Kho-Bwa languages in the context of Seven Sister States


Kho-Bwa languages in the context of Seven Sister States

⭐ Core Definition: Kho-Bwa languages

The Kho-Bwa languages, also known as Kamengic, are a small family of languages, or pair of families, spoken in Arunachal Pradesh, northeast India. The name Kho-Bwa was originally proposed by George van Driem (2001). It is based on the reconstructed words *kho ("water") and *bwa ("fire"). Blench (2011) suggests the name Kamengic, from the Kameng area of Arunachal Pradesh. Alternatively, Anderson (2014) refers to Kho-Bwa as Northeast Kamengic.

Both Van Driem and Blench group the Sherdukpen (or Mey), Lishpa (or Khispi), Chug (Duhumbi) and Sartang languages together. These form a language cluster and are clearly related.The pair of Sulung (or Puroik) and Khowa (or Bugun) languages are included in the family by Van Driem (2001) but provisionally treated as a second family by Blench (2024).

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Kho-Bwa languages in the context of Arunachal languages

Arunachal languages are various languages in Arunachal Pradesh, India traditionally classified as Sino-Tibetan languages, but that may be language isolates and independent language families according to some scholars. Blench (2011) proposed four language isolates (Hruso, Miji, Miju, and Puroik) and three independent families (Mishmic, Kamengic, and Siangic). However, this is disputed by Anderson (2014) and others, who consider them to be primary branches of Sino-Tibetan rather than as isolates or independent language phyla.

View the full Wikipedia page for Arunachal languages
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