The Sino-Tibetan language family is one of the world’s largest and most prominent families, spoke... more The Sino-Tibetan language family is one of the world’s largest and most prominent families, spoken by nearly 1.4 billion people. Despite the importance of the Sino-Tibetan languages, their prehistory remains controversial, with ongoing debate about when and where they originated. To shed light on this debate we develop a database of comparative linguistic data, and apply the linguistic comparative method to identify sound correspondences and establish cognates. We then use phylogenetic methods to infer the relationships among these languages and estimate the age of their origin and homeland. Our findings point to Sino-Tibetan originating with north Chinese millet farmers around 7200 B.P. and suggest a link to the late Cishan and the early Yangshao cultures.
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
This paper describes the inverse marking systems of two closely related Khroskyabs varieties, Siy... more This paper describes the inverse marking systems of two closely related Khroskyabs varieties, Siyuewu and Wobzi, and hypothesizes the historical development of the Khroskyabs inverse marking system. I propose that a hypothetical prefix, *Cə-, which is probably related to the second person markers attested in many Trans-Himalayan languages, existed in Proto-Khroskyabs, and that it has different reflexes in the two modern Khroskyabs varieties.
This paper focuses on the verbal inflection chain of Siyuewu Khros-kyabs, a Gyalrongic language (... more This paper focuses on the verbal inflection chain of Siyuewu Khros-kyabs, a Gyalrongic language (Trans-Himalayan). Siyuewu Khroskyabs goes against two general typological tendencies: first, as an SOV language, it shows an overwhelming preference for prefixes, which is rarely reported typologically; second, the inflectional prefixes in the outer slots are older than those in the inner slots, which is the reverse case of most languages. In this paper, I will first identify distinct historical layers within the inflectional prefixes, and then focus on two of the prefixes, də-'even' and ɕə-'Q' whose evolutionary pathways are relatively clear. The essential part of the hypotheses is that the prefixes originate from en-clitics which could be attached to the end of a preverbal chain, originally loosely attached to the verb stem. The preverbal chain later became tightly attached to the verbal stem and eventually became a part of it as a chain of prefixes. As a result, the original enclitics are reanalysed as prefixes. The integration of preverbal morphemes is responsible for the prefixing preference in Modern Siyuewu Khroskyabs. However, despite this superficial prefixing preference, Siyuewu Khroskyabs underlyingly favours postposed morphemes. By following the general suffixing tendency, this language finally managed to create a typologically rare, overwhelmingly prefixing verbal template.
Gyalrongic languages, a subgroup of the Burmo-Qiangic branch of the Sino-Tibetan family, are spok... more Gyalrongic languages, a subgroup of the Burmo-Qiangic branch of the Sino-Tibetan family, are spoken in the Western Sichuan Province of China. They are polysynthetic languages, and present rich verbal morphology. Although they are not closely related to Chinese, they are of particular interest for Sino-Tibetan/Trans-Himalayan comparative linguistics with regards to their conservative phonology and morphology. Based on previous studies on Old Chinese phonology, combining with recent fieldwork data, this paper aims to show how Gyalrong languages could shed light on Old Chinese morphology and thus contribute to the Old Chinese reconstruction. It also proposes a list of possible cognates between Old Chinese, Gyalrong languages, indicating also Tibetan cognates when available.
This paper focuses on the morphosyntax as well as the semantics of relativisation in Wobzi Khrosk... more This paper focuses on the morphosyntax as well as the semantics of relativisation in Wobzi Khroskyabs, a Rgyalrongic language spoken in Sichuan, China. Different strategies of relativisation are presented, especially the nominalisation strategy. Wobzi Khroskyabs exhibits an innovative relativisation strategy with the genitive marker =ji, which is rarely found in other Rgyalrongic languages. Several hypotheses are put forward to account for the evolutionary pathway from genitivisation to relativisation, showing that genitive =ji probably followed an ergative pattern to enter the relativisation of core arguments.
Mainly basing on first hand data, this paper deals with the causative constructions in the Khrosk... more Mainly basing on first hand data, this paper deals with the causative constructions in the Khroskyabs language (Rgyalrongic, Sino-Tibetan), focusing on the Wobzi dialect. Causative prefixes, anti-causative, analytic causative and labile verbs are described. In addition, comparative analyses within Rgyalrongic as well as the Sino-Tibetan family are made. Résumé En se basant principalement sur des données de première main, cet article traite des constructions causatives en khroskyabs (langue rgyalronguique, sino-tibétain), en se concentrant sur le dialecte wobzi. Les préfixes causatifs, l'anti-causatif, le causatif ana-lytique et les verbes labiles sont décrits. Des analyses comparatives au sein du rgyal-ronguique et du sino-tibétain sont également effectuées.
Consonant clusters like *pr-, *sn- and *-ks are postulated by various scholars for Old Chinese (O... more Consonant clusters like *pr-, *sn- and *-ks are postulated by various scholars for Old Chinese (OC). The debate about their existence and inventory runs through the modern history of Chinese historical phonology and remains the most thorny and interesting aspect of the field...
Errata: I no longer believe that the uvular initial is voiced in /ɢo/ 'be peeled', and it should ... more Errata: I no longer believe that the uvular initial is voiced in /ɢo/ 'be peeled', and it should rather be transcribed with the voiceless uvular stop /q/, i.e., /qo/. This is also true for /ɢre/ 'collapse (vi)', which now should be transcribed as /qre/. Thus, these verb stems should be removed from the evidence in favor of voiceless to voiced directionality. However, this does not have a bearing on the main evidence and conclusion of this paper, which still are a voiceless to voiced and transitive to intransitive directionality.
This paper offers new evidence from Stau, Geshiza, and Khroskyabs to address the question of directionality in valency-changing derivations in Sino-Tibetan. Examining Stau, Geshiza, and Khroskyabs causative and anticausative verb stem pairs adds to the evidence that in Proto-Sino-Tibetan a number of intransitive stems are derived from transitive stems, in some cases as the result of *N-prefixation, and in other cases from voicing alternation independent of *N-prefixation. In addition, the proto-sigmatic prefix (*s-) does not cause devoicing in Stau, Geshiza, and Khroskyabs, but rather often undergoes voicing assimilation, and has more than just a causativization function. Furthermore, by looking at Gyalrong, Minyag, Tangut, Middle Chinese, and Old Chinese we emphasize that there is no synchronic evidence to support devoicing induced by *s-, nor is there historical evidence to support the claim that *s-caused devoicing in Proto-Gyalrongic, and even genetically deeper stages.
The Sino-Tibetan language family is one of the world’s largest and most prominent families, spoke... more The Sino-Tibetan language family is one of the world’s largest and most prominent families, spoken by nearly 1.4 billion people. Despite the importance of the Sino-Tibetan languages, their prehistory remains controversial, with ongoing debate about when and where they originated. To shed light on this debate we develop a database of comparative linguistic data, and apply the linguistic comparative method to identify sound correspondences and establish cognates. We then use phylogenetic methods to infer the relationships among these languages and estimate the age of their origin and homeland. Our findings point to Sino-Tibetan originating with north Chinese millet farmers around 7200 B.P. and suggest a link to the late Cishan and the early Yangshao cultures.
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
This paper describes the inverse marking systems of two closely related Khroskyabs varieties, Siy... more This paper describes the inverse marking systems of two closely related Khroskyabs varieties, Siyuewu and Wobzi, and hypothesizes the historical development of the Khroskyabs inverse marking system. I propose that a hypothetical prefix, *Cə-, which is probably related to the second person markers attested in many Trans-Himalayan languages, existed in Proto-Khroskyabs, and that it has different reflexes in the two modern Khroskyabs varieties.
This paper focuses on the verbal inflection chain of Siyuewu Khros-kyabs, a Gyalrongic language (... more This paper focuses on the verbal inflection chain of Siyuewu Khros-kyabs, a Gyalrongic language (Trans-Himalayan). Siyuewu Khroskyabs goes against two general typological tendencies: first, as an SOV language, it shows an overwhelming preference for prefixes, which is rarely reported typologically; second, the inflectional prefixes in the outer slots are older than those in the inner slots, which is the reverse case of most languages. In this paper, I will first identify distinct historical layers within the inflectional prefixes, and then focus on two of the prefixes, də-'even' and ɕə-'Q' whose evolutionary pathways are relatively clear. The essential part of the hypotheses is that the prefixes originate from en-clitics which could be attached to the end of a preverbal chain, originally loosely attached to the verb stem. The preverbal chain later became tightly attached to the verbal stem and eventually became a part of it as a chain of prefixes. As a result, the original enclitics are reanalysed as prefixes. The integration of preverbal morphemes is responsible for the prefixing preference in Modern Siyuewu Khroskyabs. However, despite this superficial prefixing preference, Siyuewu Khroskyabs underlyingly favours postposed morphemes. By following the general suffixing tendency, this language finally managed to create a typologically rare, overwhelmingly prefixing verbal template.
Gyalrongic languages, a subgroup of the Burmo-Qiangic branch of the Sino-Tibetan family, are spok... more Gyalrongic languages, a subgroup of the Burmo-Qiangic branch of the Sino-Tibetan family, are spoken in the Western Sichuan Province of China. They are polysynthetic languages, and present rich verbal morphology. Although they are not closely related to Chinese, they are of particular interest for Sino-Tibetan/Trans-Himalayan comparative linguistics with regards to their conservative phonology and morphology. Based on previous studies on Old Chinese phonology, combining with recent fieldwork data, this paper aims to show how Gyalrong languages could shed light on Old Chinese morphology and thus contribute to the Old Chinese reconstruction. It also proposes a list of possible cognates between Old Chinese, Gyalrong languages, indicating also Tibetan cognates when available.
This paper focuses on the morphosyntax as well as the semantics of relativisation in Wobzi Khrosk... more This paper focuses on the morphosyntax as well as the semantics of relativisation in Wobzi Khroskyabs, a Rgyalrongic language spoken in Sichuan, China. Different strategies of relativisation are presented, especially the nominalisation strategy. Wobzi Khroskyabs exhibits an innovative relativisation strategy with the genitive marker =ji, which is rarely found in other Rgyalrongic languages. Several hypotheses are put forward to account for the evolutionary pathway from genitivisation to relativisation, showing that genitive =ji probably followed an ergative pattern to enter the relativisation of core arguments.
Mainly basing on first hand data, this paper deals with the causative constructions in the Khrosk... more Mainly basing on first hand data, this paper deals with the causative constructions in the Khroskyabs language (Rgyalrongic, Sino-Tibetan), focusing on the Wobzi dialect. Causative prefixes, anti-causative, analytic causative and labile verbs are described. In addition, comparative analyses within Rgyalrongic as well as the Sino-Tibetan family are made. Résumé En se basant principalement sur des données de première main, cet article traite des constructions causatives en khroskyabs (langue rgyalronguique, sino-tibétain), en se concentrant sur le dialecte wobzi. Les préfixes causatifs, l'anti-causatif, le causatif ana-lytique et les verbes labiles sont décrits. Des analyses comparatives au sein du rgyal-ronguique et du sino-tibétain sont également effectuées.
Consonant clusters like *pr-, *sn- and *-ks are postulated by various scholars for Old Chinese (O... more Consonant clusters like *pr-, *sn- and *-ks are postulated by various scholars for Old Chinese (OC). The debate about their existence and inventory runs through the modern history of Chinese historical phonology and remains the most thorny and interesting aspect of the field...
Errata: I no longer believe that the uvular initial is voiced in /ɢo/ 'be peeled', and it should ... more Errata: I no longer believe that the uvular initial is voiced in /ɢo/ 'be peeled', and it should rather be transcribed with the voiceless uvular stop /q/, i.e., /qo/. This is also true for /ɢre/ 'collapse (vi)', which now should be transcribed as /qre/. Thus, these verb stems should be removed from the evidence in favor of voiceless to voiced directionality. However, this does not have a bearing on the main evidence and conclusion of this paper, which still are a voiceless to voiced and transitive to intransitive directionality.
This paper offers new evidence from Stau, Geshiza, and Khroskyabs to address the question of directionality in valency-changing derivations in Sino-Tibetan. Examining Stau, Geshiza, and Khroskyabs causative and anticausative verb stem pairs adds to the evidence that in Proto-Sino-Tibetan a number of intransitive stems are derived from transitive stems, in some cases as the result of *N-prefixation, and in other cases from voicing alternation independent of *N-prefixation. In addition, the proto-sigmatic prefix (*s-) does not cause devoicing in Stau, Geshiza, and Khroskyabs, but rather often undergoes voicing assimilation, and has more than just a causativization function. Furthermore, by looking at Gyalrong, Minyag, Tangut, Middle Chinese, and Old Chinese we emphasize that there is no synchronic evidence to support devoicing induced by *s-, nor is there historical evidence to support the claim that *s-caused devoicing in Proto-Gyalrongic, and even genetically deeper stages.
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This paper offers new evidence from Stau, Geshiza, and Khroskyabs to address the question of directionality in valency-changing derivations in Sino-Tibetan. Examining Stau, Geshiza, and Khroskyabs causative and anticausative verb stem pairs adds to the evidence that in Proto-Sino-Tibetan a number of intransitive stems are derived from transitive stems, in some cases as the result of *N-prefixation, and in other cases from voicing alternation independent of *N-prefixation. In addition, the proto-sigmatic prefix (*s-) does not cause devoicing in Stau, Geshiza, and Khroskyabs, but rather often undergoes voicing assimilation, and has more than just a causativization function. Furthermore, by looking at Gyalrong, Minyag, Tangut, Middle Chinese, and Old Chinese we emphasize that there is no synchronic evidence to support devoicing induced by *s-, nor is there historical evidence to support the claim that *s-caused devoicing in Proto-Gyalrongic, and even genetically deeper stages.
This paper offers new evidence from Stau, Geshiza, and Khroskyabs to address the question of directionality in valency-changing derivations in Sino-Tibetan. Examining Stau, Geshiza, and Khroskyabs causative and anticausative verb stem pairs adds to the evidence that in Proto-Sino-Tibetan a number of intransitive stems are derived from transitive stems, in some cases as the result of *N-prefixation, and in other cases from voicing alternation independent of *N-prefixation. In addition, the proto-sigmatic prefix (*s-) does not cause devoicing in Stau, Geshiza, and Khroskyabs, but rather often undergoes voicing assimilation, and has more than just a causativization function. Furthermore, by looking at Gyalrong, Minyag, Tangut, Middle Chinese, and Old Chinese we emphasize that there is no synchronic evidence to support devoicing induced by *s-, nor is there historical evidence to support the claim that *s-caused devoicing in Proto-Gyalrongic, and even genetically deeper stages.