The Tibeto-Burman Languages of South Asia: The Languages, their Histories, and Genetic Relationships

Book chapter

Carol Genetti
In Hans Henrich Hock &, Elena Bashir, The Languages and Linguistics of South Asia: A Comprehensive Guide [The World of Linguistics 7], De Gruyter Mouton, Berlin & Boston, 2016, pp. 130-154.

View PDF

Cite

APA Click to copy
Genetti, C. (2016). The Tibeto-Burman Languages of South Asia: The Languages, their Histories, and Genetic Relationships. In I. H. H. H. & & E. Bashir (Eds.), The Languages and Linguistics of South Asia: A Comprehensive Guide [The World of Linguistics 7] (pp. 130–154.). Berlin & Boston: De Gruyter Mouton.

Chicago/Turabian Click to copy
Genetti, Carol. “The Tibeto-Burman Languages of South Asia: The Languages, Their Histories, and Genetic Relationships.” In The Languages and Linguistics of South Asia: A Comprehensive Guide [The World of Linguistics 7], edited by In Hans Henrich Hock & and Elena Bashir, 130–154. Berlin & Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, 2016.

MLA Click to copy
Genetti, Carol. “The Tibeto-Burman Languages of South Asia: The Languages, Their Histories, and Genetic Relationships.” The Languages and Linguistics of South Asia: A Comprehensive Guide [The World of Linguistics 7], edited by In Hans Henrich Hock & and Elena Bashir, De Gruyter Mouton, 2016, pp. 130–54.

BibTeX Click to copy

@incollection{genetti2016a,
  title = {The Tibeto-Burman Languages of South Asia: The Languages, their Histories, and Genetic Relationships},
  year = {2016},
  address = {Berlin & Boston},
  pages = {130-154.},
  publisher = {De Gruyter Mouton},
  author = {Genetti, Carol},
  editor = {&, In Hans Henrich Hock and Bashir, Elena},
  booktitle = {The Languages and Linguistics of South Asia: A Comprehensive Guide [The World of Linguistics 7]}
}

ABSTRACT

This survey is an introduction to the Tibeto-Burman languages of South Asia and their genetic classification; it is intended to be a brief but useful starting point for those seeking an overview and guide to the literature. The paper provides: A basic introduction on the location, size, and status of the South Asian Tibeto-Burman languages. important bibliographic resources; more detailed information on the languages and low-level genetic groupings using the “agnostic” view of subgrouping proposed by van Driem (2002 and subsequent publications). For each grouping, a basic description is provided and references are given to the primary descriptive and/or historical literature. The paper then surveys three current proposals for higher-level branches(Bradley 2002; Matisoff 2003; Thurgood & LaPolla 2003), using van Driem’s forty groupings as the fabric of comparison and a means to highlight areas of convergence and disagreement. The paper concludes with discussion of outstanding issues in the field and directions for future research.