Zompist Bboard Again

bradrn wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 5:50 pm Is its native writing system an abugida?

The honest answer is 'yes', but some might contend that the true answer is 'no'.

Taking a guess — would it happen to be Khmer?

Munda?

Rounin Ryuuji wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 6:26 pm Taking a guess — would it happen to be Khmer?

No, Khmer is in no sense extinct.

Oops, I missed that detail.

bradrn wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 6:28 pmMunda?

No, the Munda(ri) language is in no way extinct and this mystery language is not a Munda language.

Is it an Austroasiatic language?

Karch wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 6:45 pm Is it an Austroasiatic language?

No.

OK, so what do we know about this mystery language?

• It’s not Austronesian or Tai-Kadai.
• It’s not Austroasiatic.
• It’s not Tibeto-Burman, and it doesn’t look at all Sinitic, so it’s not Sino-Tibetan either.
• It can’t be Hmong-Mien, since none of those languages are extinct.
• Its speakers have a Tai L1, so it’s spoken in SE Asia.

So, it’s in SE Asia, but not in any of the major families of the area… is it some sort of isolate then?

bradrn wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 7:06 pm OK, so what do we know about this mystery language?

• It’s not Austronesian or Tai-Kadai.
• It’s not Austroasiatic.
• It’s not Tibeto-Burman, and it doesn’t look at all Sinitic, so it’s not Sino-Tibetan either.
• It can’t be Hmong-Mien, since none of those languages are extinct.
• Its speakers have a Tai L1, so it’s spoken in SE Asia.

So, it’s in SE Asia, but not in any of the major families of the area… is it some sort of isolate then?

The main extinct isolate I know of in the region is Tambora... but it lacks anything-speakers, much the less Tai L1-speakers, since it was spoken far from any Tai language and its speakers got blown up by a volcano a couple hundred years or so ago.

bradrn wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 7:06 pm OK, so what do we know about this mystery language?

• It’s not Austronesian or Tai-Kadai.
• It’s not Austroasiatic.
• It’s not Tibeto-Burman, and it doesn’t look at all Sinitic, so it’s not Sino-Tibetan either.
• It can’t be Hmong-Mien, since none of those languages are extinct.
• Its speakers have a Tai L1, so it’s spoken in SE Asia.

So, it’s in SE Asia, but not in any of the major families of the area… is it some sort of isolate then?

No, it's not an isolate. Incidentally, I took Tibeto-Burman to include Sinitic.

Did this language belong to one of the various small families/language isolates spoken in Arunachal Pradesh?

Travis B. wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 7:45 pm Did this language belong to one of the various small families/language isolates spoken in Arunachal Pradesh?

No.

Richard W wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 7:33 pm

bradrn wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 7:06 pm OK, so what do we know about this mystery language?

• It’s not Austronesian or Tai-Kadai.
• It’s not Austroasiatic.
• It’s not Tibeto-Burman, and it doesn’t look at all Sinitic, so it’s not Sino-Tibetan either.
• It can’t be Hmong-Mien, since none of those languages are extinct.
• Its speakers have a Tai L1, so it’s spoken in SE Asia.

So, it’s in SE Asia, but not in any of the major families of the area… is it some sort of isolate then?

No, it's not an isolate. Incidentally, I took Tibeto-Burman to include Sinitic.

OK… so, for you, which Sino-Tibetan groups are outside Tibeto-Burman? And is this language one of those?

bradrn wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 8:00 pm

Richard W wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 7:33 pm

bradrn wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 7:06 pm OK, so what do we know about this mystery language?

• It’s not Austronesian or Tai-Kadai.
• It’s not Austroasiatic.
• It’s not Tibeto-Burman, and it doesn’t look at all Sinitic, so it’s not Sino-Tibetan either.
• It can’t be Hmong-Mien, since none of those languages are extinct.
• Its speakers have a Tai L1, so it’s spoken in SE Asia.

So, it’s in SE Asia, but not in any of the major families of the area… is it some sort of isolate then?

No, it's not an isolate. Incidentally, I took Tibeto-Burman to include Sinitic.

OK… so, for you, which Sino-Tibetan groups are outside Tibeto-Burman? And is this language one of those?

Richard was saying that it's not Sino-Tibetan either, since it's not Tibeto-Burman, and he views Sinitic as a subgroup thereof.

bradrn wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 8:00 pm

Richard W wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 7:33 pm

bradrn wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 7:06 pm OK, so what do we know about this mystery language?

• It’s not Austronesian or Tai-Kadai.
• It’s not Austroasiatic.
• It’s not Tibeto-Burman, and it doesn’t look at all Sinitic, so it’s not Sino-Tibetan either.
• It can’t be Hmong-Mien, since none of those languages are extinct.
• Its speakers have a Tai L1, so it’s spoken in SE Asia.

So, it’s in SE Asia, but not in any of the major families of the area… is it some sort of isolate then?

No, it's not an isolate. Incidentally, I took Tibeto-Burman to include Sinitic.

OK… so, for you, which Sino-Tibetan groups are outside Tibeto-Burman? And is this language one of those?

To me, Sino-Tibetan and Tibeto-Burman are synonymous.

It's the speakers of this dialect that mostly have a Tai L1. (I expect some have an Austroasiatic L1, and I would not be surprised to find some with a Sino-Tibetan L1).

So to get this straight, these languages are not in any of:

A) Austroasiatic
B) Tibeto-Burman/Sino-Tibetan
C) Austronesian/Tai-Kadai
D) Hmong-Mien
E) The little families in Arunachal Pradesh

Is this right?

Travis B. wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 9:09 pm So to get this straight, these languages are not in any of:

A) Austroasiatic
B) Tibeto-Burman/Sino-Tibetan
C) Austronesian/Tai-Kadai
D) Hmong-Mien
E) The little families in Arunachal Pradesh

Is this right?

Correct. This language is not Hmong-Mien.

OK, let me take a wild guess… is it North Dravidian?

bradrn wrote: ↑Tue Jan 19, 2021 11:18 pm OK, let me take a wild guess… is it North Dravidian?

No, but the resemblance is not entirely coincidental.