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Pnar language
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<h2 id="geographic-distribution">Geographic distribution</h2> <p>As a <a href="/facts/Khasic_languages/ljLk3TeJ">Khasic</a> language, Pnar belongs to a complex <a href="/facts/Dialect_continuum/0QAuqxp3">dialect continuum</a> which includes mixed varieties whose exact relations remain a matter of debate among linguists. A language map of <a href="/facts/Meghalaya/lkm1Upzw">Meghalaya</a> designed by Anna Daladier shows two major Pnar-speaking areas separated by a thin strip of <a href="/facts/Khasi_language/49Ik8jfo">Khasi</a> and <a href="/facts/War_language/8BghKMmB">War</a>-speaking areas. Together, the two Pnar areas encompass most of the <a href="/facts/East_Jaintia_Hills/8noCQbQ3">East Jaintia Hills</a>, <a href="/facts/West_Jaintia_Hills_district/qdDsvMDU">West Jaintia Hills</a> and <a href="/facts/West_Khasi_Hills_district/JARU5Itz">West Khasi Hills</a> districts.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> </p><p>A more recent map designed by Hiram Ring for a Khasic languages handbook by Paul Sidwell relies on a different classification. There, only the former two districts are labeled as Pnar, whereas the varieties spoken in the West Jainitia Hills belong to <a href="/facts/Maharam_language/zJbwXmax">Maharam</a>, a related but distinct language. Both maps also show small pockets of Pnar speakers in the neighboring state of <a href="/facts/Assam/64Hs7TwB">Assam</a>, In the former map, they are limited to the area directly adjacent to Meghalaya, whereas the latter map also shows a group of Pnar-speaking villages around <a href="/facts/Haflong/INn96qUh">Haflong</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="phonology">Phonology</h2> <p>Pnar has 30 phonemes: 7 vowels and 23 consonants. Other sounds listed below are phonetic realizations.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> The sounds in brackets are phonetic realizations and the sounds in slashes are phonemes. </p> <h3>Vowels</h3> <table><tbody><tr><th></th><th><a href="/facts/Front_vowel/htKQs3AT">Front</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Central_vowel/IFSaKUe9">Central</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Back_vowel/gyHoGCH0">Back</a></th></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Close_vowel/Ne6tHQHR">Close</a></th><td>/<a href="/facts/Close_front_unrounded_vowel/rSUdlCPU">i</a>/</td><td>[<a href="/facts/Close_central_unrounded_vowel/YdtMNGWw">ɨ</a>]</td><td>/<a href="/facts/Close_back_rounded_vowel/gqlQLfse">u</a>/</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Near-close_vowel/uPhB2scU">Near-close</a></th><td>[<a href="/facts/Near-close_near-front_unrounded_vowel/1eQAfkDy">ɪ</a>]</td><td></td><td>[<a href="/facts/Near-close_near-back_rounded_vowel/4taYcT5v">ʊ</a>]</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Close-mid_vowel/rK07wQEd">Close-mid</a></th><td>/<a href="/facts/Close-mid_front_unrounded_vowel/e9YNLF97">e</a>/</td><td></td><td>/<a href="/facts/Close-mid_back_rounded_vowel/VwS9cKWJ">o</a>/</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Mid_vowel/uzjGLRhf">Mid</a></th><td></td><td>[<a href="/facts/Mid_central_vowel/CCx0wYy3">ə</a>]</td><td></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Open-mid_vowel/qkco8QqT">Open-mid</a></th><td>/<a href="/facts/Open-mid_front_unrounded_vowel/aDRvwE46">ɛ</a>/</td><td>[<a href="/facts/Open-mid_back_unrounded_vowel/n58uKNA8">ʌ</a>]</td><td>/<a href="/facts/Open-mid_back_rounded_vowel/yMNUClGt">ɔ</a>/</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Open_vowel/roS0Y7lA">Open</a></th><td></td><td>/<a href="/facts/Open_back_unrounded_vowel/znr1wT5C">ɑ</a>/</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>There is also one diphthong: /ia/. </p> <h3>Consonants</h3> <table><tbody><tr><th colspan="2"></th><th><a href="/facts/Labial_consonant/bv4MqTMf">Labial</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Dental_consonant/Yraaz9Nm">Dental</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Alveolar_consonant/B6VkW2EX">Alveolar</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Palatal_consonant/KLcKyXE8">Palatal</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Velar_consonant/blWClp79">Velar</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Glottal_consonant/rMdEdLxH">Glottal</a></th></tr><tr><th colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Nasal_consonant/m6D3cVhe">Nasal</a></th><td>/<a href="/facts/Voiced_bilabial_nasal/1pd7NK2x">m</a>/</td><td></td><td>/<a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolar_nasal/0CEs8314">n</a>/</td><td>/<a href="/facts/Voiced_palatal_nasal/dLa9YG49">ɲ</a>/</td><td>/<a href="/facts/Voiced_velar_nasal/r6v5q92L">ŋ</a>/</td><td></td></tr><tr><th rowspan="4"><a href="/facts/Stop_consonant/okC9pztc">Plosive</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Voicelessness/575TtTUn">voiceless</a></th><td>/<a href="/facts/Voiceless_bilabial_plosive/w4M9Igp6">p</a>/</td><td>/<a href="/facts/Voiceless_dental_plosive/1GaDe2Vy">t̪</a>/</td><td>/<a href="/facts/Voiceless_alveolar_plosive/1GaDe2Vy">t</a>/</td><td>/<a href="/facts/Voiceless_postalveolar_affricate/14FYMJvN">tʃ</a>/</td><td>/<a href="/facts/Voiceless_velar_plosive/dDppVb6e">k</a>/</td><td>/<a href="/facts/Glottal_stop/Xfqy2ArP">ʔ</a>/</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Voice_(phonetics)/VdqrEGQ3">voiced</a></th><td>/<a href="/facts/Voiced_bilabial_plosive/6ReC9arR">b</a>/</td><td>/<a href="/facts/Voiced_dental_plosive/A6hNvmCp">d̪</a>/</td><td>/<a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolar_plosive/A6hNvmCp">d</a>/</td><td>/<a href="/facts/Voiced_postalveolar_affricate/o7oYJUqz">dʒ</a>/</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Voicelessness/575TtTUn">voiceless</a> <a href="/facts/Aspirated_consonant/Kat42tA6">aspirated</a></th><td>/<a href="/facts/Aspirated_consonant/Kat42tA6">pʰ</a>/</td><td>/<a href="/facts/Dental_consonant/Yraaz9Nm">t̪ʰ</a>/</td><td></td><td>[<a href="/facts/Aspirated_consonant/Kat42tA6">tʃʰ</a>]</td><td>/<a href="/facts/Aspirated_consonant/Kat42tA6">kʰ</a>/</td><td></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Voice_(phonetics)/VdqrEGQ3">voiced</a> <a href="/facts/Aspirated_consonant/Kat42tA6">aspirated</a></th><td>[<a href="/facts/Breathy_voice/ynD4GYNn">bʱ</a>]</td><td>[<a href="/facts/Dental_consonant/Yraaz9Nm">d̪ʱ</a>]</td><td></td><td>[<a href="/facts/Breathy_voice/ynD4GYNn">dʒʱ</a>]</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Fricative_consonant/1FQuuhfX">Fricative</a></th><td></td><td></td><td>/<a href="/facts/Voiceless_alveolar_fricative/WLKtEYDe">s</a>/</td><td></td><td></td><td>/<a href="/facts/Voiceless_glottal_fricative/lfRB7CPW">h</a>/</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Trill_consonant/GKS3ga4q">Trill</a></th><td></td><td></td><td>/<a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolar_trill/rDplJobc">r</a>/</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2"><a href="/facts/Approximant_consonant/SXrlw7zY">Approximant</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Central_consonant/YLATXvJW">central</a></th><td>/<a href="/facts/Voiced_labial%E2%80%93velar_approximant/HLDqbrvr">w</a>/</td><td></td><td></td><td>/<a href="/facts/Voiced_palatal_approximant/v0NVCbUh">j</a>/</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Lateral_consonant/Mcyc1or8">Lateral</a></th><td></td><td></td><td>/<a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolar_lateral_approximant/dgbHhqeK">l</a>/</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table> <h2 id="syllable-structure">Syllable structure</h2> <p>Syllables in Pnar can consist of a single nucleic vowel. Maximally, they can include a complex onset of two consonants, a diphthong nucleus, and a coda consonant. A second type of syllable contains a syllabic nasal/trill/lateral immediately following the onset consonant. This syllabic consonant behaves as the rhyme. (Ring, 2012: 141–2) </p> <ul><li>Choudhary, Narayam Kumar (2004). <a href="http://nkchoudhary.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/word-order-in-pnar.pdf"><i>Word Order in Pnar</i></a> (PDF) (Masters thesis). Jawaharlal Nehru University. p. 87. Retrieved 2009-08-14.</li> <li>Ring, Hiram (2015). <a href="https://www.academia.edu/11943811"><i>A Grammar of Pnar</i></a> (PhD thesis). Nanyang Technological University.</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://projekt.ht.lu.se/rwaai">http://projekt.ht.lu.se/rwaai</a> RWAAI (Repository and Workspace for Austroasiatic Intangible Heritage)</li> <li>http://hdl.handle.net/10050/00-0000-0000-0003-D187-C@view Pnar in RWAAI Digital Archive</li> <li><a href="https://doreco.huma-num.fr/languages/pnar1238">Pnar DoReCo corpus</a> compiled by Hiram Ring. Audio recordings of narrative texts with transcriptions time-aligned at the phone level, translations, and time-aligned morphological annotations.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Sidwell, Paul (2005). The Katuic languages: classification, reconstruction and comparative lexicon. LINCOM studies in Asian linguistics, 58. Muenchen: Lincom Europa. ISBN 3-89586-802-7. <a href="3-89586-802-7" target="_blank">3-89586-802-7</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Nagaraja, K. S.; Sidwell, Paul; Greenhill, Simon (2013). "A lexicostatistical study of the Khasian languages: Khasi, Pnar, Lyngngam, and Wae". Mon-Khmer Studies. pp. 1‒11. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264348130_A_lexicostatistical_study_of_the_Khasian_languages_Khasi_Pnar_Lyngngam_and_Wae" target="_blank">https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264348130_A_lexicostatistical_study_of_the_Khasian_languages_Khasi_Pnar_Lyngngam_and_Wae</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Sidwell, Paul. "Khasian Languages Project". <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/paulsidwell/khasian-languages-project" target="_blank">https://sites.google.com/view/paulsidwell/khasian-languages-project</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Ring, Hiram (2012). "A phonetic description and phonemic analysis of Jowai-Pnar". Mon-Khmer Studies. 40: 133–175. <a href="https://www.academia.edu/2040472" target="_blank">https://www.academia.edu/2040472</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>