Pnar language

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Pnar
Pnar
Native to India, Bangladesh
Ethnicity Pnar people
Native speakers
250,000 (2001)[1]
Official status
Official language in
Meghalaya
Language codes
ISO 639-3 pbv
Glottolog pnar1238[2]
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Pnar (also known as Jaintia or Synteng[3]) is an Austroasiatic language spoken in India and Bangladesh.

"Pnar" is not an official language of Meghalaya State. It is one of the Khasi varieties such as Khynriam, Bhoi, War, Maram, Lyngngam, etc. The Pnars are parts of the Hynñiewtrep people culturally, and the language used in education is "Khasi". So, in Meghalaya State, the only indigenous official languages are: Khasi and Garo.

Phonology

Pnar has 28 phonemes: 7 vowels and 21 consonants. Other sounds listed below are phonetic realizations.[4]

Vowels

Front Near Central Near Back
Close /i/ [ɨ] /u/
Near-close [ɪ] [ʊ]
Close-Mid /e/ /o/
Mid [ə]
Open-Mid /ɛ/ [ʌ] /ɔ/
Open /ɑ/

Consonants

Consonants Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Unaspirated Stop /p/
/b/
/t̪/
/d̪/
/t/
/d/
/tʃ/
/dʒ/
/k/ /ʔ/
Aspirated Stop /pʰ/
[bʱ]
/t̪ʰ/
[d̪ʱ]
[tʃʰ]
[dʒʱ]
/kʰ/
Fricative /s/ /h/
Nasal /m/ /n/ /ɲ/ /ŋ/
Lateral /l/
Trill /r/
Approximant /w/ /j/

Syllable structure

Syllables in Pnar can consist of a single nucleic vowel. Maximally, they can include a complex onset of two consonants, a diphthong nucleus, and a coda consonant. A second type of syllable contains a syllabic nasal/trill/lateral immediately following the onset consonant. This syllabic consonant behaves as the rhyme. (Ring, 2012: 141-2)

References

  1. Pnar at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
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  3. Sidwell, Paul. (2005). The Katuic languages: classification, reconstruction and comparative lexicon. LINCOM studies in Asian linguistics, 58. Muenchen: Lincom Europa. ISBN 3-89586-802-7
  4. Ring, Hiram. 2012. A phonetic description and phonemic analysis of Jowai-Pnar. Mon-Khmer Studies 40:133–175. https://www.academia.edu/2040472/A_phonetic_description_and_phonemic_analysis_of_Jowai-Pnar
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