Barman language

[1] The Barman Kacharis are an indigenous Assamese community of Northeast India and are a subsection of the Dimasa people.

They are mainly found in the districts of Udalguri, Baksa, Chirang, Kokrajhar, Darrang, Kamrup, Goalpara, Nagaon, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Cachar and Barpeta.

Prior to Indian independence, several Barman Kachari settlements existed in the Mymensingh and Sylhet districts of present-day Bangladesh.

Partition of the country had resulted in the migration of these people to then undivided Assam.

By 1825, in the days of Govinda Chandra, the Kachari king, along with some noble families, had to flee Khaspur, migrating to Mymensingh and Sylhet.

[1] The Barman Thar phonemic inventory consists of eight vowels, nine diphthongs, and twenty consonants (including two semivowels).

[citation needed] Gemination, which is the twinning of two consonants, is also found in the Barman language.

In the study of Barman Thar, carried out by the students of Tezpur University, they found only one word, i.e. bɾui, with a consonant cluster.

Case:[1] (b) Ergative (b) a ɾamɾam-∅Ram-NOMhibajahiba-jacome-PSTɾam hibajaɾam-∅ hiba-jaRam-NOM come-PST“Ram has come.”ɾamaɾam-aRam-ERGthɛkasuthɛkasumangocajaca-jaeat-PSTɾama thɛkasu cajaɾam-a thɛkasu ca-jaRam-ERG mango eat-PST“Ram has eaten a mango.”ɾamkɔRam-ACCɾiɡɐmcallɾamkɔ ɾiɡɐmRam-ACC call“Call Ram.”(b) Comitative nɛ nɔɡɛ owaowa3SGkhɐttaicakhɐttai-caknife-INSthɛkasu-kɔthɛkasu-kɔmangodɛnnajadɛn-najacut-PSTowa khɐttaica thɛkasu-kɔ dɛnnajaowa khɐttai-ca thɛkasu-kɔ dɛn-naja3SG knife-INS mango cut-PST“S/he has cut (the) mangoɐŋaɐŋa1SGɔmɾitnɛɔmɾit-nɛAmrit-GENnɔɡɛnɔɡɛINShiŋgɐnhiŋ-gɐngo-FUTɐŋa ɔmɾitnɛ nɔɡɛ hiŋgɐnɐŋa ɔmɾit-nɛ nɔɡɛ hiŋ-gɐn1SG Amrit-GEN INS go-FUT“I will go with Amrit.”ɔmɾitnɛɔmɾit-nɛAmrit-GENnɔknɔkhouseɔmɾitnɛ nɔkɔmɾit-nɛ nɔkAmrit-GEN house“Amrit's house”ɐŋaɐŋa1SGtɛzpuɾoutɛzpuɾ-ouTezpur-LOCdɔŋadɔŋ-abe-PRSɐŋa tɛzpuɾou dɔŋaɐŋa tɛzpuɾ-ou dɔŋ-a1SG Tezpur-LOC be-PRS“I am in Tezpur.”(b) Destinational Dative ca ɔmɾitnɛɔmɾit-nɛAmrit-GENnɛɡanɛɡaDATɔmɾitnɛ nɛɡaɔmɾit-nɛ nɛɡaAmrit-GEN DAT“… for Amrit.”tɛzpuɾcatɛzpuɾ-caTezpur-DATtɛzpuɾcatɛzpuɾ-caTezpur-DAT“… to Tezpur.”tɛzpuɾnɛtɛzpuɾ-nɛTezpur-GENtukkitukkiABLtɛzpuɾnɛ tukkitɛzpuɾ-nɛ tukkiTezpur-GEN ABL“… from Tezpur.”Three of the tenses are morphologically marked in Barman Thar.

And the following are the four aspects: owaowa3SGhibadɔhiba-dɔcome-PRS.PRFowa hibadɔowa hiba-dɔ3SG come-PRS.PRF“S/he has come.”owaowa3SGhiŋahiŋ-dɔŋgo-PRS.PROGowa hiŋaowa hiŋ-dɔŋ3SG go-PRS.PROG“S/he is going.”owaowa3SGcaniŋca-niŋeat-PST.PRFowa caniŋowa ca-niŋ3SG eat-PST.PRF“S/he had eaten.”owaowa3SGɾiŋdɔŋɡɐnɾiŋ-dɔŋ-ɡɐndrink-PROG-FUTowa ɾiŋdɔŋɡɐnowa ɾiŋ-dɔŋ-ɡɐn3SG drink-PROG-FUT“S/he will be drinking.”In Barman Thar, verbs are negated by suffixing “-za” and “-zia” for present and past tense respectively.

doisajadoisa-jaboy-CLsijaisija-idie-PFVhiŋajahiŋ-(a)jago-PSTdoisaja sijai hiŋajadoisa-ja sija-i hiŋ-(a)jaboy-CL die-PFV go-PST“The boy died.”Another feature of this language that needs to be mentioned is the presence of allomorphs.