Khamti language

Khamti has been variously rendered Hkamti, Khampti, Kam Ti, Kamti, Tai Kam Ti, Tai-Khamti, Khamti Shan, Khampti Shan, Khandi Shan, Hkampti Shan, and Khampti Sam ({{langx|my|ခန္တီးရှမ်းလူမျိုး}}).{{cite web|title=Khamti|url=http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/1425|website=Endangered Languages Project|access-date=2 May 2015}} The name Khamti means 'place of gold'.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}

In Burma, Khamti is spoken by 3,500 near Myitkyina and by 4,500 in Putao District, Kachin State (both reported in 2000). In India, it is spoken by 5,000 in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, in the Dikrong Valley, Narayanpur, and north bank of the Brahmaputra (reported in 2007).{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

Three dialects of Khamti are known: North Burma Khamti, Assam Khamti, and Sinkaling Khamti. All speakers of Khamti are bilingual, largely in Assamese and Burmese.

Possibly, there are also some Khamti in some parts of China (5,000 people).

The language seems to have originated around Mogoung in Upper Burma.{{cite web|title=Khamti|url=http://www.iitg.ernet.in/rcilts/phaseI/languages/khamti.htm|website=Khamti - A Language of Siamese-Chinese sub-family|access-date=7 May 2015}} Mung Kang was captured, a large group of Khamtis moved to the north and east of Lakhimpur. In the year 1850, 300–400 Khamtis settled in Assam.{{cite book|last1=Needham|first1=J.F.|title=Outline Grammar of the Khamti Language|date=1894|publisher=Government Printing, Burma|url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433081855326;view=1up;seq=9}}

Khamti has the following initial consonants:{{cite journal |last1=Inglis |first1=Douglas |title=Myanmar-based Khamti Shan Orthography |date=2017 |url=https://www.academia.edu/34791306| journal=Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society}}{{Cite book |last=Weidert |first=Alfons |title=Tai-Khamti phonology and vocabulary |publisher=Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner |year=1977}}

/c/ can be heard as [c] or [tʃ] across dialects. /s/ can also be heard as [ʃ].

Note: only the variety found in Myanmar uses the palatal nasal /ɲ/ and the rhotic /r/.

Khamti has the following final consonants:

-[w] occurs after front vowels and [a]-, -[j] occurs after back vowels and [a]-.

The Khamti language uses the following vowels:

/ɤ/ only appears in the dialect in Myanmar.

Khamti uses five tones, namely: low falling /21/, mid rising /34/, mid falling /42/, high falling /53/~[33], and high level /55/~[44].

Unlike other Tai languages that display SVO word order, Khamti has SOV word order.Wilaiwan Kanittanan. 1986. Kamti Tai: From an SVO to an SOV language. In Bhadriraju Krishnamurti (ed.), South Asian Languages: Structure, Convergence and Diglossia, 174-178. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

Nouns are divided into common nouns and proper nouns.{{cite web |last1=Inglis |first1=Douglas |title=Nominal Structure in Tai Khamti |date=2007 |website=www.academia.edu |url=https://www.academia.edu/35155172 |access-date=13 June 2020}}

Common nouns can pluralized by adding {{tone superscript|/nai1 khau/}} behind the noun. Common nouns are class categorized by using classifiers such as the generic {{tone superscript|/an3/, /ko1/}} for people and {{tone superscript|/to1/}} for animals.

People's names and place names are classified as proper nouns. Khamti prefixes people's names, depending on the social class or status of that person. These prefixes are gender specific. The prefix for Miss is {{tone superscript|/na:ng4/}} and the prefix for Mr is {{tone superscript|/tsa:i3/}}. A prefix for Mr used to respectfully address a male of higher status is {{tone superscript|/tsau2/}} or {{tone superscript|/tsau2 nuai/}}.

Khamti uses a triparte pronoun system, consisting of singular, dual and plural forms. The dual form and the first person plural form are further divided between inclusive and exclusive forms. The following set of pronouns are the pronouns found in the Khamti language:

Khamti uses the following demonstratives:

{{See also|Mon–Burmese script}}

The Tai Khamtis have their own writing system called 'Lik-Tai', which they share with the Tai Phake people and Tai Aiton people. It closely resembles the Northern Shan script of Myanmar, which is a variant of the Mon–Burmese script, with some of the letters taking divergent shapes. Their script is evidently derived from the Lik Tho Ngok script since hundreds of years ago. There are 35 letters including 17 consonants and 14 vowels. The script is traditionally taught in monasteries on subjects like Tripitaka, Jataka tales, code of conduct, doctrines and philosophy, history, law codes, astrology, and palmistry etc. The first printed book was published in 1960. In 1992 it was edited by the Tai Literature Committee, Chongkham. In 2003 it was again modified with tone marking by scholars of Northern Myanmar and Arunachal Pradesh.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20190420224836/http://www.iitg.ac.in/rcilts/phaseI/languages/khamti.htm Thai Khamti Grammar]
• Inglis, Douglas. (forthcoming) Khamti Shan anti-ergative construction: a Tibeto-Burman influence? Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area. 40(2).
• Inglis, Douglas. 2014. [https://www.academia.edu/9831142/PhD_dissertation._This_here_thing_Specifying_Morphemes_an3_nai1_mai2_in_Tai_Khamti_Reference-point_Constructions This here thing: Specifying Morphemes an3, nai1, and mai2 in Tai Khamti Reference-point Constructions]. PhD Dissertation. The University of Alberta.
• Inglis, Douglas. 2013. [https://www.academia.edu/7152890/Oral_stop_consonants_in_Tai_Khamti_An_acoustic_study_in_voice_onset_time Oral stop consonants in Tai Khamti: An acoustic study in voice onset time]. Paper presented at ISCTLL46. Dartmouth College.
• Inglis, Douglas. 2013. [https://www.academia.edu/12925697/Deictic_mai2_here_as_an_object_marker_in_Khamti_Shan_A_Tibeto-Burman_influence_in_TaiDeictic_mai2 Deictic mai2 'here' as an object marker in Khamti Shan: A Tibeto-Burman influence in Tai?]. Paper presented at ISCTLL46. Dartmouth College.
• Inglis, Douglas. 2004. [https://www.academia.edu/7152885/Preliminary_report_Khamti_Shan_wordlist_and_lexicostatistical_results Preliminary report: Khamti Shan wordlist and lexicostatistical results]. Payap University. Chiang Mai.

• [https://omniglot.com/writing/khamti.htm The Khamti language] at Omniglot
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHlwxaXNUd0&index=18&list=PLm4JemopK8s7TBsVCx8ceivISNr9-c11C Mung huw Tai Khamti Song]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSKwfipAIZ0&index=10&list=PLm4JemopK8s7TBsVCx8ceivISNr9-c11C Tai-Khamti Song - Tai-Khamti Girls]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt2yyKqIQks&list=PLm4JemopK8s7TBsVCx8ceivISNr9-c11C&index=9 Tai-Khamti Talk]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUsvfPoI214 Words of Life Khamti People/Language Movie Trailer]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulZqwsFXG6s Tai Khamti Song - Mung hau]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgwjrhDojgs Tai Khamti Song - panlong sau]

{{Languages of Burma}}

{{Languages of Northeast India}}

{{Tai-Kadai languages}}

Category:Languages of Myanmar

Category:Languages of Assam

Category:Southwestern Tai languages

Category:Languages of Arunachal Pradesh