Gta’ language
| Gataq | |
|---|---|
| Gta | |
| Region | India |
| Ethnicity | 7,400 (2001 census)[1] |
Native speakers | 3,100 (1991 census)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 |
gaq |
| Glottolog |
gata1239[2] |
The Gta’ language (also known as Gataʔ, Gataq, Getaq, Getaʔ, Gtaʔ, Gata, Gta Asa, Didei, Didayi [ɖiɖaːj(i)], or Dire) is a language spoken by the Didayi people of India. It is notable for its sesquisyllabic phonology (Anderson 2008:684-5).
General Information
Gta' is a threatened language in India located in the Andhra Pradesh state and the East Godavari district. Gta’ is spoken by 3,000 people primarily in Malkangiri district, Odisha as well as adjoining areas of Koraput district (Anderson 2008:682). Gta’ can be divided into two variants, Plains Gta’ and Hill Gta’. Gta' is a language know for its echo forms as well as its vigesimal numeral system. There are apporoximately 7400 people of ethnic descent of the Didayi people. This number represents but a small number of the population of present day India which is estimated to be about 1.252 billion people. The Didayi people make up about .00059% of India's population.
Classification
The Gta’ language belongs to the South Munda subgroup of the Munda branch of the Austroasiatic language family.[1] Within South Munda, Gta’ 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.
Professor Emeritus Norman Zide writes, "The Gtaʔ (Didayi) language is a phonologically and morphologically divergent branch of the Gutob–Remo–Gta? (GRG) branch of South Munda."
Echo Forms
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.
Numeral System
Gta' numeral system is vigesimal.
| 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 |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Gataq at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Gata'". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
- ↑ Dr.Arun Ghosh, "Gta' Numeral System"
- Anderson, Gregory D.S (ed). 2008. The Munda languages. Routledge Language Family Series 3.New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-32890-X.
Ghosh, Arun. (n.d.). Numeral Systems of the World's Languages. http://lingweb.eva.mpg.de/numeral/
External links
- Online Gtaʔ Dictionary (Chatterji)
- Online Gtaʔ Dictionary (Mahapatra)
- Toshiki Osada’s Munda Site (with information on Gta’, Gutob, Ho, Mundari)
- Gta' Audio Recording
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