Amri Karbi language

{{Infobox language

| name = Amri Karbi

| nativename =

| region = Assam major in the district Kamrup, Meghalaya in the district Ri-Bhoi

| ethnicity = Karbi people

| speakers = {{sigfig|125,000|3}}

| date = 2003

| ref = e27

| familycolor = Sino-Tibetan

| fam2 = Kuki-Chin-Naga ?

| fam3 = Mikir

| iso3 = ajz

| glotto = amri1238

| glottorefname = Amri Karbi

}}

Amri Karbi, also known as Plains Karbi, Dumrali, is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in parts of the states of Assam and Meghalaya in Northeast India.{{cite web |title=Amri Karbi |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/ajz/ |access-date=29 January 2025 |website=Ethnologue |edition=27}} Amri Karbi variously treated as a variety of the Karbi language or as its own language. Amri Karbi is divided into two regional varieties: Upper Amri and Lower Amri. It is distinct from the speech of a group also called Amri Karbi in the west of the Karbi Anglong district in Assam, who speak a Hills Karbi dialect.{{cite thesis |last=Konnerth |first=Linda |date=17 June 2014 |title=A Grammar of Karbi |url=https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/items/5d23a8fb-7937-47a7-8765-7354ce7f542b |work= |degree=PhD |location= |publisher=University of Oregon |url-status= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129053113/https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/items/5d23a8fb-7937-47a7-8765-7354ce7f542b |archive-date=29 January 2025|access-date=29 January 2025}}

Phonology

= Consonants =

Amri has 23 phonemic consonants. Allophones or alternative pronunciations are included in parentheses in the table below.

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" \|+Consonants{{cite thesis \|last=Philippova \|first=Nailya \|date=2021 \|title=A Grammar of Amri Karbi \|url=https://helda.helsinki.fi/server/api/core/bitstreams/3c8326e5-c3bc-4bfb-9636-284466f4c2cc/content \|work= \|degree=PhD \|location=Helsinki \|publisher=University of Helsinki \|access-date=}} ! colspan="3" \| !Bilabial !Alveolar !Palatal !Velar !Glottal
rowspan="4" \|Stop ! rowspan="2" \|voiceless !unaspirated \|{{IPA link\|p}} \|{{IPA link\|t}} \|{{IPA link\|c}} \|{{IPA link\|k}} \|
aspirated \|{{IPA link\|pʰ}} \|{{IPA link\|tʰ}} \| \|{{IPA link\|kʰ}} \|
rowspan="2" \|voiced !unaspirated \|{{IPA link\|b}} \|{{IPA link\|d}} \|{{IPA link\|ɟ}} \|{{IPA link\|g}} \|
aspirated \|{{IPA link\|bʰ}} \|{{IPA link\|dʰ}} \|{{IPA link\|ɟʰ}} \|{{IPA link\|gʰ}} \|
rowspan="2" \|Fricative ! colspan="2" \|voiceless \|({{IPA link\|ɸ}}){{ref\|cons_tab_i\|i}} \|{{IPA link\|s}} \| \| \|{{IPA link\|h}}
colspan="2" \|voiced \|{{IPA link\|β}} \| \| \| \|
colspan="3" \|Nasal \|{{IPA link\|m}} \|{{IPA link\|n}} \| \|{{IPA link\|ŋ}} \|
colspan="3" \|Lateral \| \|{{IPA link\|l}} \| \| \|
colspan="3" \|Rhotic \| \|{{IPA link\|r}} \| \| \|
colspan="3" \|Approximant \| \| \|({{IPA link\|j}}){{ref\|cons_tab_ii\|ii}} \| \|

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

|+Consonants{{cite thesis |last=Philippova |first=Nailya |date=2021 |title=A Grammar of Amri Karbi |url=https://helda.helsinki.fi/server/api/core/bitstreams/3c8326e5-c3bc-4bfb-9636-284466f4c2cc/content |work= |degree=PhD |location=Helsinki |publisher=University of Helsinki

|access-date=}}

! colspan="3" |

!Bilabial

!Alveolar

!Palatal

!Velar

!Glottal

rowspan="4" |Stop

! rowspan="2" |voiceless

!unaspirated

|{{IPA link|p}}

|{{IPA link|t}}

|{{IPA link|c}}

|{{IPA link|k}}

aspirated

|{{IPA link|pʰ}}

|{{IPA link|tʰ}}

|{{IPA link|kʰ}}

rowspan="2" |voiced

!unaspirated

|{{IPA link|b}}

|{{IPA link|d}}

|{{IPA link|ɟ}}

|{{IPA link|g}}

aspirated

|{{IPA link|bʰ}}

|{{IPA link|dʰ}}

|{{IPA link|ɟʰ}}

|{{IPA link|gʰ}}

rowspan="2" |Fricative

! colspan="2" |voiceless

|({{IPA link|ɸ}}){{ref|cons_tab_i|i}}

|{{IPA link|s}}

|{{IPA link|h}}

colspan="2" |voiced

|{{IPA link|β}}

colspan="3" |Nasal

|{{IPA link|m}}

|{{IPA link|n}}

|{{IPA link|ŋ}}

colspan="3" |Lateral

|{{IPA link|l}}

colspan="3" |Rhotic

|{{IPA link|r}}

colspan="3" |Approximant

|({{IPA link|j}}){{ref|cons_tab_ii|ii}}

{{note|cons_tab_i|i}} Alternative realization of /pʰ/ amongst some members of the younger generation. {{note|cons_tab_ii|ii}} Allophone of /ɟ/.

= Vowels =

Amri Karbi has 7 vowels, 2 of which are marginal phonemes (included in parentheses in the table below). In addition, there are the diphthongs /ai/ and /ɔi/.

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" \|+Vowels ! !Front !Central !Back
Close \|{{IPA link\|i}} \| \|{{IPA link\|u}}
Close-mid \|({{IPA link\|e}}) \| \|({{IPA link\|o}})
Open-mid \|{{IPA link\|ɛ}} \| \|{{IPA link\|ɔ}}
Open \| \|{{IPA link\|a}} \|

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

|+Vowels

!Front

!Central

!Back

|{{IPA link|i}}

|{{IPA link|u}}

Close-mid

|({{IPA link|e}})

|({{IPA link|o}})

Open-mid

|{{IPA link|ɛ}}

|{{IPA link|ɔ}}

Open

|{{IPA link|a}}

= Tone =

Three phonemic tones exist in Amri Karbi: low, mid, and high.

= Phonotactics =

The maximum syllable in Amri Karbi is (C)(C)V(V)(C). A limited number of onset clusters occur, the first element of which is a voiceless stop or the glottal fricative /h/, followed by /l/ or /r/. Depending on the speaker, clusters /hl/ and /hr/ can variably be produced as [h], [l] and [r], or [lh] and [rh]. All consonants but /ŋ/ can appear syllable-initially. The only consonants able to occur syllable-finally are nasals /m n ŋ/, liquids /l r/, and voiceless unaspirated /p t k/. The latter three are realized as unreleased [p̚ t̚ k̚] when syllable-final.

Orthography

Latin script is used for institutional practice, both Latin and Assamese script are used in various publications.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Locations

Amri (Karbi) language is spoken in the following locations in India (Ethnologue).

Kamrup district, Assam (south of the Brahmaputra River): Chandubi, Loharghat, Rani block, Jalukbari, Pandu, Basbistha, Panikhaith, Jorabat, Sonapur, Khetri, and Kahi Kusi
Ri-Bhoi district, Meghalaya: Nongpoh area, Barni Hat, and Umling

References

Category:Kuki-Chin–Naga languages

Category:Languages of Assam

Category:Languages of Meghalaya