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Taman language (Myanmar)
Extinct Sino-Tibetan language of Myanmar From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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.
![]() | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (July 2024) |
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Language shift
Taman speakers have since shifted to Burmese and Tai Naing (Red Shan), a Tai language spoken in northern Myanmar.[1] Matisoff (2013:25)[4] 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
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.
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Phonology
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
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-)
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Lexicon
Summarize
Perspective
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'.
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Samples
Summarize
Perspective
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')
Sample text
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'
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Notes
References
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