Mruic languages

Mruic or Mru–Hkongso is a small group of Sino-Tibetan languages consisting of two languages, Mru and Anu-Hkongso. Their relationship within Sino-Tibetan is unclear.

Mruic
Mru–Hkongso
Geographic distribution	Burma, Bangladesh
Linguistic classification	Sino-Tibetan Mruic
Subdivisions	Mru Anu-Hkongso
Language codes
Glottolog	mrui1235

Peterson & Wright (2009)^[1] proposed the name Mru–Hkongso. DeLancey (2021) also uses the name Mru–Hkongso.^[2]

Classification

Matisoff (2015)^[3][4] classifies Mru as part of the Northeast Indian areal group, a linkage^[5] that includes Tani, Deng (Digaro), "Kuki-Chin–Naga", Meithei, Mikir, and Sal.

On the other hand, Bradley (1997) classifies Mru as part of Lolo-Burmese, based on Löffler's (1966) observations that Mru shares many phonological and lexical resemblances with Lolo-Burmese.^[6][7]

The Mru-Hkongso group was first proposed by Peterson & Wright (2009),^[1] who do not consider it to be a subgroup of Lolo-Burmese.

Peterson (2017:205)^[8] notes that Mru and Hkongso do not have any features characteristic of Kuki-Chin languages that have been identified by VanBik (2009),^[9] including lack of the sound change Proto-Tibeto-Burman *s > tʰ, lack of Kuki-Chin-type verb stem alternation, and lack of the singular first person pronoun (1.SG) *kaj which is present in most Kuki-Chin languages.

Peterson (2009)^[10] considers Mru-Hkongso to be a separate Tibeto-Burman branch, and notes the following similarities between Mru-Hkongso and Bodo–Garo languages.

• Bodo–Garo *=kho 'accusative'; Mru =k(öj) 'accusative' (Hkongso locative =ko)
• Bodo–Garo *=ba ‘also’; Mru-Hkongso =pö ‘also’
• Bodo–Garo *–ram 'locative nominalizer'; Mru –ram 'locative nominalizer'
• Bodo–Garo *=gVn 'future marker'; Mru –köm ~ kön 'irrealis marker' (Hkongso ham)
• Bodo–Garo *–(k)ha 'past marker'; Mru –khaj ~ -hö 'past marker' (Hkongso kö ?)
• Bodo–Garo *–dV 'imperative marker'; Mru –diö 'imperative marker' (Hkongso de)

Peterson (2009)^[10] considers the similarities with Bodo–Garo to be due to the possible early split of Mruic from a Tibeto-Burman branch that included Bodo–Garo (see also Central Tibeto-Burman languages and Sal languages).

Grammar

Both Mru and Hkongso display SVO (subject-verb-object) order instead of the SOV word order typical of most Tibeto-Burman languages.^[10][11][12] Bai, Sinitic, and Karenic are the only other Sino-Tibetan language branches with primarily verb-medial (SVO) word order.