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)
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)Sidwell, Paul. 2015. The Palaungic Languages: Classification, Reconstruction and Comparative Lexicon . München: Lincom Europa. 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 , 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.
Further reading
External links Khasian Languages Project (by Paul Sidwell)