Khasic languages

Not to be confused with Khas (Nepali) and Khas Kura (the previous name of Newar) languages.

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.^[1]

Khasic
Geographic distribution	India, Bangladesh
Linguistic classification	Austroasiatic Khasi–Palaungic Khasic
Proto-language	Proto-Khasic
Language codes
Glottolog	khas1268
Map of the Khasic languages

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)[2]
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 /ʤaː/	ʤa	ci	ʧi
moon	*bnəːj	bni	bne	bnai /bnaːi/	bnaj	pni	pnʊ
to sing	*rwəːj	rəŋwi	rwej	rwái /rwaːi/	rwaj	–	rvʊ
four	*saːw	saw	saw	sáw /saːw/	so	sɔu	ria
river	*waʔ	–	waɁ	wah /waːʔ/	waɁ	waɁ	waɁ
all	*barɔɁ	prok	barɔʔ	baroh /barɔːʔ/	warɔʔ	–	bərɒʔ
pig	*sniaŋ	sɲaŋ	sniaŋ	sniang /sniaŋ/	sniaŋ	cʰɲaŋ	rniŋ
sand	*ʧʔiap	ʥʔep	ʧiʔɛp	shyiap /ʃʔiap/	ʧʔiap	ʃʔip	ʃʔiap
to drink	*di:ʔ/c	dec	dɔc	dih /diːʔ/	diʔ	deʔ	deʔ
flower/star	*kʰloːr	kʰlor	kʰlɔr	khlúr /kʰloːr/	kʰlor	–	khlʊə
tongue	*tʰnləːc	təloc	tʰl̩let	thyllied /tʰɨlleːc/	tʰl̩leɟ	kʰlut	kʰlit
ice/freeze	*tʰaʔ	tʰaʔ	tʰaʔ	thah /tʰaːʔ/	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)