The Dura Language: Grammar and Phylogeny

474 Pages·2016·2.773 MB·

by  Nicolas Schorer

The Dura Language
Brill’s
Tibetan Studies
Library
Edited by
Henk Blezer
Alex McKay
Charles Ramble
Languages of the Greater
Himalayan Region
Edited by
George L. Van Driem
volume 5/17
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/btsl
The Dura Language
Grammar and Phylogeny
By
Nicolas Schorer
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Cover illustration: Dura boy. Courtesy of Jaibahādur Durā.
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at http://catalog.loc.gov
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016028938
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issn 1568-6183
isbn 978-90-04-32560-9 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-32640-8 (e-book)
Copyright 2016 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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Do mo thuismitheoirí
Michael & Karin
D’Arne,
an cara a thugadh cluas
agus mé in ísle brí
⸪

Contents
Acknowledgments xi
List of Figures and Tables xiii
List of Abbreviations xvi
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Aims 1
1.2 Organisation 1
1.3 Approach 3
1.4 Data on Tibeto-Burman 3
1.5 Dura Sources 4
1.6 Epistemological Limitations 5
1.7 Fieldwork and Informants 5
1.8 A Note on the Transliteration and Spelling Conventions 7
2 The Dura and Their Language 9
2.1 The Dura People—Kingmakers on the Fringes 9
2.2 The Dura Language 24
2.3 Earlier Research on Dura 28
2.4 Dura Media Frenzy 32
2.5 Language Classification 33
3 A Typological Overview 47
3.1 Phonology 48
3.2 Morphology and Syntax 67
3.3 Summary 75
4 Towards a Phonology of Dura 77
4.1 Consonants 78
4.2 Vowels 85
4.3 Diphthongs 88
4.4 Phonological Processes 90
4.5 Phonotactics 93
5 Lexicon 101
5.1 Dura Sound Changes 101
5.2 Dura Swadesh List 125
5.3 Kinship Terms 134
viii contents
5.4 Foodstuffs 138
5.5 Animals 141
5.6 Basic Verbs 144
5.7 Numerals 146
5.8 Colour Terms 151
5.9 Household and Environment 151
5.10 Human Body Parts and Body Functions 153
5.11 Loanwords 155
6 Nouns 164
6.1 Pronouns 164
6.2 Noun Categories 170
6.3 Nominal Prefixes 173
6.4 Case Suffixes 174
6.5 Relator Nouns & Postpositions 188
6.6 Nominalisations 192
6.7 Simple Nouns 194
6.8 Compounding 195
6.9 Noun Reduplication 196
6.10 The Structure of the Noun Phrase 196
6.11 Unanalysable Nouns 197
7 Adjectives and Adjectivals 199
7.1 Common Adjectives 201
7.2 Adjectivals 202
8 Verbs 205
8.1 Verbal Prefixes 205
8.2 Verbal Suffixes 208
8.3 Copulas 235
8.4 Periphrastic Constructions 246
8.5 Modal Constructions 251
8.6 Periphrastic Causative 254
8.7 Complex Predicate Constructions 254
9 Adverbs 257
9.1 Adverbs of Time 257
9.2 Adverbs of Location 258
9.3 Adverbs of Manner 260
9.4 Epistemic Adverbs 261
contents ix
10 Minor Word Classes 262
10.1 Other Pronouns 262
10.2 Other Demonstratives 268
10.3 Quantifiers 272
10.4 Possible Remnants of Numeral Classifiers 275
10.5 Words with Pragmatic Function 275
11 Phylogenetic Evidence 285
11.1 Phonology 285
11.2 Lexicon 285
11.3 Morphology & Syntax 287
11.4 The Case of West Bodish 291
11.5 Proposed Genetic Affiliation of Dura 292
Appendix 297
Maps 297
Master List of Morphological Items 298
Dura Sentences 300
Etymological Reference Dictionary 325
References 440
Sources 440
Bibliography 440
Index 451