Tonal change in the Tai languages of Northeast India

Abstract

Currently four languages of the Southwestern Branch of the Tai family are actively spoken in Assam, Northeast India. These are Aiton. Khamti. Khamyang and Phake. There are in addition several other communities who identify themselves as Tai, such as the Ahom and Turung, but who no longer speak the Tai language. Using the methodology established by Gedney (1972), the tonal systems of each of these languages have been studied and will be exemplified in this presentation. Based on this linguistic evidence a historical reconstruction of tone change will be proposed. This will then he compared with the findings of some other scholars, particularly the tones of Khamti as reported by William Robinson (1849), who, unlike most other scholars of his time, was able to distinguish and record the tones of the language. A reconstruction of the tonal system of Robinson's Khamti will be presented. Reconstructions for the tonal systems of the Tai varieties in Northeast India in several stages from Proto-Tai up until the present day will be proposed.