Gtaʼ language

The Gtaʼ language (also Gataʼ or Gataʔ), also known as Gta Asa, Didei or Didayi (IPA: [ɖiɖaːj(i)]), is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Didayi people of southernmost Odisha in India.

Gta'
Didayi
ଡିଡାୟୀ
RegionIndia
EthnicityDidayi
Native speakers
(3,100 cited 1991 census)[1]
Odia
Language codes
ISO 639-3gaq
Glottologgata1239
ELPGta'

It is notable for its sesquisyllabic phonology[2] and vigesimal numeral system.

Demographics

Gtaʼ is spoken by 3,000 people primarily in Malkangiri district, Odisha as well as adjoining areas of Koraput district.[2] According to Anderson (2008), it is spoken by less than 4,500 people.

Ethnologue reports the following locations:

Classification and dialects

The Gtaʼ language belongs to the South Munda subgroup of the Munda branch of the Austroasiatic language family.[1] Within South Munda, Gtaʼ is generally considered to be the first branch off a node that also subsumes the Remo and Gutob languages; this subgroup of South Munda is known as Gutob–Remo–Gataq. It is phonologically and morphologically divergent within that branch.[3]

Gtaʼ has two main varieties, namely Plains Gtaʼ and Hill Gtaʼ.

Phonology

Gtaʼ has the 5 canonical vowels /a, e, i, o, u/, and sometimes a sixth vowel /æ/. To this can be added several nasalized counterparts: /ã, õ, ũ/ and sometimes /ĩ/. Gtaʼ has the following consonants:[2]

Bilabial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop voiceless p [t] ʈ c k ʔ
voiced b [d] ɖ ɟ ɡ
Fricative s h
Nasal m n ŋ
Approximant l
Flap ɾ ɽ

Grammar

Nouns

Nouns in Gtaʔ are primarily marked for case, number and possession.[4]

Nouns also have two forms, one a free full form, the other a bound short form. These latter occur only when the noun is compounded with another noun or a verb for derivational purposes, and are hence labeled "combining forms". The combining form usually involves removing an affix or shortening the noun in some way.

Free formCombining formGloss
ncu-cu-oil
gsi-si-louse
gbe-be-bear
gnar-gar-bamboo strip
remwa-re-person

Echo formation

Gtaʔ is also notable for its use of echo words. There are four broad categories of echo forms:[5]

  • a-forms, indicating gross variety;
  • i-forms, indicating diminutive or tender variety;
  • u/a-forms, indicating variety different from a related category;
  • partially changed forms, indicating inferior variety: a-forms, indicating grossness; and i-forms, indicating tenderness.

The phonological rules for deriving one type of echo word are as follows:[5]

  1. Echo-words are formed by changing only the vowels of the base word.
  2. The echo-word must differ from the base word. The vowel of univocalic base words is reflected as either /a/ or /i/ in the echo-word. For base-word /u, e, o/ the vowel /a/ is preferred, while for base word /ɛ/ the vowel /i/ is preferred.
  3. The vowels of disyllabic base words are reflected in the echo-word as follows:
    • Both vowels are reflected as either /a/ or /i/; or
    • Only one of the base-word vowels is reflected as /a/ or /i/ while the other is reflected unchanged; or
    • The first vowel (V1) changes to /u/ while the second (V2) changes to /a/.
  4. In the case of trisyllabic base words, one, two or all three of the vowels (in adjacent syllables) are reflected as either /a/ or /i/.
  5. The echo-forms of compound words, irrespective of their vocalic structure, are derived as follows:
    • In the case of compound verbs consisting of two verb stems, one or both stems undergo change, depending on their relationship with each other;
    • Nominal combining forms occurring with verb stems change independently; those attached to noun stems change only at par with the main stem.
    • In verbal constructions incorporating a prefix, both the prefix and the stem change as a unit.

Combining forms of nouns occurring with verb stems can be echoed independently of the verb stems; those occurring with noun stems either remain intact or change at par with the main stems.

Numeral system

Gta' numeral system is vigesimal.[6]

1. muiŋ21. mũikuɽi muiŋ / ekustɔra
2. mbar22. mũikuɽi mbar
3. ɲji23. mũikuɽi ɲji
4. õ24. mũikuɽi hõ
5. malʷe25. mũikuɽi malikliɡˀ
6. tur26. mũikuɽi turukliɡˀ
7. ɡul27. mũikuɽi gukliɡˀ
8. tma / aʈʈa28. mũikuɽi tomakliɡˀ / mũikuɽi tma
9. sontiŋ / nɔʈa29. mũikuɽi sontiŋkliɡˀ
10. ɡʷa / dɔsʈa30. mũikuɽi ɡʷa (20 + 10) / tirisʈa
11. ɡʷamiŋ / eɡaʈa
12. ɡombar / baroʈa
13. ɡoɲji / teroʈa
14. ɡohõ / coudoʈa40. mbarkuɽi (2 × 20) / calistɔra
15. ɡomal / pɔndrɔʈa50. mbarkuɽi ɡʷa / pɔcas
16. ɡotur / soloːʈa60. ɲjikuɽi (3 × 20) / saʈe
17. ɡogu / sɔtroʈa70. ɲjikuɽi ɡʷa / suturi
18. ɡotma / aʈɾa80. ōkuɽi (4 × 20)
19. ɡososiŋ / unisʈa90. ōkuɽi ɡʷa
20. ɡosolɡa / kuɽitɔra / kuɽeta100. malkuɽi (5 × 20) / soetɔra

Neighboring languages

Gtaʔ echo-formation shows some striking similarities with echo-formation in neighboring Munda languages such as Remo and Gorum as well as in the Desia dialect of Oriya spoken in the Koraput Munda region. The most conspicuous feature they have in common with Gtaʔ is that echo-words in all three of these languages are also derived from base words by changes in the vowels alone.[5]

References
  1. Gta' at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) closed access
  2. The Munda languages. Anderson, Gregory D. S. London: Routledge. 2008. p. 682. ISBN 9780415328906. OCLC 225385744.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. Zide, Norman H. (1976). A Note on Gtaʔ Echo Forms. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications. University of Hawai'i Press. pp. 1335–1343. ISSN 0078-3188. JSTOR 20019204.
  4. Anderson, Gregory D. S. (8 April 2015). The Munda Languages. ISBN 9781317828860.
  5. Mahapatra, K. "Echo Formation in Gtaʔ" (PDF).
  6. Ghosh, Arun. (n.d.). Numeral Systems of the World's Languages. Archived 2014-04-21 at the Wayback Machine


Further reading
  • Anderson, Gregory D.S. (n.d.). Gtaʔ (Didey) Language – Munda Languages Project – Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine.
  • Anderson, Gregory D.S. 2001. "A new classification of South Munda: Evidence from comparative verb morphology". Indian Linguistics 62.1: 21–36.
  • Anderson, Gregory D.S. 2008. "Gtaʔ." In: Gregory D.S. Anderson (ed.), The Munda Languages. London / New York. [Routledge Language Family Series]. 682–763.
  • Bauer, Christian. 1993. Review of: Robert Parkin: A guide to Austroasiatic speakers and their languages. (Oceanic Linguistics, Special Publication, no. 23.) ix, 198, [xv] pp. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1991. In: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, vol. 56, issue 1 (February 1993), pp. 193–194.
  • DeArmond, R. (1976). Proto-Gutob-Remo-Gtaq Stressed Monosyllabic Vowels and Initial Consonants. Austroasiatic Studies Part I, 13, 213–227. Munda. (n.d.). Retrieved February 15, 2015
  • Odden, D. (1987). "Arguments against the Vowel Plane" in Gtaʔ Linguistic Inquiry, 18(3), 523–529.
  • Parkin, R. (1988). "Marriage, Behaviour and Generation among the Munda of Eastern India". Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, 113(1), 69–80.
  • Sidwell, P., & Jenny, M. (2014). The Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages (2 vols). Leiden: Brill.
  • Stampe, D. (1965). "Recent Work in Munda Linguistics I". International Journal of American Linguistics, 31(4), 332–341.
  • Zide, N. (1976). "A Note on Gtaʔ Echo Forms", in P. Jenner, L. Thompson, and S. Starosta, eds., Austroasiatic Studies, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.
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