Barman language
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Barman Thar | |
---|---|
Barman Thar | |
Pronunciation | /bɔɾmɔn thaɾ/ |
Native to | Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland |
Region | Northeast India, Kamarupa |
Ethnicity | Barman Kacharis |
Native speakers | 24,000 (2017)[1] |
Assamese alphabet (presently used) Sylheti Nagri (formerly used) | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | – |
Barman Thar (IPA: /bɔɾmɔn thaɾ/), where “thar” means language, is a highly endangered language. It is a Tibeto-Burman language that belongs to the Boro–Garo sub-group. The population of the Barman Kachari community is 24,237, according to a 2017 census. However, only a small part of this population speaks the language.[1]
History
[edit]The Barman Kacharis are an indigenous Assamese community of Northeast India and are a subsection of the Dimasa people.[2] They are mainly found in the districts of Lower Assam and in Barak Valley like Hailakandi and Karimganj and some parts of Arunachal Pradesh. Barman Kachari is one of the ancient ethnic groups of North-East India. Since the 2002 Amendment act, many Barman Kacharis in Assam are referred to as 'Barman'. They are mainly found in the districts of Udalguri, Baksa, Chirang, Kokrajhar, Darrang, Kamrup, Goalpara, Nagaon, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Cachar and Barpeta. Barmans are called Kacharis because of their Kachari origin. They are spread diffusely, in Assam and in places such as Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland.
Barman Kachari villages are scattered over the state of Meghalaya, like the Garo Hills and Khasi Hills, and also in Tripura. Prior to Indian independence, several Barman Kachari settlements existed in the Mymensingh and Sylhet districts of present-day Bangladesh. Partition of the country had resulted in the migration of these people to then undivided Assam.
In 1708, during the reign of Tamradhaj, Kachari people adopted Hindu customs. By 1825, in the days of Govinda Chandra, the Kachari king, along with some noble families, had to flee Khaspur, migrating to Mymensingh and Sylhet. This was due to the invasions from Manipur and Konbaung rulers. In 1826, the Kachari king returned to his homeland after signing the Treaty of Yandaboo with the British, though the treaty stipulated that Assam be placed under British rule. The Kachari King Govinda Chandra died in 1830.
Demographics
[edit]The Barman Kacharis of Assam are classified as a Scheduled Tribe (Plains) in the valley of Barak (however, the Barman Kacharis of Brahmaputra Valley remain unscheduled till date). The Barman Kacharis number some 24,237 persons, according to a 2017 census. Out of this number, 12,555 are males and 11,503 are females. Their literacy rate is estimated at 4 percent. The level of literacy of males and females is 2.5% and 1.5%, respectively.[1]
Documentation
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/Barman_Thar_script.jpg/220px-Barman_Thar_script.jpg)
The language of the Barman Kacharis had never been documented until 2019 when M.A. students in Linguistics and Language Technology (Batch 2018-2020) of Tezpur University carried out field work for the first time on this language.[1]
Phonology
[edit]The Barman Thar phonemic inventory consists of eight vowels, nine diphthongs, and twenty consonants (including two semivowels).[1]
Consonants
[edit]In Barman Thar, there are twenty consonants.
Bilabial | Labio-velar | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||||||
Plosive | p | b | t | d | c | k | ɡ | |||||
Aspirated Plosive | ph | th | kh | |||||||||
Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||||||||
Flap | ɾ | |||||||||||
Fricative | s | z | h | |||||||||
Approximant | w | j | ||||||||||
Lateral Approximant | l |
It is to be noted that pʰ and z have idiolectal variations. They are, by some people, sometimes pronounced as ɸ and d͡z respectively. For example, the word pʰa (meaning “father”) is sometimes pronounced as ɸa and nɐmza (meaning “bad”) is sometimes pronounced as nɐmd͡za.
Gemination
[edit]Gemination, which is the twinning of two consonants, is also found in the Barman language.
Phonemes | Example (Barman) | English Gloss |
p+p | tʰɐppɐɾa | “ash” |
t+tʰ | mɐttʰai | “big” |
d+d | ɡɛddɛl | “new” |
c+c | bicci | “egg” |
k+k | nukkuruŋ | “eye” |
k+kʰ | bɛkkʰuma | “dull” |
m+m | dummua | “fever” |
n+n | cunna | “cloth” |
l+l | mulluk | “earth” |
Consonant Clusters
[edit]In the study of Barman Thar, carried out by the students of Tezpur University, they found only one word, i.e. bɾui, with a consonant cluster. It is a cluster of two consonants, b and ɾ. And they found no final cluster in any word.
Vowels
[edit]In Barman Thar, there are eight vowels and nine diphthongs.
Monophthongs
[edit]Front | Central | Back | |
High | i | u | |
Close-mid | e | o | |
Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
Near-open | ɐ | ||
Open | a |
Diphthongs
[edit]i | u | a | |
i | ia | ||
o | oi | ou | |
ɐ | ɐi | ||
e | ei | ||
u | ui | ua | |
a | ai | au |
Morphology and Grammar
[edit]Case:[1]
Case | Marker | Examples | |
---|---|---|---|
1. | (a) Nominative (b) Ergative | (a) ∅ (b) a | (a) ɾam ɾam-∅ Ram-NOM hibaja hiba-ja come-PST “Ram has come.” (b) ɾama ɾam-a Ram-ERG thɛkasu thɛkasu mango caja ca-ja eat-PST “Ram has eaten a mango.” |
2. | Accusative | kɔ | ɾamkɔɾiɡɐm ɾamkɔ Ram-ACC ɾiɡɐm call “Call Ram.” |
3. | (a) Instrumental (b) Comitative | ca nɛ nɔɡɛ | (a) owa owa 3SG khɐttaica khɐttai-ca knife-INS thɛkasu-kɔ thɛkasu-kɔ mango dɛnnaja dɛn-naja cut-PST “S/he has cut (the) mango (b) ɐŋa ɐŋa 1SG ɔmɾitnɛ ɔmɾit-nɛ Amrit-GEN nɔɡɛ nɔɡɛ INS hiŋgɐn hiŋ-gɐn go-FUT “I will go with Amrit.” |
Genitive | nɛ | ɔmɾitnɛ ɔmɾit-nɛ Amrit-GEN nɔk nɔk house “Amrit's house” | |
Locative | ou | ɐŋa ɐŋa 1SG tɛzpuɾou tɛzpuɾ-ou Tezpur-LOC dɔŋa dɔŋ-a be-PRS “I am in Tezpur.” | |
6. | (a) Intentive Dative (b) Destinational Dative | nɛ nɛɡa ca | (a) ɔmɾitnɛ ɔmɾit-nɛ Amrit-GEN nɛɡa nɛɡa DAT “… for Amrit.” (b) tɛzpuɾca tɛzpuɾ-ca Tezpur-DAT “… to Tezpur.” |
7. | Ablative | nɛ tukki | tɛzpuɾnɛ tɛzpuɾ-nɛ Tezpur-GEN tukki tukki ABL “… from Tezpur.” |
Tense and Aspect
[edit]Three of the tenses are morphologically marked in Barman Thar.
Present: | owa owa 3SG hiŋa hiŋ-a go-PRS “S/he goes.” |
Past: | owa owa 3SG caja ca-ja eat-PST “S/he ate.” |
Future: | owa owa 3SG ɾiŋɡɐn ɾiŋ-ɡɐn drink-FUT “S/he will drink.” |
In Barman Thar, the present tense is marked with the suffix “-a”, the past tense, with “-ja” and the future tense, with “-ɡɐn”. And the following are the four aspects:
Present Perfect: | owa owa 3SG hibadɔ hiba-dɔ come-PRS.PRF “S/he has come.” |
Present Continuous: | owa owa 3SG hiŋa hiŋ-dɔŋ go-PRS.PROG “S/he is going.” |
Past Perfect: | owa owa 3SG caniŋ ca-niŋ eat-PST.PRF “S/he had eaten.” |
Future Continuous: | owa owa 3SG ɾiŋdɔŋɡɐn ɾiŋ-dɔŋ-ɡɐn drink-PROG-FUT “S/he will be drinking.” |
Singular | Plural | ||
---|---|---|---|
1st | ɐŋa | ciŋa | |
2nd | nɐŋ | nɐtɐŋ | |
honorific | nɐtɐŋ | nɐŋɐtɐŋ | |
3rd | owa | otɐŋ | |
honorific | otɐŋ |
Negation
[edit]In Barman Thar, verbs are negated by suffixing “-za” and “-zia” for present and past tense respectively.
For example, the root word for the verb “eat” in Barman Thar is “ca”. The negative form of the word in the present tense is caza (ca+za), meaning “do/does not eat” and that in the past tense is cazia (ca+zia), meaning “did not eat”.
Again, in case of imperative sentences, the suffix -nɔŋ is use.
For example, mei canɔŋ means “Don't eat rice.” [mei means “rice”, and canɔŋ is bi-morphemic, formed by the root word for “eat”, i.e. ca, and the imperative negative marker -nɔŋ.]
Classifiers
[edit]In Barman Thar, there is one classifier, i.e. -ja.
doisaja
doisa-ja
boy-CL
sijai
sija-i
die-PFV
hiŋaja
hiŋ-(a)ja
go-PST
“The boy died.”
Allomorphs
[edit]Another feature of this language that needs to be mentioned is the presence of allomorphs.
Allomorphs of the past tense marker:
-ja is the past tense marker. But when this morpheme is suffixed to a verb ending in [m], it becomes -maja. For example, cum + -ja = cummaja. When it is suffixed to a verb ending in [n], it becomes -naja as in dɛn + -ja = dɛnnaja. When it is affixed to a verb ending in [ŋ], it becomes -aja, as in hiŋaja (hiŋ + -ja).
Therefore, it can be said that -maja, -naja and -aja are allomorphs of the morpheme -ja.
Allomorphs of the ergative case marker:
-a is the ergative case marker in Barman Thar. However, when it is affixed to a noun ending in a vowel, it becomes -ja. For example, sita + -ja = sitaja.
So, -ja is an allomorph of the ergative case marker -a.
References
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]- DeLancey, Scott (2012). Hyslop, Gwendolyn; Morey, Stephen; w. Post, Mark (eds.). "On the Origin of Bodo-Garo". Northeast Indian Linguistics. 4: 3–20. doi:10.1017/UPO9789382264521.003. ISBN 9789382264521.
- Joseph, U.V., and Burling, Robbins. 2006. Comparative phonology of the Boro Garo languages. Mysore: Central Institute of Indian Languages Publication.
- Burling, Robbins (2003). "The Tibeto-Burman languages of northeast India". In Thurgood, Graham; LaPolla, Randy J. (eds.). The Sino-Tibetan languages. London: Routledge. pp. 169–191. ISBN 978-0-7007-1129-1.
- van Driem, George (2001). Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-12062-4.
- Wood, Daniel Cody (2008). An Initial Reconstruction of Proto-Boro-Garo (MA thesis). University of Oregon. hdl:1794/9485.