Tani

Although Tani is currently highly widespread in Arunachal Pradesh, its presence in Arunachal is of relatively recent origin. Mark Post (2015) notes that Tani has many linguistic features typical of the MSEA linguistic area, pointing to a lowland subtropical origin somewhere to the southeast of Arunachal.

This view is further confirmed by my findings of various Austroasiatic loanwords in Tani languages, as in Central Sino-Tibetan languages (Kuki-Chin, Tangkhulic, Central Naga, etc.) and Lepcha.

Some Tani-speaking communities also play a bamboo mouth-organ typically played by Austroasiatic-speaking peoples.

Layers:

• 1. Greater Western Sino-Tibetan independent branch

  2. Eastern Sino-Tibetan influences

  3. Greater Siangic

  4. Northern Austroasiatic loanwords (agriculture and technology)

  5. Tibetic (recent)

Sources

Sun, Tianshin Jackson. 1993. A Historical–Comparative Study of the Tani (Mirish) Branch in Tibeto-Burman. Berkeley, University of California Ph.D. dissertation.

Blench, Roger (2014). Fallen leaves blow away: a neo-Hammarstromian approach to Sino-Tibetan classification. Presentation given at the University of New England, Armidale, 6 September 2014.

Post, Mark W. and Roger Blench (2011). "Siangic: A new language phylum in North East India", 6th International Conference of the North East India Linguistics Society, Tezpur University, Assam, India, Jan 31 – Feb 2.