Khasic languages

The Khasic or Khasian languages are a family of Austroasiatic languages native to the Shillong Plateau, spoken in the northeastern Indian state Meghalaya and neighbouring areas of Bangladesh, spoken by the Khasi people.

Languages
Sidwell (2018: 27–31) classifies the Khasian languages as follows.


 * Proto-Khasian
 * War (Amwi, Mnar)
 * Proto–Pnar-Khasi-Lyngngam
 * Lyngngam (former Garo-speakers)
 * Pnar (Jaintia)
 * Khasi
 * Maharam (Maram)
 * Maharam (Maram)

Varieties called Bhoi are dialects of both Pnar and Khasi.

External relationships
Paul Sidwell (2011) suggests that Khasian is closely related to Palaungic, forming a Khasi–Palaungic branch.

The following eight Khasian-Palaungic isoglosses have been identified by Sidwell (2018: 32).

Lexical innovations
Sidwell (2018: 23) lists the following Khasian lexical innovations (i.e., defining lexical forms) that are found exclusively in the Khasian branch, but not in other Austroasiatic branches).

Reconstruction
Proto-Khasian and Proto-Pnar-Khasi-Lyngngam have been reconstructed by Paul Sidwell (2018). Proto-Khasian is estimated to have originated about 2,000-2,500 years ago, with War splitting from other Khasian linguistic varieties about 1,500 years ago (Sidwell 2018: 20).

Proto-Khasian morphology includes a causative *pN- prefix and verbalizing *-r- infix (Sidwell 2018: 66-67).

The following reconstructed paradigmatic and closed class morphemes in Proto-Khasian are from Sidwell (2018: 51-67).


 * Personal pronouns


 * Demonstratives
 * *ni 'proximal'
 * *tu 'mesiodistal'
 * *taj 'distal (visible)'
 * *te 'mesioproximal'
 * *tɛ 'distal (non-visible)'


 * Negators
 * *ʔǝm 'not'
 * *ham 'do not'
 * *ta 'not'


 * Prepositions/case markers
 * *ha 'locative/oblique'
 * *ʤɔŋ 'to possess'
 * *da 'instrumental'
 * *ba (?) 'and/with'
 * *tV 'oblique'


 * Tense/aspect morphemes
 * *la:j 'to go'
 * *dɛp 'finish'
 * *diʔ 'to go'
 * *daː 'have'
 * *ʤuʔ 'same'


 * Morphological affixes
 * *pN- 'prefix'
 * *-r- 'verbalizer'


 * Numerals

Sound changes
Sidwell (2018) lists the following sound changes from Pre-Khasian (i.e., the ancestral stage of Khasian that preceded Proto-Khasian) to Proto-Khasian.
 * Pre-Khasian *b- > *p-, *ɓ- > *b- chain shift
 * Proto-Austroasiatic *b- > proto-Khasian *p-
 * Proto-Austroasiatic *ɓ- > proto-Khasian *b-
 * Pre-Khasian *d- > *t-, * ɗ- > *d- chain shift
 * Proto-Austroasiatic *d- > proto-Khasian *t-
 * Proto-Austroasiatic *ɗ- > proto-Khasian *d-
 * Pre-Khasian *-l > *-n/*-Ø
 * Pre-Khasian *-h > *-s > *-t
 * Pre-Khasian *-ʔ > *-Ø >, *-k > *-ʔ chain shift
 * Pre-Khasian *g- > *k-