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Kharia language
Munda language From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Kharia language (Kharia pronunciation: [kʰaɽija] or [kʰeɽija][2]) is a Munda language of the Austroasiatic language family, that is primarily spoken by the Kharia people of eastern India.
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History
The first systematic description of the Kharia language is Banerjee (1894)'s Kharia grammar, followed by Tea Districts Labour Association (1929) and Floor et al. (1934), which resulted in a Kharia-English Dictionary. An ethnological study on the tribe was published in 1937 by Roy & Roy.[3]
The first major academic approach to Kharia were taken by linguist Heinz-Jürgen Pinnow in the 1950s and 1960s with studies published in both German and English. Other works include Biligiri (1965)'s full study and lexicon; Mahapatra (1976) on Kharia and Juang verbs, Malhotra (1982) Ph.D. dissertation attempting a comprehensive grammar of Kharia; Abbi (1993; 1997) on language change and contact; Rehberg (2003) on Kharia phonology (in German).[4]
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Classification
Kharia belongs to the Kharia–Juang branch of the Munda language family. Its closest extant relative is the Juang language, but the relationship between Kharia and Juang is remote.
Kharia is in contact with Sadri (the local lingua franca), Mundari, Kurukh, Hindi, and Odia (in Odisha).[2]
Distribution
Kharia speakers are located in the following districts of India.[2]
Phonology
- [ɽ, ɽʱ] are only marginally phonemic and are normally intervocalic allophones of /ɖ, ɖʱ/.
- /f/ can also be pronounced among some speakers as an affricate [p͡f].
- /c, cʰ, ɟ, ɟʱ/ are often realized as affricate sounds [t͡ʃ, t͡ʃʰ, d͡ʒ, d͡ʒʱ], especially in loanwords.
- [ʔ] is an allophone of /ɡ/ when in coda position.[5]
- /i, e, o, u/ have lax allophones of [ɪ, ɛ, ɔ, ʊ].
- /a/ can have allophones of [ɑ, ä, ə, ʌ].[5]
Gemination only occur in morpheme boundaries of words. Consonant length can be phonemic. Eg. /oton=na/ realized as [ɔtɔnːɑ] (press=INF). /ʔ/, /s/, and /h/ may not be geminated.[6]
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Morphology
Summarize
Perspective
Pronouns
Nouns
Case
Kharia NPs has three cases:
- Nominative: unmarked
- Oblique: =te
- Genitive: =aʔ
Gender
Grammatical gender is not a morphosyntactical feature of Kharia, but the language has independent words to identify whether a male or female of a lexical word is intended. Eg. kokro siŋkoy 'rooster' and kitur siŋkoy 'hen'.[7]
Person
Inalienable nominals are cross-referenced with possessive markers showed in the table below.
Interrogatives
Numerals
Kharia has two numeral systems. The one native to Kharia is no longer in common productive use, therefore having great disparities and disagreements. The other, which was borrowed from Sadri, is used in daily life.
The Sadri derived numerals often go with numeral classifiers. Classifiers occur very seldom with native numerals, at least by modern speakers, perhaps due to the unfamiliarity of the modern speakers with the Kharia numerals.[8]
Verbs
Subject marking
Similar to Remo, Gutob, Gtaʔ, and recently Juang, Kharia predicate only marks person/number of the subject argument.[9]
Tense, aspect, mood
Kharia, like many Munda languages, merges TAM categories with active and middle voices.[10]
Causative verb
The causative derivation increases the valency of a verb stem by introducing a higher or superordinate agent who causes the lower agent to act or a non-agentive event to happen. In Kharia, the signature marker of the Austroasiatic family -(o)(ʔ)b- (including allomorphs) is used as the causative prefix or infix.[11] Double causative constructions are also allowed.[12]
Passive
The passive voice/reflexive in Kharia is realized as standalone word ɖom, itself has no lexical meaning.[13] Historically, it might have stemmed from the verb dʒom ('to eat'), as it appears to cognate with Santali passive -jɔn (< jɔm 'to eat') and Sora-Juray reflexive/low transitive denoting marker -dəm-.[14]
potʰi=ki
book=PL
ter
give
ɖom=ki=may
PASS=MID.PST=3PL
'(The) Books were given'
Telicity
There are two telic markers in Kharia which serve the narrative structure[15]:
- ɖoˀɖ (allomorph ɖoɽ) indicates that another event follows directly upon the event denoted by the predicate that it marks;
- goˀɖ (allomorph goɽ) denotes a turning point or culmination in a narrative.[16]
Tay
then
raja
king
jhaɽi
all
mudh
chief
kalo=ki=te
priest=PL=OBL
ro
and
yahudi
Jew
jait=aʔ
ethnic.group=GEN
etoŋɖag=aʔ
receiving.orders=GEN
guru=ki=te
teacher=PL=OBL
ɖokloʔ
meeting
remaʔ
call
ɖoʈh=oʔ
ACT.TEL=ACT.PST
ro
and
ho=ki=te
that=PL=OBL
"masih=te
messiah=OBL
ate
where
jorme=na
be.born=INF
ayiˀj?"
PRES.COP
gam=oʔ
say=ACT.PST
ro
and
juŋ=oʔ
ask=ACT.PST
'The king called all the chief priests and teachers of the Jewish people who received orders [from the king] to a meeting and asked (said and asked) them “Where is the Messiah to be born?'
Incorporation
In Kharia, incorporation of nouns and adjuncts is possible but mostly limited to certain stems and under a lexicalized (non-productive) degree. Polysyllabic nominals are subtracted from their final syllable(s) while there are no phonological adjustments occurring on monosyllabic items. The incorporated compounds may obscure or alter the original meaning of the nominal or the verbal element.[17]
1. (< tiʔ ('hand'))
gugtʰe
wash.hand
'to wash hand'
2. (< soreŋ ('stone'))
boŋsor
finish.stone
'to petrify'
ɖaʔ
water
ajoˀɖ-ɖaʔ=ki
dry-water=MID.PST
'The water dried up.'
hoɖom=ki=yaʔ
other=PL=GEN
goˀjloʔ=te
rice.field=OBL
si-lo=na
plow-earth=INF
ayiˀj
PRES.COP
laʔ
then
madet
help
remaʔ=teʔ=ki
call=ACT.PRES=3PL
'...the rice fields of the others must be plowed, then [they] call for help.'
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Sample text
Ughay
this.way
andai
guess
ɖom=ta
PASS=MID.PRES
no
CMPL
ata
Q
bhere
time
israeli
Israeli
lebu=ki
person=PL
rusuŋ
red
samudar=te
ocean=OBL
paro=na
cross=INF
laʔ=ki,
IPFV=MID.PST
hin
then
bhere=jo
time=ADD
khaɽiya=kia
Kharia=PL
ho
that
boʔ=ki=te=ga
place=PL=OBL=FOC
aw=ki=may.
live=MID.PST=3PL.SUBJ
'Thus it is assumed that at the time that the Israelis were crossing the Red Sea, at that time the Kharias were at those places as well.'
Laʔ
then
anin=aʔ
1PL.INCL=GEN
khariya
Kharia
bulbul,
Babylon
yane
i.e.
babilon,
Babylon
poʔda
village
tay
ABL
muʔ=kon
emerge=SEQ
del/em/-dol
come-?
arloʔ,
north
serloʔsin
south
ghay
way
hoy=kon
become=SEQ
utiˀj
this.side
del=ki=may.
come=MID.PST=3PL
'Then our Kharia [ancestors], having left Bulbul, i.e., Babylon, coming along, via the north and south, came to this side [i.e., here].'
Am=ga
You=FOC
patar
light
terter
give.RDPL
heke=m,
QUAL.PRES=2SG
am,
You
Yesu,
Jesus
ɖe=na=m
come=MID.IRR=2SG
ro
and
patar
light
ter=e=m
give=ACT.IRR=2SG
patar
light
ter=e=m.
give=ACT.IRR=2SG
'You are the [one] who gives light, you, Jesus, will come and give light, you will give light.'
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References
Further reading
External links
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