Re: [phoNet] Re: assam pronunciation

----- Original Message -----

From: Piotr Gasiorowski

To: phoNet@egroups.com

Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2000 4:07 PM

Subject: Re: [phoNet] Re: assam pronunciation

Oops, sorry -- I wrote that hastily and am now guilty of a blunder. Tai used to be classified as a subfamily of Sino-Tibetan, but the similarities between Tai and Chinese and Tibeto-Burman are now thought to be the result of convergence and borrowing. Tai-Kadai is now regarded as a separate family, included by some in the controversial "Austric" phylum alongside the Austronesian, Hmong-Mien, and Austro-Asiatic (= Mon-Khmer and Munda) families. The Munda languages are spoken in central and NE India including parts of Assam.

 

Sorry for the misinformation. Let's blame it on the immense linguistic complexity of SE Asia ;)

 

Piotr

 

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I wrote:

Tai is a branch of Tibeto-Burman, which in turn is regarded as a subfamily of Sino-Tibetan.