Classification schemes for Southeast Asian languages

Below is a list of different classification schemes for Southeast Asian languages. Language families represented include:

Contents

Macrofamilies

Austric links the languages of Southeast Asia apart from Sino-Tibetan. Sagart proposes instead Sino-Austronesian, linking Austronesian and Sino-Tibetan; Starosta proposed a family called East Asian which covered both this and Austric. Genetic similarities between the peoples of East and Southeast Asian languages have lead some to speculate about "Haplogroup O" languages. In a different direction, the Dené–Caucasian hypothesis links Sino-Tibetan to languages of Siberia (Dene–Yeniseian) and the Caucasus.

Proto-languages

Main article: List of proto-languages

Comparison

The following table compares the phonemic inventories of various recently reconstructed proto-languages of Southeast Asia.

Comparison of Proto-languages
Proto-language Proto-Kra Proto-Tai Proto-Hlai Proto-S. Kradai Proto-Austronesian Proto-Tibeto-Burman Proto-Mon–Khmer
Source Ostapirat (2000) Pittayaporn (2009)[1] Norquest (2007)[2] Norquest (2007)[2] Blust (2009)[3] Matisoff (2003)[4] Shorto (2006)[5]
Consonants 32 33-36 32 28-29 25 23 21
Vowels 6 7 4-5 5-7 4 5-6 7
Diphthongs 4 5 – 1+ 4 2+ 3
Consonantal finals 7 10-11 – – – 6 –
Vowel length
contrast		 No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes

Maps of language families

Distribution of Sino-Tibetan  
Distribution of Hmong–Mien  
Distribution of Tai–Kadai  
Distribution of Austronesian – Greenhill, Blust & Gray (2008)  
Distribution of Austro-Asiatic  

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Pittayaporn, Pittayawat. 2009. The Phonology of Proto-Tai. Ph.D. dissertation. Department of Linguistics, Cornell University.
  2. ^ a b Norquest, Peter K. 2007. A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Hlai. Ph.D. dissertation. Tucson: Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona.
  3. ^ Blust, Robert A. 2009. The Austronesian Languages. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. ISBN 0858836025, 978-0858836020.
  4. ^ Matisoff, James. 2003. Handbook of Proto-Tibeto-Burman: System and Philosophy of Sino-Tibetan Reconstruction. University of California publications in linguistics, v. 135. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  5. ^ Shorto, Harry L., et. al. 2006. A Mon–Khmer Comparative Dictionary. Canberra: Australian National University. Pacific Linguistics. ISBN 0-85883-570-3.