>Alterego speaks at 04:58, 22 September 2021

2021-09-22T04:58:50Z

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{{Infobox language family
|name=Ao
|altname=Central Naga
|region=[[Nagaland]], [[India]]
|ethnicity=[[Ao Naga]], [[Lotha Naga]], [[Sangtam Naga]], [[Yimchunger|Yimchunger Naga]]
|familycolor=Sino-Tibetan
|fam2=[[Kuki-Chin–Naga languages|Kuki-Chin–Naga]] ?
|child1=[[Chungli Ao language|Chungli Ao]]
|child2=[[Mongsen Ao language|Mongsen Ao]]
|child3=[[Sangtam language|Sangtam]] ('Thukumi')
|child4=[[Yimchungrü language|Yimchungrü]] ('Yachumi')
|child5=[[Lotha language|Lotha]] (Lhota)
|glotto=aoic1235
|glottorefname=Central Naga
}}

The '''Ao''' or '''Central Naga''' languages are a small family of [[Sino-Tibetan languages]] spoken by various [[Naga people]]s of [[Nagaland]] in northeast [[India]]. Conventionally classified as "Naga", they are not clearly related to other [[Naga languages]], and are conservatively classified as an independent branch of Sino-Tibetan, pending further research. There are around 607,000 speakers of the languages in total.

Coupe (2012)<ref>Coupe, Alexander R. 2012. Overcounting numeral systems and their relevance to sub-grouping in the Tibeto-Burman languages of Nagaland. Language and Linguistics / Academica Sinica 13. 193-220.</ref> considers the [[Angami–Pochuri languages]] to be most closely related to Ao as part of a wider ''Angami–Ao'' group.

==Languages==
The following languages are widely accepted as Central Naga languages:
* [[Ao language]]
** [[Chungli Ao language|Chungli Ao]]
** [[Mongsen Ao language|Mongsen Ao]]
*[[Sangtam language|Sangtam]] ('Thukumi')
*[[Yimchungrü language|Yimchungrü]] ('Yachumi')
*[[Lotha language|Lotha]] (Lhota)
There are also various undescribed Ao varieties including Yacham and Tengsa, which may turn out to be separate languages (see [[Mongsen Ao language|Mongsen Ao]]).

The following "Naga" languages spoken in and around [[Leshi Township]], Myanmar are classified as Ao languages ("Ao-Yimchungrü") by Saul (2005).<ref name="Saul">Saul, J. D. 2005. ''The Naga of Burma: Their festivals, customs and way of life''. Bangkok, Thailand: Orchid Press.</ref>
*[[Koki Naga language|Koki]]
*[[Makury language|Makury]]
*[[Long Phuri language|Long Phuri]]
*[[Para language|Para]]

Bruhn (2014:370) also surmises that [[Makury language|Makury]] may be an Ao language.

Bruhn (2014) uses the term ''Central Naga'' to refer to all of the languages above, and uses the ''Ao'' to refer to only two languages, namely Chungli Ao and Mongsen Ao. The internal structure of Bruhn's Central Naga group is as follows.
;Central Naga
*[[Lotha language|Lotha]]
*[[Sangtam language|Sangtam]]
*[[Yimchungrü language|Yimchungrü]]
*[[Ao language|Ao]]
**[[Chungli Ao language|Chungli Ao]]
**[[Mongsen Ao language|Mongsen Ao]]

==Reconstruction==
Proto-Central Naga (Proto-Ao) has been reconstructed by Bruhn (2014).

Bruhn (2014:363) identifies the following four sound changes from [[Proto-Tibeto-Burman]] (PTB) to Proto-Central Naga (PCN) as sound changes that are characteristic of the Central Naga branch.
#PTB *-a(ː)w, *-əw, *-ow, *-u > PCN *-u(ʔ) ‘back diphthong merger’
#PTB *-r > PCN *-n ‘*r-coda nasalization’
#PTB *-s > PCN *-t ‘*s-coda occlusivization’
#PTB *-i(ː)l, *‑al, *‑uːl > PCN *‑ə(ʔ) ‘*l-rime erosion’

==See also==
* [[Ao Naga]]
* [[Lotha Naga]]
* [[Sangtam Naga]]
* [[Yimchunger Naga]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*van Driem, George (2001). ''Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region.'' Leiden: Brill.
*Bruhn, Daniel Wayne. 2014. ''[http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/~dwbruhn/Bruhn_2014_A-Phonological-Reconstruction-of-Proto-Central-Naga.pdf A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Central Naga]''. Ph.D. dissertation. University of California, Berkeley.
*Saul, J. D. 2005. ''The Naga of Burma: Their festivals, customs and way of life''. Bangkok, Thailand: Orchid Press.
*Barkman, Tiffany. 2014. [http://inter.payap.ac.th/wp-content/uploads/linguistics_students/Tiffany_Barkman_Thesis.pdf ''A descriptive grammar of Jejara (Para Naga)'']. MA thesis, Chiang Mai: Payap University.
*Shi, Vong Tsuh. 2009. ''[http://inter.payap.ac.th/wp-content/uploads/linguistics_students/Vongs-thesis-May-2009_update2017.pdf Discourse studies of Makuri Naga narratives]''. MA thesis, Chiang Mai: Payap University.
*Language and Social Development Organization (LSDO). 2006. ''A sociolinguistic survey of Makuri, Para, and Long Phuri Naga in Layshi Township, Myanmar''. Unpublished manuscript.
*Mills, J. P (1926). The Ao Nagas. London: MacMillan & Co.

{{Sino-Tibetan languages}}
{{Kuki-Chin–Naga languages}}
{{Languages of Northeast India}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Ao languages| ]]
[[Category:Languages of India]]

Ao languages - Revision history

>Alterego speaks at 04:58, 22 September 2021