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Article published In:
Journal of Historical Linguistics
Vol. 11:1 (2021) ► pp.1–59

The Duhumbi perspective on Proto-Western Kho-Bwa onsets

| SOAS University of London , United Kingdom | Bern University , Switzerland

The eight Western Kho-Bwa varieties are spoken in western Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India and form a small, coherent sub-group of the Tibeto-Burman (Trans-Himalayan / Sino-Tibetan) language family.

This paper presents 96 sound correspondences, mainly between the two Western Kho-Bwa varieties Duhumbi and Khoitam, with additional evidence from other Western Kho-Bwa varieties and other Tibeto-Burman languages whenever deemed illustrative. On basis of these sound correspondences, I propose 282 Western Kho-Bwa proto-forms including a total of 92 onsets. The less common reconstructed Western Kho-Bwa onsets are the uvular onsets and the voiceless nasal and approximant onsets.

A unique innovation of the Western Kho-Bwa languages, and indeed the Kho-Bwa languages in general, is the correspondence of initial *s- in other Tibeto-Burman languages to a vocal onset in Proto-Western Kho-Bwa and its descendent varieties. Another relatively unique innovation is the correspondence between Western Kho-Bwa obstruent onsets *b- and *g- ~ *kʰ- ~ *k- and other Tibeto-Burman nasal onsets *m- and *ŋ-, respectively.

Keywords: Western Kho-Bwa, proto-language, historical-comparative linguistics, Sartang, Sherdukpen
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • The Kho-Bwa cluster
    • The Western Kho-Bwa languages
    • The data
    • The methodology
    • Notational conventions
  • 2.Plosive onsets
    • 2.1Trivial correspondences
    • 2.2Fate of rhotic onset clusters
    • 2.3Distinct reflexes before /i/
    • 2.4Minor correspondences
  • 3.Vocal onsets
  • 4.Nasal onsets
    • 4.1Trivial correspondences
    • 4.2Minor correspondences
  • 5.Fricative onsets
    • 5.1Trivial correspondences
    • 5.2Palatalised onsets
    • 5.3Voiceless onsets
    • 5.4Minor correspondences
  • 6.Affricate onsets
    • 6.1Trivial correspondences
    • 6.2Palatalised onsets
    • 6.3Labialised onsets
    • 6.4Minor correspondences
  • 7.Approximant onsets
    • 7.1Trivial correspondences
    • 7.2Voiceless onsets
    • 7.3Minor correspondences
  • 8.Sound correspondences in loans
  • 9.Synposis
    • 9.1Notable sound correspondences between the varieties
    • 9.2Notable sound correspondences with other Tibeto-Burman languages
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 16 April 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jhl.19021.bod
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