Tangam language
Tangam is an endangered Sino-Tibetan language of the Tani subgroup spoken in Arunachal Pradesh state in North-East India. The total number of Tangam speakers has been alternatively estimated at 150 [3] and 253 .[4] The primary Tangam village is Kuging [kugɨŋ], which is located at 28°57'22"N and 94°59'25"E, approximately four hours' walk from Tuting in Upper Siang district. Tangam speakers are also found in some neighbouring villages, as well as in Tuting town.
| Tangam | |
|---|---|
| Region | Arunachal Pradesh |
Native speakers | 150 (2013-01-10)[1] |
Sino-Tibetan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | included under adi |
| Glottolog | tang1377 |
| ELP | Tangam[2] |
Most Tangam are hill tribespeople, with a material culture that is similar to that of most Tani peoples of the Siang River valley. However, due to close present and historical contacts with Memba (Bodic-speaking) peoples of Tibet and Arunachal Pradesh, Tangam have also adopted some Tibetan cultural traits.
In the only large-scale work to treat the Tani languages, Sun (1993) had no access to Tangam data and supposed it to be a variety of Damu.[5] Post (2013a) suggested that this was probably not the case, and that Tangam was a distinct Tani language, being mutually-unintelligible to a large extent with any other Tani language.[6] Genealogically, Tangam may align with the Western Tani languages, although it resembles the Eastern Tani languages with which it is in contact to a greater degree.[7]
A comprehensive description of Tangam (grammar, lexicon and texts) was published in 2017.[3]
References
- Lomdak, Lisa, Ed. (2018). The People's Linguistic Survey of India Volume 4: Arunachal Pradesh - Part 2 (English). New Delhi, Orient Blackswan.
- Post, Mark W. (2013a). The Tangam language of Kugɨŋ Təəraŋ. Paper presented at the 46th International Conference of Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics. Hanover, Dartmouth College, Jul 10.
- Post, Mark W. (2013b). Defoliating the Tani Stammbaum: An exercise in areal linguistics. Paper presented at the 13th Himalayan Languages Symposium. Canberra, Australian National University, Aug 9.
- Post, Mark W. (2017). The Tangam Language: Grammar, Lexicon and Texts. Leiden, Brill.
- Sun, Tian-Shin Jackson (1993). A Historical-Comparative Study of the Tani (Mirish) Branch of Tibeto-Burman. PhD Dissertation. Department of Linguistics. Berkeley, University of California.