Multiple migrations from East Asia led to linguistic transformation in NorthEast India and mainland Southeast Asia
NorthEast India, with its unique geographic location in the midst of the Himalayas and Bay of Bengal, has served as a passage for the movement of modern humans across the Indian subcontinent and East/Southeast Asia. In this study we look into the population genetics of a unique population called the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Genetics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2022.1023870/full |
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| author | Debashree Tagore Partha P. Majumder Partha P. Majumder Anupam Chatterjee Anupam Chatterjee Analabha Basu |
| author_facet | Debashree Tagore Partha P. Majumder Partha P. Majumder Anupam Chatterjee Anupam Chatterjee Analabha Basu |
| author_sort | Debashree Tagore |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | NorthEast India, with its unique geographic location in the midst of the Himalayas and Bay of Bengal, has served as a passage for the movement of modern humans across the Indian subcontinent and East/Southeast Asia. In this study we look into the population genetics of a unique population called the Khasi, speaking a language (also known as the Khasi language) belonging to the Austroasiatic language family and residing amidst the Tibeto-Burman speakers as an isolated population. The Khasi language belongs to one of the three major broad classifications or phyla of the Austroasiatic language and the speakers of the three sub-groups are separated from each other by large geographical distances. The Khasi speakers are separated from their nearest Austroasiatic language-speaking sub-groups: the “Mundari” sub-family from East and peninsular India and the “Mon-Khmers” in Mainland Southeast Asia. We found the Khasi population to be genetically distinct from other Austroasiatic speakers, i.e. Mundaris and Mon-Khmers, but relatively similar to the geographically proximal Tibeto Burmans. The possible reasons for this genetic-linguistic discordance lie in the admixture history of different migration events that originated from East Asia and proceeded possibly towards Southeast Asia. We found at least two distinct migration events from East Asia. While the ancestors of today’s Tibeto-Burman speakers were affected by both, the ancestors of Khasis were insulated from the second migration event. Correlating the linguistic similarity of Tibeto-Burman and Sino-Tibetan languages of today’s East Asians, we infer that the second wave of migration resulted in a linguistic transition while the Khasis could preserve their linguistic identity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T23:44:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-65abd639c0f547979967be60346ffb09 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-8021 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T23:44:26Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Genetics |
| spelling | doaj.art-65abd639c0f547979967be60346ffb092022-12-22T02:24:24ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Genetics1664-80212022-10-011310.3389/fgene.2022.10238701023870Multiple migrations from East Asia led to linguistic transformation in NorthEast India and mainland Southeast AsiaDebashree Tagore0Partha P. Majumder1Partha P. Majumder2Anupam Chatterjee3Anupam Chatterjee4Analabha Basu5National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, Kalyani, IndiaNational Institute of Biomedical Genomics, Kalyani, IndiaIndian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, IndiaDepartment of Biotechnology, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, IndiaSchool of Biosciences, Royal Global University, Guwahati, IndiaNational Institute of Biomedical Genomics, Kalyani, IndiaNorthEast India, with its unique geographic location in the midst of the Himalayas and Bay of Bengal, has served as a passage for the movement of modern humans across the Indian subcontinent and East/Southeast Asia. In this study we look into the population genetics of a unique population called the Khasi, speaking a language (also known as the Khasi language) belonging to the Austroasiatic language family and residing amidst the Tibeto-Burman speakers as an isolated population. The Khasi language belongs to one of the three major broad classifications or phyla of the Austroasiatic language and the speakers of the three sub-groups are separated from each other by large geographical distances. The Khasi speakers are separated from their nearest Austroasiatic language-speaking sub-groups: the “Mundari” sub-family from East and peninsular India and the “Mon-Khmers” in Mainland Southeast Asia. We found the Khasi population to be genetically distinct from other Austroasiatic speakers, i.e. Mundaris and Mon-Khmers, but relatively similar to the geographically proximal Tibeto Burmans. The possible reasons for this genetic-linguistic discordance lie in the admixture history of different migration events that originated from East Asia and proceeded possibly towards Southeast Asia. We found at least two distinct migration events from East Asia. While the ancestors of today’s Tibeto-Burman speakers were affected by both, the ancestors of Khasis were insulated from the second migration event. Correlating the linguistic similarity of Tibeto-Burman and Sino-Tibetan languages of today’s East Asians, we infer that the second wave of migration resulted in a linguistic transition while the Khasis could preserve their linguistic identity.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2022.1023870/fullAustroasiaticKhasiTibeto Burmanadmixturemigrationlinguistic transformation |
| spellingShingle | Debashree Tagore Partha P. Majumder Partha P. Majumder Anupam Chatterjee Anupam Chatterjee Analabha Basu Multiple migrations from East Asia led to linguistic transformation in NorthEast India and mainland Southeast Asia Frontiers in Genetics Austroasiatic Khasi Tibeto Burman admixture migration linguistic transformation |
| title | Multiple migrations from East Asia led to linguistic transformation in NorthEast India and mainland Southeast Asia |
| title_full | Multiple migrations from East Asia led to linguistic transformation in NorthEast India and mainland Southeast Asia |
| title_fullStr | Multiple migrations from East Asia led to linguistic transformation in NorthEast India and mainland Southeast Asia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Multiple migrations from East Asia led to linguistic transformation in NorthEast India and mainland Southeast Asia |
| title_short | Multiple migrations from East Asia led to linguistic transformation in NorthEast India and mainland Southeast Asia |
| title_sort | multiple migrations from east asia led to linguistic transformation in northeast india and mainland southeast asia |
| topic | Austroasiatic Khasi Tibeto Burman admixture migration linguistic transformation |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2022.1023870/full |
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