Taman language (Sino-Tibetan)
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.
| Taman | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Myanmar |
| Region | Htamanthi, Sagaing Region |
| Ethnicity | Shan |
| Extinct | 1931[1][2] |
Sino-Tibetan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | tcl |
| Glottolog | tama1328 |
Language shift
Taman speakers have since shifted to Burmese and Tai Naing (Red Shan), a Tai language spoken in northern Myanmar.[1] Matisoff (2013:13)[3] 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.
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-)
Lexicon
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'.
| Gloss | Taman (Brown 1911) | Taman (Luce 1985) |
|---|---|---|
| one | tɔ | tə |
| two | nek | nek |
| three | sùm | sum |
| four | pəli | pəli |
| five | məŋɔ | məŋə |
| six | kwa | kwɑ |
| seven | sənè | səne |
| eight | pəsè | pəse |
| nine | təxɐ | tə̈xəː |
| ten | ʃi | ʃi |
| ape | jùn | - |
| arm, hand | la | la |
| arrow | pʰəlɔ | pʰəlɔ |
| axe | wɔtùm | wɔtum |
| bag | tʰùmbɔ | tʰumbə |
| bamboo | wɔ | wɔ |
| bat | sɔŋpʰula | sɔŋ-pulɑ |
| bear | sʰap | sʰap |
| bee | ùìŋ | uiŋ |
| big | lwaŋ | lwɑŋ |
| bird | kətʃeksɔ | kətʃeksɔ (sparrow) |
| bitter | xɔ | xɔ |
| blood | sʰe | sʰe |
| boat | li | li |
| body | tu | tu |
| bone | raŋ | raŋ |
| buffalo | mɔk | mɔk (cattle) |
| call | lu | - |
| cat | mətʃeksɔ | mətʃeksɔ |
| cold | xɑm | xɑːm |
| dog | vi | vi |
| ear | nəpʰɑ | nəpʰɑː |
| earth (soil) | pəkɔ | pəkɔ |
| eat | sɔ | - |
| elephant | məki | məki |
| eye | pekkwe | pəkkwe |
| father | vɔ ~ wɔ | vɔ ~ wɔ |
| female | nëm | nëm |
| fire | vè | ve |
| fish | ətsɔ | ətsɔ |
| flesh | hè | he |
| give | nëm | nëm |
| go | hɔ | hɔ |
| gold | xɑm | xɑːm |
| good | kəmë | kəmë |
| grass | sʰèìŋ | sʰeɪŋ |
| head | kəkɐ | kəkəː |
| hill | kɔùŋrwe | kɔʊŋrwe |
| hog | va ~ wa | va ~ wa (pig) |
| horse | tʃipòùk | tʃipɔʊk |
| house | ʃìp | ʃɪp |
| I | në | në |
| iron | ʃa | ʃa |
| kill | səsʰèùk | - |
| know | tʃùp | - |
| man (human being) | mek | mek |
| male | laktʃaŋ | lɑk tʃaŋ |
| moon | səlɔ | səlɔ |
| mother | nëm | nëm |
| name | təmeŋ | təmeŋ |
| night | nɑtaŋ | nɑːtaŋ |
| road | lam | lam |
| rock | taŋpɔ | taŋpɔ (stone) |
| salt | tsùm | tsum |
| snake | pɐ | pəː |
| silk | nè | - |
| speak | tʰè | - |
| star | taŋpɐ | taŋpəː |
| steal | xɐlɔ | xəːlɔ |
| sun | pupek | pupek |
| tooth | vɑkòùn ~ wɑkòùn | vɑkɔʊn ~ wɑkɔʊn |
| water | tʰi | tʰi |
| write | rek | - |
| year | kèìŋ | - |
Phrases and transcribed song
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')
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'
References
- Huziwara, Keisuke. 2016. タマン語の系統再考 / On the genetic position of Taman reconsidered. In Kyoto University Linguistic Research 35, p.1-34. doi:10.14989/219018
- "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
- Matisoff, James A. 2013. Re-examining the genetic position of Jingpho: putting flesh on the bones of the Jingpho/Luish relationship. Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 36(2). 1–106.
- Benedict, Paul K. (1972). Sino-Tibetan: a conspectus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Brown, R. Grant (1911). "The Tamans of the Upper Chindwin, Burma." The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 41: 305–317.
- Huziwara, Keisuke. 2016. タマン語の系統再考 / On the genetic position of Taman reconsidered. In Kyoto University Linguistic Research 35, p.1-34. doi:10.14989/219018 (PDF)
- Luce, George H. (1985). Phases of Pre-Pagan Burma: languages and history, vol. I, II. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Shafer, Robert (1974). Introduction to Sino-Tibetan. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.