Documenting the languages of Manipur: Clues to the prehistory of Sino-Tibetan languages

了解语言系统如何随着时间的推移而发展，为人类认知和历史提供了重要线索。在濒危语言永远消失之前，必须从濒危语言中获得关于这一主题的关键信息。俄勒冈州大学的斯科特·德兰西和琳达·康纳雷斯将记录蒙桑语，这是印度东北部曼尼普尔州14种密切相关的语言之一，每种语言的使用者都不到1万人。将分析由此产生的音频和视频文档，以创建对Monsang的语法描述。将孟桑语数据与该地区其他相关语言进行比较，将有助于准确了解它们所属的库基钦语的发展情况。最近发现，这些语言保留了原始汉藏语的古老元素，这些元素在所有邻近语言中已经丢失。更好地了解和理解这些古老的特征将大大有助于我们了解汉藏语系（包括藏语、缅甸语和汉语）的史前史和起源。这项工作将与去年成立的一个当地语言保护组织合作进行，该组织旨在鼓励记录和保护曼尼普尔东南部的语言。数据将存档，并可从濒危语言档案馆免费查阅。

Understanding how linguistic systems develop over time provides important clues to human cognition and history. Critical information on this topic must be obtained from endangered languages before they are lost forever. Scott Delancey and Linda Konnereth of the University of Oregon will document Monsang, one of 14 closely related languages each spoken by fewer than 10,000 speakers in the Northeast Indian state of Manipur. The resulting audio and video documentation will be analyzed to create a grammatical description of Monsang. Comparing the Monsang data with other related languages in the region will help to build an accurate picture of the development of Kuki-Chin, the language subgroup to which they belong. It has recently been discovered that these languages preserve ancient elements from the ancestral Proto-Sino-Tibetan language which have been lost in all of the neighboring languages. A better knowledge and understanding of these archaic features will contribute greatly to our understanding of the prehistory and origins of the Sino-Tibetan languages, which include Tibetan, Burmese, and Chinese. The work will be done in collaboration with a local language preservation organization which was formed last year to encourage the documentation and preservation of languages spoken in southeast Manipur. Data will be archived and made freely accessible from the Endangered Languages Archive.