Tibeto-Burman Languages of the Indo-Myanmar borderland

TIBETO-BURMAN LANGUAGES OF THE INDO-MYANMAR BORDERLAND

31st South Asian Languages Analysis Roundtable

14 May 2015

Scott DeLancey1

Krishna Boro1,2, Linda Konnerth1, Amos Teo1

1University of Oregon, 2Gauhati University

Google Maps, 2014

NE India:

- Arunachal Pradesh

- Assam

- Nagaland

- Manipur

- Mizoram

Myanmar:

- Kachin

- Sagaing

- Chin

Assam

Mizoram

Manipur

Nagaland

Arunachal Pradesh

Google Maps, 2014

NE India & Myanmar

Chin

Sagaing

Kachin

Google Maps, 2014

JINGHPAW

NUNG MEYOR

N NAGA 1

N KUKI-CHIN

NW KUKI-CHIN

S KUKI-CHIN

C KUKI-CHIN

ZEME TANGKHUL

ANGAMI-POCHURI

AO

N NAGA 2

NE India & Myanmar

Hakhun Tangsa

Monsang Naga

Sumi Naga

VERB AGREEMENT IN MONSANG Linda Konnerth University of Oregon

Northwest Kuki-Chin

Around a dozen languages:

Monsang, Moyon, Lamkang, Aimol, Anal, Tarao, Koireng, Kom, Chothe, Mongmi Maring, Sorbung, etc?

Mostly Chandel District, Manipur

Monsang

Autonym: Si:rti

6 villages in Chandel District

~2,000 speakers

Collaborative Monsang grammar project with Koninglee Wanglar, PhD student at Manipur University

Phenomena

1. ‘Agreement words’

2. Postverbal and prefixal agreement

3. Inverse and hierarchical agreement

Show the…

1. Complexity of the phenomena

2. Antiquity of many morphemes

3. Innovation of constructions

‘Agreement words’

Intransitive si ‘go’: Imperfective Negative

1SG si niŋ si-ma:-ŋ (< si ma-iŋ) 1PL:EXCL si nuŋ si-ma:ʷ-ŋ (< si ma-uŋ) 1PL:INCL si menɘ si-ma mɘ 2SG si netʃɘ si-ma tʃɘ 2PL si netʃʷu si-ma tʃʷu 3SG si ne si-maʔ 3PL si hene ~

si nehe si-ma he

Diachronic morphological analysis

Intransitive si ‘go’: Imperfective Negative

1SG si n-ì-ŋ si-ma :- ŋ (< si ma-iŋ) 1PL:EXCL si n-u-ŋ si-ma:ʷ-ŋ (< si ma-uŋ) 1PL:INCL si me-nɘ si-ma mɘ 2SG si ne-tʃ-ɘ si-ma tʃ-ɘ 2PL si ne-tʃʷ-u si-ma tʃʷ-u 3SG si ne si-maʔ 3PL si he-ne ~

si ne-he si-ma he

Regularization of PFV for 1PL:INCL

Intransitive si ‘go’: Imperfective Perfective

1SG si niŋ si siŋ 1PL:EXCL si nuŋ si suŋ 1PL:INCL si menɘ si semɘ 2SG si netʃɘ si setʃɘ 2PL si netʃʷu si setʃʷu 3SG si ne si se 3PL si hene ~

si nehe si hese

Prefixal and postverbal AGR

Intransitive si ‘go’: Future Negative

1SG sivaŋ ki-te si-ma n-iŋ 1PL:EXCL sivaŋ kin-te (~kiŋte) si-ma n-uŋ 1PL:INCL [siva te-rʷu] si-ma me-nɘ 2SG sivaŋ na-te si-ma te-nɘ 2PL sivaŋ niŋ-te (~ninte) si-ma te-nʷu 3SG si va-te si-ma nɘ ~si-ma neʔ 3PL siva te-he si-ma he-nɘ

Prefixal agreement is…

possessive prefixes!

With da:r ‘thigh’ 1SG ke -da:r 1PL:EXCL kin-da :r 1PL:INCL ì-da :r 2SG na-da:r 2PL niŋ-da :r 3SG a-da:r 3PL n -da:r

> a-

Pronouns and possessive prefixes

Pronouns Possessive prefixes

1SG kɘ ke- ~ ki- 1PL:EXCL kinnʷu kiŋ- ~ kin- ~ kim- 1PL:INCL inɘ i- ~ e- (free variation) 2SG naŋ na- 2PL niŋnʷu niŋ- (~ nin-) 3SG ama ~ama a- 3PL m menɘ~mmenɘ ŋ - ~ n - ~ m -

Transitive bin ‘beat’: Imperfective

A O 1SG 1PL.EXCL 1PL.INCL 2SG 2PL 3SG 3PL

1SG -------- ---------

------- ki-bin na tʃɘ

ki-bin na tʃʷu

ki-bin naʔ

ki-bin naʔ

1PL. EXCL

-------- ------- -------- kim-bin na tʃɘ

kim-bin na tʃʷu

kim-bin naʔ

kim-bin naʔ

1PL. INCL

---------

------- ------- ------- ------- i-bin naʔ

i-bin naʔ

2SG m -bin na tʃɘ

m -bin na tʃɘ

------- ---- -------- na-bin naʔ

na-bin naʔ

2PL m -bin na tʃʷu

m -bin na tʃʷu

-------- -------- -------- niŋ-bin naʔ

niŋ-bin naʔ

3SG m -bin naʔ

m -bin naʔ

m -bin naʔ

m -bin naʔ

m -bin naʔ

a-bin naʔ

a-bin naʔ

3PL m -bin na-he

m -bin na-he

m -bin na-he

m -bin na-he

m -bin na-he

a-bin na(-he)

a-bin na-he

Inverse m - (? < *mi ‘person’)


1SG -------- ---------


ki-bin na tʃʷu

ki-bin naʔ

ki-bin naʔ

1PL. EXCL

-------- ------- -------- kim-bin na tʃɘ

kim-bin na tʃʷu

kim-bin naʔ

kim-bin naʔ

1PL. INCL

---------

------- ------- ------- ------- i-bin naʔ

i-bin naʔ

2SG m -bin na tʃɘ

m -bin na tʃɘ

------- ---- -------- na-bin naʔ

na-bin naʔ


m -bin na tʃʷu

-------- -------- -------- niŋ-bin naʔ

niŋ-bin naʔ

3SG m -bin naʔ

m -bin naʔ

m -bin naʔ

m -bin naʔ

m -bin naʔ

a-bin naʔ

a-bin naʔ

3PL m -bin na-he

m -bin na-he

m -bin na-he

m -bin na-he

m -bin na-he

a-bin na(-he)

a-bin na-he

Hierarchical indexation of 2nd ps


1SG -------- ---------


ki-bin na tʃʷu

ki-bin naʔ

ki-bin naʔ

1PL. EXCL

-------- ------- -------- kim-bin na tʃɘ

kim-bin na tʃʷu

kim-bin naʔ

kim-bin naʔ

1PL. INCL

---------

------- ------- ------- ------- i-bin naʔ

i-bin naʔ

2SG m -bin na tʃɘ

m -bin na tʃɘ

------- ---- -------- na-bin naʔ

na-bin naʔ


m -bin na tʃʷu

-------- -------- -------- niŋ-bin naʔ

niŋ-bin naʔ

3SG m -bin naʔ

m -bin naʔ

m -bin naʔ

m -bin naʔ

m -bin naʔ

a-bin naʔ

a-bin naʔ

3PL m -bin na-he

m -bin na-he

m -bin na-he

m -bin na-he

m -bin na-he

a-bin na(-he)

a-bin na-he

Negative transitive: Inverse i-


1SG ----------

------- ------- bin ma:ŋ tʃɘ

bin ma:ŋ tʃʷu

bin ma:ŋ

bin ma h-iŋ

1PL. EXCL

----------

------- -------- bin ma:ʷŋ tʃʷu

bin ma:ʷŋ tʃʷu

bin ma:ʷŋ

bin ma:ʷŋ

1PL. INCL

----------

------- ---------

-------------

------------- bin ma mɘ (/ mʷu)

bin maʔ (he) mʷu

2SG ì-bin ma tʃɘ

ì-bin ma tʃʷu

---------

---- ------------- bin ma tʃɘ

bin ma tʃɘ

2PL ì-bin ma tʃʷu

ì-bin ma tʃʷu

---------

-------------

------------- bin ma tʃʷu

bin ma (he) tʃʷu

3SG ì-bin maʔ

ì-bin maʔ

ì-bin maʔ

ì-bin maʔ ì-bin maʔ bin maʔ bin maʔ (he)

3PL ì-bin maʔ (he)

ì-bin maʔ (he)

ì-bin maʔ (he)

ì-bin maʔ (he)

ì-bin maʔ (he)

bin maʔ (he)

bin maʔ (he)

Hierarchical indexation of 2nd pers


1SG ----------

------- ------- bin ma:ŋ tʃɘ

bin ma :ŋ tʃʷu

bin ma:ŋ

bin ma h-iŋ

1PL. EXCL

----------

------- -------- bin ma:ʷŋ tʃʷu

bin ma:ʷŋ tʃʷu

bin ma:ʷŋ

bin ma:ʷŋ

1PL. INCL

----------

------- ---------

-------------

------------- bin ma mɘ (/ mʷu)

bin maʔ (he) mʷu

2SG ì-bin ma tʃɘ

ì-bin ma tʃʷu

---------

---- ------------- bin ma tʃɘ

bin ma tʃɘ

2PL ì-bin ma tʃʷu

ì-bin ma tʃʷu

---------

-------------

------------- bin ma tʃʷu

bin ma (he) tʃʷu

3SG ì-bin maʔ

ì-bin maʔ

ì-bin maʔ

ì-bin maʔ ì-bin maʔ bin maʔ bin maʔ (he)

3PL ì-bin maʔ (he)

ì-bin maʔ (he)

ì-bin maʔ (he)

ì-bin maʔ (he)

ì-bin maʔ (he)

bin maʔ (he)

bin maʔ (he)

HIERARCHICAL VERB AGREEMENT IN HAKHUN Krishna Boro University of Oregon & Gauhati University

Genetic affiliation of Tangsa

Bodo-Konyak-Jingphaw

Bodo-Koch Konyak Jinghpaw-Luish

Khiamngan Chang Phom Konyak Wancho Tangsa Nocte

Tangsa Varieties

Tangsa groups found only in India

Gaji Gaja Halang Hawoi Joglei Katoi

Kochong Longchang Lungphi Moklum Nokya Ponthai

Ronrang Tikhak Yongkuk

Tangsa groups found in both India and Burma

Bongtai Chamchang Cholim Dunghi Galun Hakhun

Khalak Lakkai Lungkhe Longri Lochhang Mosang

Maitai Mungray Ngaimong Ringkhu Shangte Shangwal

Shechhyoe Thamphang

Fieldwork location

Agreement words

1. i²bə¹ sip²pʰan¹ lu³lɤik² ŋa¹ k-i¹.

that story history say PRES-1PL

‘We are going to tell that folk tale.’ (NR-006-1.1)

2. … zu³be¹-tɤ¹ haʔ²soŋ² mɤ³tʰe¹ dɤ¹ t-aʔ².

… ghost-family village one COP PAST-3

‘There was a family of ghosts.’ (NR-006-1.2)

3. miʔ² i²rə¹bə¹ haʔ²soŋ² mɤ³tʰe¹ dɤ¹ t-aʔ².

man that village one COP PAST-3

‘There was a village of man.’ (NR-006-1.3)

Agreement word onsets

- Marks different categories, such as TAM, Polarity, Deixis, Inverse, etc.

4. və¹kʰa² kə¹mə¹ ta¹-ʒa¹-buʔ² m-aʔ².

crow ERG be.able-fall-hit NEG-3

‘The crow could not drop it.’ (NR-006_1.37)

5. ....... i²ʒuŋ² twe³ keʔ² r-u¹ na¹.

...... ready take go PROX-2SG PERF

‘(We) are ready, bring it.’ (NR-007_4.53)

Agreement word rhymes

- Marks agreement with an argument of a clause.

Singular Plural

1st -ɤ⁽ˀ⁾ e/-i⁽ˀ⁾

2nd -o⁽ˀ⁾/-u⁽ˀ⁾ -an/-at

3rd -a⁽ˀ⁾

Agreement word paradigm (intr.)

Present Past Future Negation

1SG k-ɤ t-ɤˀ ɤ m-ɤˀ

1PL k-i t-iˀ e m-iˀ

2SG k-o / k-u t-oˀ/ t-uˀ o / u m-oˀ/ m-uˀ

2PL k-an t-at an m-at

3 k-a t-aˀ a m-aˀ

6. ŋa akʷam ri k-ɤ.

I walk AUX PRES-1SG

‘I am walking.’

7. nuʔrum ʒip t-at.

2PL sleep PAST-2PL

‘You slept.’

8. ativa ka a.

he go 3

‘He will go.’

Agreement word paradigm (tr.)

Three different agreement patterns

Hierarchical agreement

“Neutral” agreement

Subject agreement

Pragmatically marked


- Direct configuration paradigm: Subject is higher than or equal to the Object in person hierarchy.

A > P Present Past Future Negation

1SG > 2 & 3 k-ɤ t-ɤˀ ɤ m-ɤˀ

1PL > 2 & 3 k-i t-iˀ e m-iˀ

2SG > 3 k-o/k-u t-oˀ/t-uˀ o/u m-oˀ/m-uˀ

2PL > 3 k-an t-at an m-at

3 > 3 k-a t-aˀ a m-aˀ

9. ŋa-bə ati rʷezɤ lan k-ɤ.

I-ERG he always beat PRES-1SG

‘I always hit him.’

10. ŋa-bə nɤ lan t-ɤˀ.

I-ERG you beat PAST-1SG

‘I beat you.’

11. nɤ-bə ati lan k-o.

you-ERG he beat PRES-2SG

‘You beat him.’


- Inverse configuration paradigm: Object is higher than the Subject in person hierarchy.

A > P Present Past Future Negation

2SG & 3 SG/PL > 1SG

r-ɤ tʰ-ɤˀ r-ɤ m-ɤˀ

2 & 3 > 1PL r-i tʰ-iˀ r-i m-iˀ

3 > 2SG r-u tʰ-uˀ r-u m-oˀ

3 > 2PL r-an tʰ-at r-an m-at

12. nɤ-bə ŋa lan r-ɤ.

you-ERG I beat PRES.INV-1SG

‘You beat me.’

13. ati kəmə nɤ lan r-u.

he ERG you beat PRES.INV-2SG

‘He beats you.’

14. ati kəmə ŋa lap kʰi tʰ-ɤ.

he ERG I get see PAST.INV-1SG

‘He saw me.’

Inverse marking

- Two (partially) different sets of onsets for the two configurations in hierarchical agreement pattern.


Direct config. k t ZERO m

Inverse config. r tʰ r m

15. ŋa¹-bə³ a²ti¹ lan¹ k-ɤ¹. (direct)

I-ERG 3SG beat PRES-1SG

‘I beat you.’

16 a²ti¹ kə¹mə¹ ŋa¹ lan¹ r-ɤ¹. (inverse)

3SG ERG I beat PRES.INV-1SG

‘He beats me.’

17 ŋa¹-bə³ a²ti¹ ləp²kʰi¹ t-ɤʔ¹. (direct)

I-ERG 3SG see PAST-1SG

‘I saw him.

18 a²ti¹ kə¹mə¹ ŋa¹ ləp²kʰi¹ tʰ-ɤ¹. (inverse)

3SG ERG I see PAST.INV-1SG

‘He saw me.’

“Neutral” agreement

- Verb agrees with none of the arguments

- Found in the following configurations


1SG > 2SG (Direct)

k-i t-iˀ e m-iˀ

1SG > 2PL (Direct)

k-i/k-a t-iˀ/t-aˀ e/a m-aˀ

2PL > 1SG (Inverse)

r-a tʰ-aˀ r-a m-aˀ

19. ŋa-bə nɤ lapkʰi k-i.

I-ERG you see PRES-1PL

‘I can see you.’

20. ŋa-bə nuʔrum lan k-a.

I-ERG 2PL beat PRES-3

‘I hit you.’

21. nuʔrum kəmə ŋa lan r-a.

2PL ERG I beat PRES.INV-3

‘You hit me.’

Subject agreement

- A subject agreement is always possible irrespective of the configuration type.

- Subject agreement is pragmatically marked

in inverse configuration

in “neutral” agreement configuration

- Subject agreement in inverse configuration

22. ati kəmə ŋa lan k-a.

s/he ERG I beat PRES-3

‘He beats me.’

23. ati kəmə ŋa lap kʰi t-aˀ.

he ERG I get see PAST-3

‘He saw me.’

- Subject agreement in “neutral” agreement configuration

24. ŋa-bə nɤ lan k-ɤ.

I-ERG you beat PRES-1SG

‘I beat you.’

Summary

- The agreement system is primarily hierarchical in that the argument which is higher is marked on the verb complex irrespective of its grammatical role.

- Inverse is marked when the argument that the verb agrees with is an Object argument.

- The verb can always agree with the subject argument, although it is pragmatically marked when we use subject agreement instead of hierarchical or neutral agreement.

MORPHOSYNTACTIC FEATURES OF SUMI Amos Teo University of Oregon

The languages of Nagaland

Spoken in the hills

Languages have very little paradigmatic morphology

- no verbal agreement

- typically transparent morphology

Nagaland - Land area: 16, 579 km2

- Population: 1.98 million

- 16 main tribes

- English (official language)

- Nagamese (Assamese-based creole - unofficial lingua franca)

Google Maps, 2014

‘Naga’ languages

Burling (2003) gives 5 main groups:

- Angami-Pochuri - Ao - Tangkhul - Zeme

- Konyak

Google Maps, 2014

Angami-Pochuri

Google Maps, 2014

Angami / Tenyidie

Chokri

Khezha

Mao

Sumi / Sema

Angami-Pochuri

Angami / Tenyidie

Chokri

Khezha

Mao

Sumi / Sema

Google Maps, 2014

Sumi - 242,000 speakers based on 2001 census (Lewis 2009)

- spoken mainly in the Zunheboto district, but also in all neighbouring districts

- many new villages in Assam, east and northeast of Dimapur

Google Maps, 2014

Sumi

Google Maps, 2014

Morphosyntactic features of Sumi

Morphosyntactic features

Some features of Sumi:

Lack of argument indexation on verbs

Pragmatically / semantically motivated argument marking

Mainly regular & transparent morphology

Valence changing morphology

TAM marking

Argument Indexation

Lack of argument indexation on verbs

(2) Noye züva. nò=je ʒɨ-ve-a

2SG=TOP sleep-VM-PRF ‘You have slept.’

(1) Niye züva. nì=je ʒɨ-ve-a

1SG=TOP sleep-VM-PRF ‘I have slept.’

(3) Paye züva. pa=je ʒɨ-ve-a

3SG=TOP sleep-VM-PRF ‘He has slept.’

Argument Indexation

Pronominal Ps realized as proclitics on verb

Proclitics are regular, have same form as genitive prefixes, e.g. i- ‘my’ o- ‘your’

(7) Pano ohe. pa=nò ò=hè

3SG=AGT 2SG=hit ‘He hit you.’

(4) Nono ihe. nò=nò ì=hè

2SG=AGT 1SG=hit ‘You hit me.’

Argument Marking

Pragmatically / semantically motivated alignment, e.g. no /no/ and ye /je/

(10) Akükau no azah tsüve.

à-kɨká-ù=nò à-ʒà tʃɨ-ve

NRL-chief-DEF=AGT NRL-command give-VM

‘The chief gave a command.’

(11) Akükau ye azah tsüve.

à-kɨká-ù=je à-ʒà tʃɨ-ve

NRL-chief-DEF=TOP NRL-command give-VM

‘The chief gave a command.’ (but no one listened to him)

Argument Marking

Pragmatically / semantically motivated alignment, e.g. no /no/ and ye /je/

(12) Paza ye Sümi.

pa-ʒá=je ʃɨmì

3SG-mother=TOP Sumi

‘His mother is Sumi.’

(13) Paza no Sümi.

pa-ʒá=nò ʃɨmì

3SG-mother=FOC Sumi

‘His mother is Sumi.’ (not his father)

Argument Marking

Pragmatically / semantically motivated alignment – typical of other T-B languages spoken in the valleys

Found in other (non-Konyak) languages of Nagaland, e.g. Mongsen Ao

Coupe (2011): may represent a stage prior to syntactic ergative / absolutive alignment of Chang (Konyak group)

Regular morphology


Valence changing morphology:

Reciprocal: -kile (12) Angaqo no hekile ani.

a-ŋá=qó=nò hè-kile à-ni

NRL-child=PL=AGT hit=RECIP PROG-PRES

‘The children are hitting each other.’

But: Angaqo no kihele ani also possible (ki-he-le)

Cf. Kohima Angami kə- ‘ RECIP’

Regular morphology


TAM marking

some clearly grammaticalized from lexical verbs, e.g. a- ‘EXIST’ > ‘PROG’

che- ‘to walk’ > ‘HAB’

but some derive from older forms

e.g. -ni (old copula?)

Morphosyntactic features

By this measure, Sumi (and other languages of Nagaland) have far less morphological complexity than other languages of the hills

Look more like languages spoken in the valleys

Can we account for this lack of morphology by appealing to social / historical factors?

Socio-historical background of Sumi

Socio-historical context

Rapid recent expansion of Sumi territory

Intense contact with speakers of Ao languages (Sangtam, Ao, Lotha, etc.)

Relative social instability

Angami-Pochuri

Google Maps, 2014

Angami / Tenyidie

Chokri

Khezha

Mao

Sumi / Sema

Rapid expansion

Fairly large no. of speakers for a ‘hill’ language

Spoken across a wide geographic range

Hutton’s (1921) account:

Sumis pushed Aos further north, cut off Sangtam groups to the east

would have continued if not for British intervention

Contact with Ao languages

Hutton (1965/1921)


Toponymic evidence

River names in Zunheboto district often end in -ki (‘water’ in Sangtam)

Some Sumi village names reported to have Ao / Lotha / Sangtam origins

e.g. Litami village < Lungtang


‘Tukomi’ Sumis said to have Sangtam origin

Genealogical trees collected by Hutton

Sangtam wives brought into family

Sumi word for ‘older sister’ afo /a fo/ likely borrowing from Sangtam


Sumi expansion:

not necessarily accompanied by killing

but involved incorporation into community

Lack of stability

Traditionally viewed as ‘war-like’ and ‘bloodthirsty’ but warfare was organized

Social organization favors village fission:

“It is still the custom, wherever circumstances permit, for the elder sons of a Sema chief to leave the paternal village and make villages of their own.” (Hutton, 1921)

Some caveats

Sumis: possibly extreme example of expansionists

But we have evidence of general south-north migration of Naga groups

‘Naga’ languages

Migration patterns described by Hutton (1921) suggest South to North migration from present-day Manipur

Angamis reported frequent incursions from South

Google Maps, 2014

Google Maps, 2014

JINGHPAW

NUNG MEYOR

N NAGA 1

N KUKI-CHIN

NW KUKI-CHIN

S KUKI-CHIN

C KUKI-CHIN

ZEME TANGKHUL

ANGAMI-POCHURI

AO

N NAGA 2

NE India & Myanmar

Hakhun Tangsa

Monsang Naga

Sumi Naga

Tibeto-Burman Languages of the Indo-Myanmar borderland

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