Kho-Bwa languages


The Kho-Bwa languages, also known as Bugunish and Kamengic, are a small family of languages spoken in Arunachal Pradesh, northeast India. The name Kho-Bwa was originally proposed by George van Driem. It is based on the reconstructed words *kho and *bwa. Blench suggests the name Kamengic, from the Kameng area of Arunachal Pradesh, or alternatively Bugun–Mey, after its two main members. Alternatively, Anderson refers to Kho-Bwa as Northeast Kamengic.
Both Van Driem and Blench group the Bugun, the Mey, and the Lishpa languages.
The Puroik language is included in the group by Van Driem but treated as a language isolate with no genetic relation to Kamengic by Blench.
These languages have traditionally been placed in the Tibeto-Burman group by the Linguistic Survey of India, but the justification of this is open to question.
The languages have certainly been strongly influenced by the neighboring Sino-Tibetan languages, but this does not necessarily imply genetic unity and may possibly be a purely areal effect.
The entire language family has about 15,000 speakers or about 10,000 speakers, according to estimates made during the 2000s.
Word lists and sociolinguistic surveys of Kho-Bwa languages have also been conducted by Abraham, et al..

Classification

The internal structure of the Kho-Bwa group of languages is as follows.
Lieberherr & Bodt consider Puroik to be a Kho-Bwa language, and classify the Kho-Bwa languages as follows.
;Kho-Bwa
The following table of Kho-Bwa basic vocabulary items is from Blench.
GlossMey Mey Sartang Sartang Lish Chug
onehǎnhanhènhânhinhin
twoɲǐtɲiknìkněɲesniʃ
threeùŋuŋùŋùúnʔumom
fourpʰʃìbsisìpsìpʰəhipsi
fivekʰùkʰukʰùkʰukʰakʰa
sixʧùkkitʧìkʨěyʧʰuʔʧyk
sevenʃìtsitsìksǐ, sěʃishis
eightsàʤátsarʤatsàrgèsàrʤɛ́saɾgeʔsaɾgeʔ
ninetʰkʰídʰikʰitʰkʰìtɛ̀kʰɯ́ṱʰikʰuṱʰikʰu
tensɔ̀ ̃sõsã̀sɔʃanʃan
headkʰrukkʰrukkʰrǔkkʰruʔkʰoloʔkʰloʔ
nosenupʰuŋnəfuŋnfùŋapʰuŋhempoŋheŋpʰoŋ
eyekhibikivikábìkʰaʔbykʰumukʰum
earkʰtùŋgtʰiŋgtʰìŋktèíŋkʰutʰuŋkʰutʰuŋ
tonguelaphõlapon?leloiloi
toothnuthuŋtokʧemísìŋnitʰiŋʃiŋtuŋhintuŋ
armikikìkikhuhut
leglàlaponlɛ̌lɛ̌leilai
bellyʃrìŋsliŋsrìŋsriŋhiɲiŋhiliŋ
boneskìkskikàhíkskikʃukuʃʃukuʃ
bloodhàhahɛ̀hahoihoi
facedòŋpùbomizə̀ídoʔdoŋpa
toothntùŋtokʧemísìŋptə̀íŋʃiŋtuŋhintuŋ
stomachàlàkarbuʧàkphriŋhiɲiŋhiliŋ
mouthʧàwnəʧawsoʨʨǒhoʧokkʰoʧu
rainʧuumaniminʧʰùʧuʧubanamunamu