Kharia language
The Kharia language (Kharia pronunciation: [kʰaɽija] or [kʰeɽija][2]) is a Munda language of the Austroasiatic language family, that is primarily spoken by the Kharia people of eastern India. HistoryThe first systematic description of the Kharia language is Banerjee (1894)'s Kharia grammar, followed by Tea Districts Labour Association (1929) and Floor et al. (1934), which resulted in a Kharia-English Dictionary. An ethnological study on the tribe was published in 1937 by Roy & Roy.[3] The first major academic approach to Kharia were taken by linguist Heinz-Jürgen Pinnow in the 1950s and 1960s with studies published in both German and English. Other works include Biligiri (1965)'s full study and lexicon; Mahapatra (1976) on Kharia and Juang verbs, Malhotra (1982) Ph.D. dissertation attempting a comprehensive grammar of Kharia; Abbi (1993; 1997) on language change and contact; Rehberg (2003) on Kharia phonology (in German).[4] ClassificationKharia belongs to the Kharia–Juang branch of the Munda language family. Its closest extant relative is the Juang language, but the relationship between Kharia and Juang is remote. Kharia is in contact with Sadri (the local lingua franca), Mundari, Kurukh, Hindi, and Odia (in Odisha).[2] DistributionKharia speakers are located in the following districts of India.[2] Phonology
Gemination only occur in morpheme boundaries of words. Consonant length can be phonemic. Eg. /oton=na/ realized as [ɔtɔnːɑ] (press=INF). /ʔ/, /s/, and /h/ may not be geminated.[6] MorphologyPronouns
NounsCaseKharia NPs has three cases:
GenderGrammatical gender is not a morphosyntactical feature of Kharia, but the language has independent words to identify whether a male or female of a lexical word is intended. Eg. kokro siŋkoy 'rooster' and kitur siŋkoy 'hen'.[7] PersonInalienable nominals are cross-referenced with possessive markers showed in the table below.
Interrogatives
NumeralsKharia has two numeral systems. The one native to Kharia is no longer in common productive use, therefore having great disparities and disagreements. The other, which was borrowed from Sadri, is used in daily life.
The Sadri derived numerals often go with numeral classifiers. Classifiers occur very seldom with native numerals, at least by modern speakers, perhaps due to the unfamiliarity of the modern speakers with the Kharia numerals.[8] VerbsSubject markingSimilar to Remo, Gutob, Gtaʔ, and recently Juang, Kharia predicate only marks person/number of the subject argument.[9] Distinction between animate and inanimate agents is not so profound in Kharia as they are both marked, although Biligiri (1965) stated that "there is a stronger tendency to observe number agreement with an animate subject than with an inanimate subject."[10]
Tense, aspect, moodKharia, like many Munda languages, merges TAM categories with active and middle voices.[11]
Causative verbThe causative derivation increases the valency of a verb stem by introducing a higher or superordinate agent who causes the lower agent to act or a non-agentive event to happen. In Kharia, the signature marker of the Austroasiatic family -(o)(ʔ)b- (including allomorphs) is used as the causative prefix or infix.[12] Double causative constructions are also allowed.[13]
PassiveThe passive voice/reflexive in Kharia is realized as standalone word ɖom, itself has no lexical meaning.[14] Historically, it might have stemmed from the verb dʒom ('to eat'), as it appears to cognate with Santali passive -jɔn (< jɔm 'to eat') and Sora-Juray reflexive/low transitive denoting marker -dəm-.[15] potʰi=ki book=PL ter give ɖom=ki=may PASS=MID.PST=3PL '(The) Books were given' TelicityThere are two telic markers in Kharia which serve the narrative structure[16]:
Tay then raja king jhaɽi all mudh chief kalo=ki=te priest=PL=OBL ro and yahudi Jew jait=aʔ ethnic.group=GEN etoŋɖag=aʔ receiving.orders=GEN guru=ki=te teacher=PL=OBL ɖokloʔ meeting remaʔ call ɖoʈh=oʔ ACT.TEL=ACT.PST ro and ho=ki=te that=PL=OBL "masih=te messiah=OBL ate where jorme=na be.born=INF ayiˀj?" PRES.COP gam=oʔ say=ACT.PST ro and juŋ=oʔ ask=ACT.PST 'The king called all the chief priests and teachers of the Jewish people who received orders [from the king] to a meeting and asked (said and asked) them “Where is the Messiah to be born?' IncorporationIn Kharia, incorporation of nouns and adjuncts is possible but mostly limited to certain stems and under a lexicalized (non-productive) degree. Polysyllabic nominals are subtracted from their final syllable(s) while there are no phonological adjustments occurring on monosyllabic items. The incorporated compounds may obscure or alter the original meaning of the nominal or the verbal element.[18] 1. (< tiʔ ('hand')) gugtʰe wash.hand 'to wash hand' 2. (< soreŋ ('stone')) boŋsor finish.stone 'to petrify' ɖaʔ water ajoˀɖ-ɖaʔ=ki dry-water=MID.PST 'The water dried up.' hoɖom=ki=yaʔ other=PL=GEN goˀjloʔ=te rice.field=OBL si-lo=na plow-earth=INF ayiˀj PRES.COP laʔ then madet help remaʔ=teʔ=ki call=ACT.PRES=3PL '...the rice fields of the others must be plowed, then [they] call for help.' Sample textUghay this.way andai guess ɖom=ta PASS=MID.PRES no CMPL ata Q bhere time israeli Israeli lebu=ki person=PL rusuŋ red samudar=te ocean=OBL paro=na cross=INF laʔ=ki, IPFV=MID.PST hin then bhere=jo time=ADD khaɽiya=kia Kharia=PL ho that boʔ=ki=te=ga place=PL=OBL=FOC aw=ki=may. live=MID.PST=3PL.SUBJ 'Thus it is assumed that at the time that the Israelis were crossing the Red Sea, at that time the Kharias were at those places as well.' Laʔ then anin=aʔ 1PL.INCL=GEN khariya Kharia bulbul, Babylon yane i.e. babilon, Babylon poʔda village tay ABL muʔ=kon emerge=SEQ del/em/-dol come-? arloʔ, north serloʔsin south ghay way hoy=kon become=SEQ utiˀj this.side del=ki=may. come=MID.PST=3PL 'Then our Kharia [ancestors], having left Bulbul, i.e., Babylon, coming along, via the north and south, came to this side [i.e., here].' Am=ga You=FOC patar light terter give.RDPL heke=m, QUAL.PRES=2SG am, You Yesu, Jesus ɖe=na=m come=MID.IRR=2SG ro and patar light ter=e=m give=ACT.IRR=2SG patar light ter=e=m. give=ACT.IRR=2SG 'You are the [one] who gives light, you, Jesus, will come and give light, you will give light.' References
Further reading
External links
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