Abstract
This paper revisits claims regarding the division between Mon-Khmer and Munda languages on prosodic grounds (Donegan and Stampe 1983, 2002, 2004; Donegan 1993). Specifically, we attempt to re-evaluate their claims by investigating pitch at the level of the word in three languages from different families within the Austroasiatic phylum. First, we critique Donegan and Stampe’s work, presenting data on Sora and other Munda languages showing a similar prosodic pattern across the whole family that does not conform to claims of a rhythmic holistic shift in prosody to the degree previously suggested. Second, we present a pilot acoustic study of Sora phrasal prosody in comparison with prosodic structures in both Pnar, a language in the Khasian group (the Munda languages’ geographically nearest relatives), and prosody in Lawa, a Palaungic language. We find that Khasian word/phrase prosodic structures are quite similar to those found in many Munda languages, which has interesting implications for our understanding of the development of Austroasiatic languages.
Ring, Hiram