake, cook kʰɯ bathe ʒaʔa ley bathe ʒaʔa te be, is, are ill, be magaʔanɔ beat (person) ʋə beat ʃi beat drum ʃindompwoy beg pan begin, start rimyoŋ believe mezən belong I ʧʰrusərə

gyoŋ

belong II ʧʰrusərə tay bend kʧʰe kgoŋ bet ðuŋgraw [?] hard to hear bind ʤɔ bite tʔa bitter, to be məvilay blame tasan block (river) waygaŋ obstruct (s.o., s.t.)

daʔagaŋ

block (road) III rogaŋ blow I ɦə blow II b.ley boil dzam borrow k.gyuŋ break (cup) I fʰren break (cup) II brea break, snap tebaŋ breathe nətuʰ bring ɮɨŋ broadcast seeds tay lo ʧoŋ build house namrɨ build field shelter

ʋalrɨ

burn fʰram bury rɔŋ buy pn call dow carry ðoy catch kaygaŋ


28

Gloss W Miji Comment cheat, lie sal t.la chew ʃ.gre clean (pot) dòóp ʃyaŋ clear field vəl pʰyaŋ clear jungle meme upyaŋ climb up I ðoy climb up II k.bə close I pigaŋ close II ʃəʔəgaŋ Don’t close! I ta pigaŋ Don’t close! II ta ʃegaŋ cold, become collect contributions

kaykum

collect likum comb fʰi come back kaʔaken come (ha)day command, order tay kʰran complete, finish I

ɽulʌn

complete, finish II

p.du

offer condolence

d.h.ri

contribute kaykum tebay

correct I ʧoo k.raŋ correct II rə k.raŋ cough kyiw count tʰew cover plan.ga crack tebaŋ cross (river) dayran cross path, meet labaŋ dayran cross path, meet labaŋ day

k.lay

cut I ʋoo cut II tay cut down I goʔərəl cut down II tayərəl dance ʒey decide paŋroy defeat ʒǎŋ defend I kʰrəʔəgaŋ defend II ʤǔŋ gaŋ defend III k.paŋ gaŋ dehusk kʰroʔi deliver (child) ʒəʒə deny maroy descend I daygɔ descend II pɔ desire, want I moy desire, want II ʧey


29

Gloss W Miji Comment die tóyì dig taw cf. Wancho tao. Terms for ‘dig’ in Tibeto-Burman are extremely diverse,

so finding a parallel is not difficult. disappoint I me ma tɔ disappoint II d.xə discuss in a group

məpuŋrə paŋ s.groy

a long phrase, probably poorly understood

dislike I mamoy dislike II maʧey disobey I maroy disobey II roy guŋ distribute vrɔ disturb I mari lokã disturb II daʔa gã divorce broroy do, make ɽǔ drag I bree drag II ro drag III ʃal dream taymə dress ge t.loŋ drink toŋ This root is widely found in neighbouring languages, notably Bengni

Tani tɯŋ, Kman tawŋ, Idu tõ, Tiddim, doon, Byangsi tuŋ and Tibetic tʰuŋ.

Don’t drink tatuŋ drive d.vi drunk, to be toŋren earn b.tyaŋ eat ʧu eat meat kyoŋ ʧu encircle daʔiloŋ end məpədu enter daʔimu jealous, be bʒe escape pze evaporate v.kyan exhibit, show gǎn expect I mɛ expect II ʋauna explain I ʧɔ.ɔ tɛ explain II ʧɔ.ɔ k.raŋ extinguish r.mey Tibeto-Burman is typically mit, but scattered languages erode the final to

zero or –y including Qiang mɛ, Konyak mei fall (tree) rl fall down (s.t.) t.laŋ gɔ feel p.tay fill s.t. pəɛbɛn find ʃay finish riθuŋ float n.bryu flow ʃɔ fly k.noy follow rutl forget saŋpo


30

Gloss W Miji Comment free s.o. I lipyaŋ free s.o. II prɔ fry ŋaiw JAM reconstructs PTB r.ŋaw ‘fry, roast’. cf. Amdo rŋə, Japhug rŋu. This

root is conspicuous by its absence in neighbouring languages, so I suggest it is a loan from a Tibetan dialect. The reconstruction is based on a highly selective reading of the evidence.

get loose mʌn give bay Matisoff (2003) reconstructs s.bəy.n for PTB. Evidence for this is very

sparse and much more common is pi/bi (Tani, Naga, Meithei, Mikir, Tsangla) Chepang has bəyʔ

go, go away day pyanka go along with, accompany

ayʤo deʒe

go down podaygɔ go out day pyanka go up taŋ day grow (child) dʌŋ grow (plant) ʃɨn guard kn guide ʧɔ.ɔ tɛ cf. ‘explain’ halt gyuŋga hang ʋʷa harvest (rice) tə harvest (maize) pra harvest (beans) puʰ harvest (tubers) I

krowʰ

harvest (tubers) II

tal

hatch (egg) durin greə hate t.kʰə have də hear roy also ‘listen’ help [gaw] t.rɔŋ hide t.zey hold kaygaŋ hope I menetun hope II meyun hungry frantey hunt s.kyumeya imitate I ɽtl imitate II t.g.ʒay imprison ʃurɔntɔn inform ʧɔʔ intend I me intend II p.ray intermix riθəroy join two things together

nəməɔroy

journey day jump ʃ.lu keep roo kick tgn kill gay


31

Gloss W Miji Comment kiss pnu kneel layk pəkrə knock I kɔ knock II tkl know ɲi laugh tǒ lay egg durin dren learn te learn ɲi same as ‘know’ lend k.gyoŋ lick k.laʔ lie, tell ʧɔkloy lie down zə lift yaŋ light s.t. may ryaŋ listen roy also ‘hear’ live gyoŋ look after gaŋ be ʒaŋ look gaŋ lost, to be mna love loŋʒaŋ mad, to be I liyaŋ mad, to be II m.byu make mistake I ruti make mistake II nawti make = do marry kaʔroy measure p.ray meet t.mu melt vʷe the lips are very tense when pronouncing /v/ milk (cow) ʤfɨ na move I lu ray move I day ray need m.ʧe obey roy omit lupɔ open I ho open I ɦyuŋ pack down I ʤɔ pack down II ʧʌn peel kʰroy Final ʸ is almost unreleased persuade tamu pity loŋʒaŋ play ʃtu plough gaŋgay pluck pu point ði pour pə praise ʦi pray taym.re prefer ʧe press down nʌm prevent s.o. from doing s.t.

gaʔa t.rɔ


32

Gloss W Miji Comment promise I k.ʧaŋgɔ promise II tagɔ pull rǒ punish I d.hubay punish II te push srl quake ʃu quarrel I nayroy quarrel II gayroy quarrel III taroy raise, rear tǒ read peyu recognise ptay regret mepyu remember meɬi repair vuptɯ resemble gaŋiroy rest gyuŋga ride I ʒɔŋ ride II yɔʔ ripe, to be myɛn roam around I raynəgu roam around II kunəgu roast kyaŋ rotten, to be rum rub s.keu run yɔʔ cf. ‘ride’ sad, to be dəhə satisfied, to be mɛtɔ save pa saw guworoy say ta scatter rosamrosa search ʃay see gan sell ðal send kal sew kram shake rən sharpen pl shine d.la shoot bu shout gǒ show gan shut pigaŋ sick, to be magaŋ sing yiɛ sing ʤu sit down gyoŋ slap poy sleep zey slip mɦyɛ smell ram Possibly cf. Japhug mnɤm, Tibetan mnam though absence of m- prefix

unexplained


33

Gloss W Miji Comment smoke (cigarette)

tɔŋ

smoke (meat) may i kyaŋ sneeze k.ʦi snore krã sow ʧuŋ speak tǎ spit p.zə stand up gyoŋ But this is also ‘sit down’. Tone difference? steal ʧ.kɨ *r.kəw is reconstructed for PTB, but the root is usually attested as –ku,

e.g. Idu ku, Thado gúʔ, Bodo kaw, Konyak ku, Jingpho kʊ, Lhasa Tibetan ku.

store I ʧoŋ store II toŋbə suffer nǒ surprise I gaŋ bya surprise II roy bya surround dayʔiloŋ swear θroota sweep house, to ‘broom’

nam ʃwoy

swim I saŋ swim II yu take ɭu take away ɭu puwa taste ʧipəgya teach te tear təpsa tell ʧɔ thank məvita think me throw k.doy tie ʤòó trust mezn try ripəgya turn round ʃʸɔŋ twist n.vi understand ɲi undress p.su untie ki urinate bre vomit mə wait kn wake up pyɔ walk day want ʧʰey wash s.t. I ʨey wash s.t. II laiy watch over gan weave ʧum wear p.loŋ weep kram


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Appendix: Comparative wordlist for Arunachal Pradesh Gloss CTB Koro Mey Bugun Puroik Hruso Miji Bangru Milang Tawra Idu Kman Dirang Tawang Memba Meyor Nah PT One *g-t(y)ik e-ce han ʤiɔ hwi ǎ ùŋ akey a-kan khiŋ khege kume th ur th i ʧik ʧak akin kon² ~ Two *g-ni-s ki-ne ɲit ɲeŋ ɲi ksi gnì kanayiŋ nə kaiŋ kaɲi kinin nitsiŋ nei ɲi ni aɲi ɲi² Three *g-sum kala uŋ ɨm heik ðə gth ən katayiŋ ham kasaŋ kaso ksam sam sum sum som aum ɦum¹ Four *b-ləy ko-ple pʰsi ʋi rei, wai pǐ bli porayi pə kapray kapri kambran bʧi bli ʧih ʤee appi pri¹ Five *b-ŋa plɛ kʰu kua u pom buŋə puŋ pa-ŋu maŋa maŋa klin ŋa leŋa ŋe ŋa aŋŋo ŋo¹ Six *d-ruk su-fi ʧuk rab reik ʒɛ rɛʔ reh sa-ap tahro tahro katam kʰuŋ gro du trok akke krə(ŋ)¹ Seven *s-nis rõ sit milye lye mrə miaʔ moyi ra-ŋal wẽ iwi nin zum ŋis din dun kani ka-nə¹ Eight *b-r- rà-lá sargyat mla la skzə sɨgeʔ sagaik ra-jəŋ limm ilu grin yen get gey zat pini pri¹-ɲi² Nine *d-gəw gèyé th ik ih dige doŋge sth ə sth ən sataŋ ka-ɲəm kiɲaŋ khiɲi natmo gu ḓǔgu gu gu kyowa kV-naŋ Ten *gip fã-la ~ sõ suŋwa ʧuat ʁə lɨn raŋ haŋ-tak aloŋ huwu kyapmo se ʧih ʧu thum ʧu əriŋ cam¹ ~ Head *d-bu-s ʤù- k rhuk ? ɛkʰyɛ ǔw, gǔ go kayiŋ dum-po kru pom ? ku ʃaraŋ got go aku kon² ~ Nose *na, ke-pe nupʰuŋ epʰuŋ pok usʸə ɲubyuŋ miniiko ɲokuŋ ~ haɲagam enambo mnuŋ na uŋ nah noguŋ na h nap ihŋ ɲi² Eye *mik ɲi-ram khibi meyak kak əɲi mmreʔ a-mik blom elombra mik rniŋ meloŋ mi mik nik Mouth *mka sapu niʧaw ʃyam səek unzǔ mugǒ miniŋ threndom ekobe ʧu nowaŋ kʰa kʰa h ʧipay gam Ear *r-na rã kʰuth uŋ ekʰɔ ? ufǔ mʒɔʔ mibwa ra-ɲu kruna akonna iŋ ney gaŋ nelǎp namʤo ʧiŋ ɲiruŋ Tongue *s-l(y)a sàlɛʔ laphõ rhi ruyi əzlbɾa ʤaksi miniiŋ si-dal theleŋna elina blay le leh ʧoli bro ryu Tooth *swa fǐ nuth uŋ siɲen kotuwaŋ utu th u, mtr meth u sip-pa lyã tambro sey ʃa wah sow ʃu hikjuŋ Arm *g-lak là ik wat gəit opɔɔ mgǐ megey a-lak aprih akho rawk garaŋ lah lak arak lak Leg *kaŋ ni-bi la loe lae əʆǐ zay melea a-byaa grõ aŋgesa pla bi lemi kʰaŋ tepro ləpa Stomach *grwat gay siriŋ lui loye buk ɔvɔkʰǔ mrǒ mulgu yaŋ kawẽ yapu dak pʰoloŋ kepa dogo pʰuko kipo Bone *rus ɲìrá skit ezeŋ aʤay əʁəbe mriaŋ mnii reb buŋ rombo rak kʰaŋ roʃba rugo ʧereek alo Blood *s- evi ha afoe huʧ ɕə ʒay yea haarrweig iyu iwii ʒi k rha tha awi oyik Sun *nəy me-ne nini hanayaŋ kɨri drǔ ʤo ʤu məə-ruŋ riŋ iɲi amik ŋam plaŋ ɲim mik doni Moon *s-la a-la namblu habia ambu hubye ɮǔ libayiŋ poo-lu h hallo ela lay laɲi lei dager lo dowa polu Star *s-kar dogre ʧuzuk satyoŋ pəʤeik litsi dotsuŋ liʧii ta-kar kadiŋ andikru ŋalci karma karma karem karma taker Man *r-min mur ʤuhu bphua apʰu nəna ɲǔ ɲiib ma-lu me imu coŋ soŋa mih kʰyog gijoŋ ɲi Woman *mow msn ʤimi bimi amwi mǐm nmrani ɲiibay ma-mi miyã yaku kamay ɲiza ǎmah neʤa mainaŋ ɲimə Child *za/*tsa ŋwà nunu ani aʤuaŋ sa amay ɲii a a ? za tukto neŋe hemi Old man *bəw ʤiman friɔŋ amayin muk rhɔ vk rhaŋ ɲuko mowaa micipra kanaŋ ata im, seŋ giʤoŋ ɲilo Dog *kʷəy èklè p ihth a ʧʰey kayu ʃλu ʃázì sopey kuak iku kui kʰu k ih k ih kwi əki Pig *pwak lele swag wak mədow vo ʒɔʔ ayek belleig ili lii pʰakpa pʰa pʰa lik ərik Tiger *k-la ʧaru phõ muʧua ɲerəy ʃʤi tndrãw ganii paa-tɨh tamya amra topɔw goŋtak ʧěn ta h ziktetha abiŋ Water *ti(y) si kʰo kʰo kua kʰu ʋɯ wee a-si macey maci tii ri ʧi ʧʰu ati iʃi Fire *mey mi-la ba boe bawe mi may mee a-mi naamɨŋ amruhu mai mi meh me h mi əmə Stone *r-luŋ vuvu liŋ lbaw kun g.loŋ karpe luŋ gor Tree *siŋ, lã hiŋ th uŋ hiŋmua ʧə(mua) ʃõ wněʔ haŋ-sa masaŋ asimbo saŋ ʃiŋ ʧyaŋ ʃiŋ duŋpu seŋnə Leaf *r-pak nino alap arap məʧay ʃere mleʔ na na lap ʃawa palǎp lemah alap nane Name *miŋ niraŋ ebeŋ aɲiɲi min amaŋ amaŋ meŋ meŋ ?


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Gloss CTB Koro Mey Bugun Puroik Hruso Miji Bangru Milang Tawra Idu Kman Dirang Tawang Memba Meyor Nah PT Eat *dzya to ʧuwa, ʧʰa ʧina tsa ʧu tu tha ha ʧa za sasuh sale ʧoem də Culture Mithun none sù smu syá ʧa fu ʃɨʔ a-sù aʃya sa cal menʧa bamin piiyee se Iron *syal sẽ yuŋ sɨ sen arəm say si taŋgli perr lh e ʧa h ʧak tagi ? Dao *sta kasa handu mudua ʧe vɛtsi βay ayok tara eyeʧe sut ʧowaŋ kʰyop papʃa kunak oriyuk (a)-Banana none gerʤi n/a tsyum kapak ruloŋ drθal paiʤ ʤey aʤibru hambyooŋ leysi lam rep sanjuŋ kupak Arum, *grwa lǎm n/a ʤawk ʧuwa th rɔ ʨaʔ aaŋ sam sona gal bozoŋ blu solum əŋi Millet none gicam ʧo tamayi kʰsə katsɛ tamay haabra yamba muuŋ koŋpu kowp temi turo tami Paddy *ma(y) kǐ nise nisi amaŋ olgi ɛ eay ke ke ha, maŋ ra deyso sipu am Rice *ma(y) kì nudob nyiŋ ambiŋ ǒ ɛngn tyazge ke ke haku kʰu dep dey andek am bin Cooked mǎm amaŋ zara savo kiri syat toʧʰaŋ mam aʧiŋ


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The Mijiic languages: distribution, dialects, wordlist and classification

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