In today's world, Burmo-Qiangic languages has become a topic of great relevance and interest to many people in different fields. Whether due to its impact on society, its implications in daily life or its significance in history, Burmo-Qiangic languages is a topic that deserves to be analyzed and discussed in depth. From its origins to its impact today, Burmo-Qiangic languages has aroused the interest of academics, experts, and the general public, which is why it is essential to explore its different edges and dimensions. In this article, we will delve into the exciting world of Burmo-Qiangic languages, to learn in detail about its characteristics, challenges and opportunities, with the aim of expanding our knowledge and understanding of this fascinating topic.
Burmo-Qiangic | |
---|---|
Eastern Tibeto-Burman | |
(proposed) | |
Geographic distribution | China, Burma |
Linguistic classification | Sino-Tibetan
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Subdivisions | |
Glottolog | burm1265 |
The Burmo-Qiangic or Eastern Tibeto-Burman languages are a proposed family of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Southwest China and Myanmar. It consists of the Lolo-Burmese and Qiangic branches, including the extinct Tangut language.
Guillaume Jacques & Alexis Michaud (2011) argue for a Burmo-Qiangic branch of Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman) with two primary subbranches, Qiangic and Lolo-Burmese. Similarly, David Bradley (2008) proposes an Eastern Tibeto-Burman branch that includes Burmic (a.k.a. Lolo-Burmese) and Qiangic. Bradley notes that Lolo-Burmese and Qiangic share some unique lexical items, even though they are morphologically quite different; whereas all Lolo-Burmese languages are tonal and analytical, Qiangic languages are often non-tonal and possess agglutinative morphology. However the position of Naic is unclear, as it has been grouped as Lolo-Burmese by Lama (2012), but as Qiangic by Jacques & Michaud (2011) and Bradley (2008).
Sun (1988) also proposed a similar classification that grouped Qiangic and Lolo-Burmese together.
Jacques' & Michaud's (2011) proposed tree is as follows.
Bradley's (2008) proposal is as follows. Note that Bradley calls Lolo-Burmese Burmic, which is not to be confused with Burmish, and calls Loloish Ngwi.
Eastern Tibeto‑Burman | |
However, Chirkova (2012) doubts that Qiangic is a valid genetic unit, and considers Ersu, Shixing, Namuyi, and Pumi all as separate Tibeto-Burman branches that are part of a Qiangic Sprachbund, rather than as part of a coherent Qiangic phylogenetic branch. This issue has also been further discussed by Yu (2012).
Lee & Sagart (2008) argue that Bai is a Tibeto-Burman language that has borrowed very heavily from Old Chinese. Lee & Sagart (2008) note that word relating to rice and pig agriculture tend to be non-Chinese, and that the genetic non-Chinese layer of Bai shows similarities with Proto-Loloish.
Yu (2012:206–207) lists the following well-established coherent branches (including individual languages, in italics below) that could likely all fit into a wider Burmo-Qiangic group, in geographical order from north to south.
Additionally, Tangut, now extinct, is generally classified as a Qiangic language.
Yu (2012:215–218) notes that Ersuic and Naic languages could possibly group together, since they share many features with each other that are not found in Lolo-Burmese or other Qiangic groups.
Proto-language reconstructions for some of these branches include:
Jacques & Michaud (2011) list the following lexical items as likely Burmo-Qiangic lexical innovations.
Gloss | rGyalrong | Tangut | Na | Proto-Naish | Burmese | Achang | Hani |
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copula | ŋu | ŋwu2 | ŋi˩˧ | ? | hnang2 | – | ŋɯ˧˩ |
star | ʑŋgri | gjịj1 | kɯ˥ | *kri | kray2 | khʐə˥ | a˧˩gɯ˥ |
forget | jmɯt | mjɨ̣2 | mv̩.phæL+MH | *mi | me1 | ɲi˧˥ | ɲi˥ |
be ill | ngo < *ngaŋ | ŋo2 | gu˩ | *go | |||
flint | ʁdɯrtsa | – | tse.miH | *tsa | |||
to hide | nɤtsɯ | – | tsɯ˥ (Naxi) | *tsu | |||
to swallow | mqlaʁ | – | ʁv̩˥ | *NqU < *Nqak | |||
dry | spɯ | - | pv̩˧ | *Spu | |||
thick | jaʁ | laa1 | lo˧˥ | *laC2 | |||
jump | mtsaʁ | – | tsho˧ | *tshaC2 | |||
winter | qartsɯ | tsur1 | tshi˥ | *tshu | choŋ3 | tɕhɔŋ˧˩ | tshɔ˧˩ga̱˧ |
knee | tə-mŋɑ (Situ) | ŋwer2 | ŋwɤ.koH | *ŋwa | |||
sun | ʁmbɣi | be2 | bi˧ (Naxi) | *bi |