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Gtaʼ language

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The GtaTemplate:Hamza language (also Gataʔ, Gtaʔ, Gata; also known as Gta Asa, Didei or Didayi IPA: [ɖiɖaːj(i)], Dire) is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Didayi people of India. It is notable for its sesquisyllabic phonology[2] and vigesimal numeral system.

Gta'
Didayi
ଡିଡାୟୀ
RegionIndia
Ethnicity7,400 (2001 census)[1]
Native speakers
(3,100 cited 1991 census)[1]
Odia
Language codes
ISO 639-3gaq
Glottologgata1239

DemographicsEdit

GtaTemplate:Hamza is spoken by 3,000 people primarily in Malkangiri district, Odisha as well as adjoining areas of Koraput district.[2] According to Anderson (2008), it is spoken by less than 4,500 people.

Ethnologue reports the following locations.

Classification and dialectsEdit

The GtaTemplate:Hamza language belongs to the South Munda subgroup of the Munda branch of the Austroasiatic language family.[1] Within South Munda, GtaTemplate:Hamza is generally considered to be the first branch off a node that also subsumes the Remo and Gutob languages; this subgroup of South Munda is known as Gutob–Remo–Gataq. It is phonologically and morphologically divergent within that branch.[3]

GtaTemplate:Hamza has two main varieties, namely Plains GtaTemplate:Hamza and Hill GtaTemplate:Hamza.

PhonologyEdit

Gta' has the 5 canonical vowels /a, e, i, o, u/, and sometimes a sixth vowel /æ/. To this can be added several nasalized counterparts: /ã, õ, ũ/ and sometimes /ĩ/. Gta' has the following consonants:[2]

Bilabial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop voiceless p t ʈ c k ʔ
voiced b [d] ɖ ɟ ɡ
Fricative s h
Nasal m n ŋ
Approximant l
Flap ɾ ɽ

GrammarEdit

NounsEdit

Nouns in Gtaʔ are primarily marked for case, number and possession.[4] Nouns also have two forms, one a free full form, the other a bound short form. These latter occur only when the noun is compounded with another noun or a verb for derivational purposes, and are hence labeled "combining forms". The combining form usually involves removing an affix or shortening the noun in some way. Some examples:

  • ncu -> -cu- (oil)
  • gsi -> -si- (louse)
  • gbe -> -be- (bear)
  • gnar -> -gar- (strip of bamboo)
  • remwa -> -re- (person)

Combining forms occurring with verb stems can be echoed independently of the verb stems; those occurring with noun stems either remain intact or change at par with the main stems.
Examples
Type 1: sur-cu to fry in oil > sur-ca, sur-ci, sar-ca, s?r-cf, sar-cu.
gag-bo? to tie onto the head
gag-ba?, gig-bT?, gag-bT?, gTg-ba?, gig-bo?.
"tur-t?a to graze cattle >
tar-ti, t?r-ti, tar-t?a, t?r-t?a.

Type 2: kula-re kinsman >
ka I a-re, k?I i-re.
sari-ja paddy flower >
sara-ja, s?ri-j?, si ri-ja.
ra-ko peacock feather >
bara-ka, bir?-k?, bir?-ko.
ult-so mango wood >
ala-sa, ?l?-sf, ala-so, Mi-so.
huQ-be baby bear >
har?-ba, h?tj-b?, harj-be, h?n-be.[5]

Echo formationEdit

Rules of formation
Rule# 1. Echo-words are formed by changing only the vowels of the base word.

Rule# 2. The echo-word must differ from the base word. The vowel of univocalic base words is reflected as either /a/ or /}/ in the echo-word. For base-word /u, e, o/ the vowel /a/ is preferred, while for base word /e/ the vowel /I/ is preferred.

Rule# 3. The vowels of disyllabic base words are reflected in the echo-word as follows:

  • a. Both vowels are reflected as either /a/ or /?/; or
  • b. Only one of the base-word vowels is reflected as /a/ or /]/ while the other is reflected unchanged; or
  • c. The first vowel (Vl) changes to /u/ while the second (V^) changes to /a/.

Rule# 4. In the case of trisyllabic base words, one, two or all three of the vowels (in adjacent syllables) are reflected as either /a/ or /}/.

Rule# 5. The echo-forms of compound words, irrespective of their vocalic structure, are derived as follows:

  • a. In the case of compound verbs consisting of two verb stems, one or both stems undergo change, depending on their relationship with each other;
  • b. Nominal combining forms occurring with verb stems change independently; those attached to noun stems change only at par with the main stem.
  • c. In verbal constructions incorporating a prefix, both the prefix and the stem change as a unit.[6]

Categories of echo formsEdit

  1. A-forms, indicating gross variety;
  2. I-forms, indicating diminutive or tender variety ;
  3. U/a-forms, indicating variety different from a related category
  4. Partially changed forms, indicating inferior variety : a-forms, indicating grossness and ?-forms, indicating tenderness.[7]

Numeral systemEdit

Gta' numeral system is vigesimal.[8]

Gta' Numeral system
1. muiŋ 21. mũikuɽi muiŋ /ekustɔra
2. mbar 22. mũikuɽi mbar
3. ɲji 23. mũikuɽi ɲji
4. õ 24. mũikuɽi hõ
5. malʷe 25. mũikuɽi malikliɡˀ
6. tur 26. mũikuɽi turukliɡˀ
7. ɡul 27. mũikuɽi gukliɡˀ
8. tma /aʈʈa 28. mũikuɽi tomakliɡˀ / mũikuɽi tma
9. sontiŋ /nɔʈa 29. mũikuɽi sontiŋkliɡˀ
10. ɡʷa / dɔsʈa 30. mũikuɽi ɡʷa ( 20 + 10) / tirisʈa
11. ɡʷamiŋ / eɡaʈa 40. mbarkuɽi ( 2 x 20)/ calistɔra
12. ɡombar /baroʈa 50. mbarkuɽi ɡʷa ( 20 + 10) /pɔcas
13. ɡoɲji /teroʈa 60. ɲjikuɽi ( 3 x 20) / saʈe
14. ɡohõ /coudoʈa 70. ɲjikuɽi ɡʷa / suturi
15. ɡomal / pɔndrɔʈa 80. ōkuɽi ( 4 x 20)
16. ɡotur / soloːʈa 90. ōkuɽi ɡʷa
17. ɡogu / sɔtroʈa 100. malkuɽi ( 5 x 20) /soetɔra
18. ɡotma / aʈɾa
19. ɡososiŋ / unisʈa
20. ɡosolɡa /kuɽitɔra /kuɽeta

Neighboring languagesEdit

Gtaʔ echo-formation shows some striking similarities with echo-formation in neighboring Munda languages such as Remo and Gorum as well as in the Desia dialect of Oriya spoken in the Koraput Munda region. The most conspicuous feature they have in common with Gtaʔ is that echo-words in all three of these languages are also derived from base words by changes in the vowels alone.[9]

ReferencesEdit

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Gta' at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Munda languages. Anderson, Gregory D. S. London: Routledge. 2008. p. 682. ISBN 9780415328906. OCLC 225385744.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. ↑ Zide, Norman H. (1976). A Note on Gta? Echo Forms. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications. University of Hawai'i Press. pp. 1335–1343. ISSN 0078-3188. JSTOR 20019204.
  4. ↑ Anderson, Gregory D. S. (8 April 2015). The Munda Languages. ISBN 9781317828860.
  5. ↑ Mahapatra, K. "Echo Formation in Gta?" (PDF).
  6. ↑ Mahapatra, K. "Echo Formation in Gta?" (PDF).
  7. ↑ Mahapatra, K. "Echo Formation in Gta?" (PDF).
  8. ↑ Ghosh, Arun. (n.d.). Numeral Systems of the World's Languages. Archived 2014-04-21 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ Mahapatra, K. "Echo Formation in Gta?" (PDF).


Further readingEdit

  • Anderson, Gregory D.S. (n.d.). Gtaʔ (Didey) Language – Munda Languages Project – Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages.
  • Anderson, Gregory D.S. 2001. "A new classification of South Munda: Evidence from comparative verb morphology". Indian Linguistics 62.1: 21–36.
  • Anderson, Gregory D.S. 2008. "Gtaʔ." In: Gregory D.S. Anderson (ed.), The Munda Languages. London / New York. [Routledge Language Family Series]. 682–763.
  • Bauer, Christian. 1993. Review of: Robert Parkin: A guide to Austroasiatic speakers and their languages. (Oceanic Linguistics, Special Publication, no. 23.) ix, 198, [xv] pp. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1991. In: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, vol. 56, issue 1 (February 1993), pp. 193–194.
  • DeArmond, R. (1976). Proto-Gutob-Remo-Gtaq Stressed Monosyllabic Vowels and Initial Consonants. Austroasiatic Studies Part I, 13, 213–227. Munda. (n.d.). Retrieved February 15, 2015
  • Odden, D. (1987). "Arguments against the Vowel Plane" in Gtaʔ Linguistic Inquiry, 18(3), 523–529.
  • Parkin, R. (1988). "Marriage, Behaviour and Generation among the Munda of Eastern India". Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, 113(1), 69–80.
  • Sidwell, P., & Jenny, M. (2014). The Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages (2 vols). Leiden: Brill.
  • Stampe, D. (1965). "Recent Work in Munda Linguistics I". International Journal of American Linguistics, 31(4), 332–341.
  • Zide, N. (1976). "A Note on Gtaʔ Echo Forms", in P. Jenner, L. Thompson, and S. Starosta, eds., Austroasiatic Studies, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.

External linksEdit

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