Ajay Kumar at 12:40, 22 August 2023

2023-08-22T12:40:54Z

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{{short description|South Asian language}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Karbi
|image=  
|imagecaption=
|nativename=Arleng
|region=[[Assam]], [[Meghalaya]], [[Arunachal Pradesh]]
|ethnicity=[[Karbi people|Karbi]]
|speakers= 528,503
|date= 2011
|ref= <ref>http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement1.aspx2001 census {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206233628/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/Statement1.htm |date=2012-02-06 }}</ref>
|familycolor=Sino-Tibetan
|fam2=[[Tibeto-Burman]]
|fam3=[[Central Tibeto-Burman languages]] (?)
|fam4=[[Kuki-Chin–Naga languages|Kuki-Chin–Naga]]
|lc1 = mjw
|ld1 = Karbi
|lc2 = ajz
|ld2 = [[Plains Karbi]] (Amri)
|glotto=karb1240
|glottorefname=Karbic
}}
[[File:WIKITONGUES- Rajen speaking Karbi and English.webm|thumb|A Karbi speaker speaking Karbi and English, recorded in [[India]].]]
The '''Karbi language''' ({{IPAc-en|US|audio=Pronunciation of a Karbi-language word "Karbi".wav|k|ɑː|r|b|i}}) is spoken by the [[Karbi people|Karbi]] (also known as '''Mikir''' or '''Arleng''') people of [[Northeastern India]].

It belongs to the [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan language family]], but its position is unclear. Grierson (1903)<ref>Linguistic survey of India vol III Part II</ref> classified it under Naga languages, Shafer (1974) and Bradley (1997) classify the Mikir languages as an aberrant [[Kuki-Chin languages|Kuki-Chin]] branch, but Thurgood (2003) leaves them unclassified within Sino-Tibetan. [[Roger Blench|Blench]] and Post (2013) classify it as one of the most basal languages of the entire family.

==History==
Like most languages of [[Northeast India]], Karbi writing system is based on Roman script, occasionally in [[Assamese alphabet|Assamese script]]. The earliest written texts in Karbi were produced by Christian missionaries, in Roman script, especially by the American Baptist Mission and the Catholic Church. The missionaries brought out a newspaper in Karbi titled '''Birta''' in the year 1903, Rev. R.E. Neighbor's '' 'Vocabulary of English and Mikir, with Illustrative Sentences' '' published in 1878, which can be called the first Karbi dictionary. Sardoka Perrin Kay's '' 'English–Mikir Dictionary' '' published in 1904, Sir Charles Lyall and Edward Stack's ''The Mikirs'' in 1908, the first ethnographic details on the Karbis and G.D. Walker's '' 'A Dictionary of the Mikir Language' '' published in 1925 are some of the earliest known books on the Karbis and the Karbi language and grammar.<ref>[http://karbi.wordpress.com/category/criticism/ Karbis Of Assam]</ref>

The Karbis have a rich oral tradition. The ''Mosera'' (recalling the past), a lengthy folk narrative that describes the origin and migration ordeal of the Karbis, is one such example.

==Varieties==
There is little dialect diversity except for the [[Amri language|Dumurali / Kamrup Karbi]] dialect, which is distinct enough to be considered a separate Karbi language.

Konnerth (2014) identifies two main Karbi varieties.

*'''Hills Karbi''': Rongkhang or Ronghang dialect of [[Karbi Anglong district| Karbi Anglong]], [[West Karbi Anglong district]], [[Assam]]
*'''[[Plains Karbi]]''' (Dumra Karbi): spoken in [[Kamrup district]] and [[Marigaon district]], Assam, and in [[Ri-Bhoi district]], [[Meghalaya]].

==Phonology==
Data below are from Konnerth (2017).<ref name="Konnerth">Konnerth, Linda. 2017. "Karbi." In ''The Sino-Tibetan Languages'' (2017).</ref>
===Consonants===

====Initial consonants====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
! colspan="2" |
! [[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! rowspan="3" |[[Stop consonant|Stop]]
! Voiceless
| {{IPA|p}}
| {{IPA|t}}
| {{IPA|c}}
| {{IPA|k}}
|
|-
! Voiced
| {{IPA|b}}
| {{IPA|d}}
| {{IPA|ɟ~j}}
|
|
|-
! Aspirated
| {{IPA|pʰ~ɸ}}
| {{IPA|tʰ}}
|
| {{IPA|kʰ}}
|
|-
! colspan=2|[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
| {{IPA|β~w}}
| {{IPA|s}}
|
|
| {{IPA|h}}
|-
! colspan=2|[[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
| {{IPA|m}}
| {{IPA|n}}
|
|
|
|-
! colspan=2|[[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
| {{IPA|r~ɾ}}
|
|
|
|-
! colspan=2|[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|
| {{IPA|l}}
| {{IPA|ɟ~j}}
|
|
|-
|}

* Palatal /ɟ~j/ constitutes free variation between a stop and a glide production.
* Also, allophonic alternations typical for the area include /pʰ~ɸ/ (within the same speaker) and /r~ɾ~ɹ/ (intergenerational and interdialectal).

====Final consonants====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
! colspan="2" |
! [[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan=2| [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
| {{IPA|p}}
| {{IPA|t}}
|
| {{IPA|k}}
|
|-
! colspan=2|[[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
| {{IPA|m}}
| {{IPA|n}}
|
| {{IPA|ŋ}}
|
|-
! colspan=2|[[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
| {{IPA|r~ɾ~ɹ}}
|
|
|
|-
|}

===Vowels===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!  
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Central vowel|Central]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Close vowel|High]]
| {{IPA|/i/}}
|
| {{IPA|/u/}}
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
| {{IPA|/e/}}
|
| {{IPA|/o/}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Low]]
|
| {{IPA|/a/}}
|
|}

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+
! Diphthongs of Karbi
| {{IPA|(ei)}} || {{IPA|ai}} || {{IPA|oi}} || {{IPA|ui}}
|}

===Syllable structure===
Karbi syllables may be the open (C)(C)V(V) or the closed (C)(C)VC. Possible onset consonant cluster combinations are as follows: {{IPA|/pl pr pʰl pʰr tʰr kl kr kʰr/}}.

==Geographical distribution==
===India===
Karbi is spoken in the following areas of Northeast India (''Ethnologue'').

*[[Assam]]:
**[[Darrang district]]
**[[Dima Hasao district]] (formerly North Cachar district)
**[[East Kamrup district]]
**[[Hojai district]]
**[[Kamrup Metropolitan (Guwahati) district|Kamrup Metropolitan district]]
**[[Karbi Anglong district]]
**[[Lakhimpur district]]
**[[Marigaon district]]
**[[Nagaon district]]
**[[Sonitpur district]]
**[[Biswanath district]]
**[[Lakhimpur district]]
**[[South Kamrup district]]
**[[West Karbi Anglong district]]
*[[Arunachal Pradesh]]:
**[[Papum Pare district]] (Balijan circle)
*[[Meghalaya]]:
**[[East Khasi Hills district]]
**[[Jaintia Hills district]]
**[[Ri-Bhoi district]]
**[[West Khasi Hills district]]
*[[Nagaland]]:
**foothills around [[Dimapur]]

===Bangladesh===
An estimate 1500 Karbi live in Bangladesh.<ref> https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/17559</ref>

==See also==
* [[Karbi script]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [https://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/collections/KBLR Karbi Language Resource] collection of Karbi language documentation in the Computational Resource for South Asian Languages (CoRSAL) archive
* [ http://hdl.handle.net/2196/00-0000-0000-0013-DB0B-2 Karbi texts] collection in ELAR

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite thesis |last=Konnerth |first=Linda|date=2014 |title=A Grammar of Karbi |type=PhD |publisher=University of Oregon |hdl=1794/17928}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Konnerth |first1=Linda |last2=Tisso |first2=Sikari |year=2018 |title=Karbi texts A fully glossed corpus of different genres |journal=Himalayan Linguistics |volume=17 |issue=2 |doi=10.5070/H917239461|doi-access=free }}
{{refend}}{{Incubator|mjw}}{{Sino-Tibetan languages}}
{{Kuki-Chin–Naga languages}}
{{Languages of Northeast India}}

[[Category:Kuki-Chin–Naga languages]]
[[Category:Educational languages in Board of Secondary Education of Assam]]
[[Category:Languages of Assam]]
[[Category:Languages of Arunachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:Languages of Meghalaya]]
[[Category:Endangered languages of India]]
[[Category:Endangered Sino-Tibetan languages]]

Karbi language - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 12:40, 22 August 2023