Karen languages

The Karen /kəˈrɛn/^[2] or Karenic languages are tonal languages spoken by some seven million Karen people. They are of unclear affiliation within the Sino-Tibetan languages.^[3] The Karen languages are written using the Burmese script.^[4] The three main branches are Sgaw, Pwo, and Pa'o. Karenni (also known Kayah or Red Karen) and Kayan (also known as Padaung) are related to the Sgaw branch. They are unusual among the Sino-Tibetan languages in having a subject–verb–object word order; other than Karen, Bai, and the Chinese languages, Sino-Tibetan languages have a subject–object–verb order.^[5] This is likely due to influence from neighboring Mon and Tai languages.^[6] The Karen languages are also considered unusual for not having any Chinese influence.^[7]

Classification

Because they differ from other Tibeto-Burman languages in morphology and syntax, Benedict (1972: 2–4, 129) removed the Karen languages from Tibeto-Burman in a Tibeto-Karen branch, but this is no longer accepted.^[3][6]

The internal structure of the family is as follows:

• Pa’o
• Pwo (Eastern, Western, Northern, Phrae Pwo)
• Sgaw–Bghai
  • Bghai: Lahta, Padaung (Kayan), Bwe (Bghai), Geko, Geba
  • Brek (Bwe)
  • Kayah: Eastern Kayah, Western Kayah, Yintale, Manumanaw
  • Sgaw: Sgaw, Paku Karen, Mopwa

Manson (2011)

Manson (2011)^[8] classifies the Karen languages as follows. The classifications of Geker, Gekho, Kayaw, and Manu are ambiguous, as they may be either Central or Southern.

Karen

• Peripheral
  • Pa’o
  • Pwo
• Northern
  • Kayan
  • Lahta
  • Yinbaw
  • Yintale
• Central
  • Western Kayah, Eastern Kayah
  • Geba, Bwe
  • Paku (?)
  • Geker, Gekho (?; may be Central or Southern)
  • Kayaw, Manu (?; may be Central or Southern)
• Southern
  • Sgaw, Paku
  • Dermuha, Palaychi

Manson (2011) defines phonological innovations for each primary branch of Karenic.

• Peripheral branch (Pa’O and Pwo) branch: proto-voiced stop initials appearing as aspirated stops (e.g. *p > pʰ).
• Northern branch (Kayan, Lahta, Yinbaw and Yintale): merging of nasal finals (e.g. *am, *an > aɴ); merging of stop final rimes with the open rhyme equivalent (e.g. *aʔ, *a > a)
• Central branch (Kayah, Bwe, Geba): vowel raising (e.g. *a > ɛ)
• Southern branch (Sgaw, Luce’s Paku, Palaychi, Dermuha): merger of nasal final rimes, with the rime subsequently raised (e.g. *am, *aŋ > ɔ)

Shintani (2012)

Shintani (2012:x)^[9] gives the following tentative classification, proposed in 2002, for what he calls the "Brakaloungic" languages, of which Karen is a branch. Individual languages are marked in italics.

Brakaloungic

• Pao
  • Pao
• Karen
  • Kayah-Padaung
    • Kayah
    • Pado-Thaido-Gekho
      • Thaidai
      • Pado-Gekho
        • Gekho
        • Padaung
          • Padaung
          • Gekho (Yathu Gekho)
  • Bwe
    • Bweba-Kayaw
      • Kayaw
      • Bweba
        • Geba
        • Bwe
  • Sgaw-Pwo
    • Pwo
    • Mobwa
      • Mopwa
      • Blimaw
    • Pako-Sgaw
      • Sgaw
      • Pakubwa
        • Paku
        • Monebwa
        • Thalebwa

However, at the time of publication, Shintani (2012) reports that there are more than 40 Brakaloungic languages and/or dialects, many of which have only been recently reported and documented. Shintani also reports that Mon influence is present in all Brakaloungic languages, while some also have significant Burmese and Shan influence.

Tones

Ken Manson (2009) proposed a Karen tone box to help understand Karenic tonal diversity and classify Karenic languages.^[10] It is similar to William Gedney's Tai tone box (see Proto-Tai language#Tones). The tone box contains diagnostic words for use during field elicitation.

Sound changes

Theraphan Luangthongkum^[11] lists the following sound changes that had taken place during the transition from Proto-Tibeto-Burman (PTB; James Matisoff's reconstruction) to Proto-Karenic (PK; Luangthongkum's own reconstruction).

• Retention of the PTB low central vowel *a in PK
• Retention of the PTB final nasals *-m *-n *-ŋ in PK
• PTB *voiced onsets > PK *voiceless or *glottalised onsets
• PTB prefix *s- followed by a stem with *voiced sonorant > PK *voiceless initials
• PTB *voiceless unaspirated stop initials > PK *voiceless aspirated stop initials
• PTB voiced rhotic *-r > PK *-Ø
• PTB *voiceless alveolar fricative *-s > PK *voiceless alveolar stop *-t
• PTB *voiceless stop finals have remained *voiceless stop or have become glottal stop *-ʔ in PK
• PTB high back vowel *u > PK mid back vowel *o (vowel lowering)
• PTB off-gliding rhyme *-iy > PK monophthong *-i
• PTB off-gliding rhyme *-ey > PK monophthong *-e
• PTB off-gliding rhymes *-ay and *-a:y > PK monophthong *-e
• PTB off-gliding rhyme *-əy > PK off-gliding rhyme *-ej(ey)
• PTB *prefix-stem and/or *-infix-stem > PK *CC-

References

• George van Driem (2001) Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region. Brill.

Further reading

• Dawkins, Erin and Audra Phillips (2009) A Sociolinguistic Survey of Pwo Karen in Northern Thailand Chiang Mai: Payap University.
• Dawkins, Erin and Audra Phillips (2009) An investigation of intelligibility between West-Central Thailand Pwo Karen and Northern Pwo Karen. Chiang Mai: Payap University.
• Manson, Ken. 2010. A bibliography of Karen linguistics

Reconstructions

• Jones, Robert B., Jr. 1961. Karen linguistic studies: Description, comparison, and texts. University of California Publications in Linguistics 25. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
• Luangthongkum, Theraphan. 2013. A view on Proto-Karen phonology and lexicon. Unpublished ms. contributed to STEDT.

External links

• Free Anglo-Karen Dictionary
• A grammar of the Sgaw Karen
• Drum Publication Group—Online Sgaw Karen language materials. Includes an online English - Sgaw Karen Dictionary.
• Karen Teacher Working Group—Several Karen fonts available for download.