Bawm Language and Lore: Tibeto-Burman Area, Issues 12-14Bawm is spoken by the Bawm-Zo, a tribal society of the Chin family living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh and the adjoining areas of India and Burma. Their language is Tibeto-Burman of the Central Kuki group. It is spoken in two variants, a tonal and an atonal one. The noun phrases are distinguished on the principle of ergativity. The grammar is neither transformational nor otherwise designed for computers to read, but for humans to understand. Every textual example of Bawm is provided with a morpheme-for-morpheme translation into English, which makes it possible to use the grammar for comparative purposes in language typology. The two folklore texts about the lives of Bawm tribal chiefs provide interesting insight into the culture and society of the Bawm-Zo. |
Contents
BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURE | 1 |
Addition of an adnominal particle | 3 |
Typological classification | 7 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
adjectival adnominal adverbs amah bâk Bawm Bawm-Zo chabu Chialchiang Chittagong Chittagong Hill Tracts Churawh chun complements Dardin dauh demonstrative/emphatic particle ding hen Duhmang Duhmang nih equation Examples excl father gayal hâwi hen hawng hen chun indefinite intransitive Jisu keimah kha zei khat khawm Kuki lâ hen lâi Lakher leiah liau Löffler Lushai marry mawh mi"-constructions mipâ nâk nawlh nih chun nominalized form noun object-pp paddy pasal Pathian pêk phonemic phrase type marker pronominal particle ptm dep rangah rawh refl reflexive verbs Retai rice Rihlian sawm say ptm selê sentence short stopped simh sinah Sino-Tibetan language song southern dialect stay subj tâwn thawk hen theih thû tlâ tlung tone transitive verbs umpî verbal complex village vowel vuak Zaril zauh zawng zawzawng