Taman language (Myanmar)
Taman | |
---|---|
Native to | Myanmar |
Region | Htamanthi, Sagaing Region |
Ethnicity | Shan |
Extinct | 1931[1][2] |
Sino-Tibetan
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | tcl |
Glottolog | tama1328 |
Taman is an extinct Sino-Tibetan language that was spoken in Htamanthi village in Homalin Township, Sagaing Region, northern Myanmar. It was documented in a list of 75 words in Brown (1911). Keisuke Huziwara (2016)[1] discovered an elderly rememberer of Taman in Htamanthi who could remember some Taman phrases as well as a short song, but was not fluent in the Taman language. However, no fluent speakers of Taman remained in the area.
Language shift[edit]
Taman speakers have since shifted to Burmese and Tai Naing (Red Shan), a Tai language spoken in northern Myanmar.[1] Matisoff (2013:25)[3] surmises that pressure from the formerly widespread Kadu language had caused Taman to become marginalized. The descendants of Taman speakers have since been assimilated into Shan society.[1]
Classification[edit]
Benedict (1972) and Shafer (1974) classified Taman as part of the Luish branch of languages.
Words and affixes shared exclusively between Luish and Taman are (Huziwara 2016):
- negative prefix (Proto-Luish *a-, Taman ʔə-)
- ‘put’ (Proto-Luish *péy, Taman pe)
- ‘go, walk’ (Proto-Luish *ha, Taman hɔ)
- ‘sun’ as a compound word that includes ‘eye’
However, Huziwara (2016)[1] notes that despite Taman sharing some similarities with Luish, Taman cannot be securely classified within the Luish branch itself, and its place in Tibeto-Burman remains uncertain. Taman also shares various similarities with many nearby non-Luish languages, including various Sal languages. Huziwara (2016) concludes that Taman is part of a linkage of Tibeto-Burman languages spanning across northeast India and northern Myanmar (i.e., comparable to Scott DeLancey's Central Tibeto-Burman languages), but does not recognizably fit into any known Tibeto-Burman branch.
Phonology[edit]
Taman has the following phonemes.[1]
- Vowels: a, e, ɛ, i, ɨ, ɐ, o [ɔ, ɑ], u, ə
- Consonants: p, ph, t, th, c [ts, tʃ], k, m, n, ŋ, r, l, s (sʰ), ʃ, x, h, w (v), y
Sound changes[edit]
Below are five innovations from Proto-Tibeto-Burman (PTB) to Taman identified by Huziwara (2016).
- raising of low vowels (PTB *-a > Taman -ɔ)
- fricativization of velar stops in word-initial positions (PTB *k- > Taman x-)
- loss of velar stops in word-final positions (PTB *-ak > Taman -a)
- addition of velar stops after high vowels (PTB *-i/-u > Taman -ek/-ouk)
- affrication of *gry- (PTB *gry- > Taman c-)
Lexicon[edit]
Below is Brown's (1911) Taman word list as cited and re-transcribed in Huziwara (2016:19–29), and Brown's (1911) Taman list re-transcribed by Luce (1985), as cited and re-transcribed in Huziwara (2016).
The Taman word for 'river' is the same as the word for 'water'.
Gloss | Taman (Brown 1911) | Taman (Luce 1985) |
---|---|---|
one | tɔ | tə |
two | nek | nek |
three | sùm | sum |
four | pəli | pəli |
five | məŋɔ | məŋə |
six | kwa | kwɑ |
seven | sənè | səne |
eight | pəsè | pəse |
nine | təxɐ | tə̈xəː |
ten | ʃi | ʃi |
ape | jùn | – |
arm, hand | la | la |
arrow | pʰəlɔ | pʰəlɔ |
axe | wɔtùm | wɔtum |
bag | tʰùmbɔ | tʰumbə |
bamboo | wɔ | wɔ |
bat | sɔŋpʰula | sɔŋ-pulɑ |
bear | sʰap | sʰap |
bee | ùìŋ | uiŋ |
big | lwaŋ | lwɑŋ |
bird | kətʃeksɔ | kətʃeksɔ (sparrow) |
bitter | xɔ | xɔ |
blood | sʰe | sʰe |
boat | li | li |
body | tu | tu |
bone | raŋ | raŋ |
buffalo | mɔk | mɔk (cattle) |
call | lu | – |
cat | mətʃeksɔ | mətʃeksɔ |
cold | xɑm | xɑːm |
dog | vi | vi |
ear | nəpʰɑ | nəpʰɑː |
earth (soil) | pəkɔ | pəkɔ |
eat | sɔ | – |
elephant | məki | məki |
eye | pekkwe | pəkkwe |
father | vɔ ~ wɔ | vɔ ~ wɔ |
female | nëm | nëm |
fire | vè | ve |
fish | ətsɔ | ətsɔ |
flesh | hè | he |
give | nëm | nëm |
go | hɔ | hɔ |
gold | xɑm | xɑːm |
good | kəmë | kəmë |
grass | sʰèìŋ | sʰeɪŋ |
head | kəkɐ | kəkəː |
hill | kɔùŋrwe | kɔʊŋrwe |
hog | va ~ wa | va ~ wa (pig) |
horse | tʃipòùk | tʃipɔʊk |
house | ʃìp | ʃɪp |
I | në | në |
iron | ʃa | ʃa |
kill | səsʰèùk | – |
know | tʃùp | – |
man (human being) | mek | mek |
male | laktʃaŋ | lɑk tʃaŋ |
moon | səlɔ | səlɔ |
mother | nëm | nëm |
name | təmeŋ | təmeŋ |
night | nɑtaŋ | nɑːtaŋ |
road | lam | lam |
rock | taŋpɔ | taŋpɔ (stone) |
salt | tsùm | tsum |
snake | pɐ | pəː |
silk | nè | – |
speak | tʰè | – |
star | taŋpɐ | taŋpəː |
steal | xɐlɔ | xəːlɔ |
sun | pupek | pupek |
tooth | vɑkòùn ~ wɑkòùn | vɑkɔʊn ~ wɑkɔʊn |
water | tʰi | tʰi |
write | rek | – |
year | kèìŋ | – |
Phrases and transcribed song[edit]
On March 2, 2015, Keisuke Huziwara[1] discovered an 83-year-old woman in Htamanthi who remembered some words and phrases of the Taman language, as well as a short song. The woman was born in a village just outside Htamanthi. The elicited words and phrases are (Huziwara 2016:14–16):
- hɔ əna, hɔ təyauŋ '(I) went over there.' (hɔ 'to go')
- kʰam sɔ-nə-kɔ 'Did (you) eat?' (kʰam 'food, cooked rice'; sɔ 'to eat')
- sɔ-kɛʔ 'already ate'
- ʔə-sɔ-wɛʔ 'did not eat (yet)' (ʔə- 'negative prefix')
- sɔ-nə-kɔ-ya 'ate; finished eating' (-nə 'desiderative suffix')
- tʰitum ŋɔ lɔ 'Where is the water?' (tʰi 'water'; tum 'container'; ŋɔ 'where'; lɔ 'interrogative')
- ʔəyɔ pe 'Where did I put it?' (pe 'to place'; ʔəyɔ 'where?')
- wa dɔ 'Come!' (wa 'to come')
- pi 'firewood' (cf. Meithei upi 'firewood')
- məla 'tea'
- məla sɔ nɔ 'Please drink tea.' (məla 'tea'; sɔ 'to eat')
The song is transcribed as follows.
- ʔi ʔələyaŋ ʔi ʔələyaŋ
- nənum təhɔ ʔinahɔ
- məceiʔ cɔ he lɔcɔ ci
- məceiʔ cɔ ʔi na
- nam ha mina
- hɔ pi cɔ
Huziwara (2016:15–16) analyzes the song as follows.
- ʔi ʔələyaŋ ʔi ʔələyaŋ: exclamation introducing the song
- nənum təhɔ ʔina hɔ: 'The child went.'
- məceiʔcɔ he: 'Where is the child?' (Taman məceiʔcɔ 'child' < PTB *tsa-n)
- lɔcɔ ci: [meaning unclear]
- məceiʔcɔ, ʔina: 'I told the child'
- nam ha mina: 'Where did you go?'
- hɔ pi cɔ: 'I went outside.'
Altogether, the nouns, verbs, and prefixes elicited from Huziwara's (2016) Taman informant are:
- kʰam 'food, cooked rice'
- tʰi 'water'
- məla 'tea'
- pi 'firewood'
- tum 'container'
- məceiʔcɔ 'child'
- ʔə- 'negative prefix'
- sɔ 'to eat'
- hɔ 'to go'
- wa 'to come'
- pe 'to place, put'
Notes[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g Huziwara (2016)
- ^ "Unesco Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger". unesco.org. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
- ^ Matisoff (2013), p. 25
References[edit]
- Benedict, Paul K. (1972). Sino-Tibetan: A Conspectus. Cambridge: University Press.
- Brown, R. Grant (1911). "The Tamans of the Upper Chindwin, Burma". The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 41: 305–317. doi:10.2307/2843177. JSTOR 2843177.
- Huziwara, Keisuke 藤原 敬介 (2016). タマン語の系統再考 [On the Genetic Position of Taman Reconsidered]. 京都大学言語学研究 [Kyoto University Linguistic Research] (in Japanese). 35: 1–34. doi:10.14989/219018. hdl:2433/219018.
- Luce, George H. (1985). Phases of Pre-Pagan Burma: Languages and History, vol. I, II. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Matisoff, James A. (2013). "Re-Examining the Genetic Position of Jingpho: Putting Flesh on the Bones of the Jingpho/Luish Relationship" (PDF). Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area. 36 (2): 15–95.
- Shafer, Robert (1974). Introduction to Sino-Tibetan. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.