Mugom-Karmarong is the
Sino-Tibetan language
Sino-Tibetan, also cited as Trans-Himalayan in a few sources, is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 billion native speakers of Chinese languages. ...
variety of the
Tibetan people
The Tibetan people (; ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 6.7 million. In addition to the majority living in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans live ...
of
Mugu district
Mugu District ( ne, मुगु जिल्ला ), a part of Karnali Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Gamgadhi as its district headquarters, covers an area of and had a population (2011) of 55,286. ...
in
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
. This language variety represents two
dialects
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...
Mugom and
Karmarong, which are spoken by distinct ethnicities and are separate language in the perceptions of these groups. Based on census data taken in 2011, the total population of Mugom-Karmarong is estimated to be about 7,500 speakers.
Language identity
Speakers have two distinct ethnic identities
Mugali and
Karani, and therefore perceive that they speak two different but related languages;
Mugom language and
Karmarong language. These two languages are
mutually intelligible
In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as an ...
and are about 85%
lexically similar. Intelligibility testing between the two varieties indicated that the Mugali and Karani can understand each others speech.
Language classification
Mugom-Karmarong is traditionally classified as
Tibeto-Burman
The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non- Sinitic members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken throughout the Southeast Asian Massif ("Zomia") as well as parts of East Asia and South Asia. Around 60 million people spea ...
,
Western Tibeto-Burman,
Bodish
Bodish, named for the Tibetan ethnonym ''Bod'', is a proposed grouping consisting of the Tibetic languages and associated Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Tibet, North India, Nepal, Bhutan, and North Pakistan.
It has not been demonstrated that ...
, Central Bodish, Central (
Tibetic
The Tibetic languages form a well-defined group of languages descended from Old Tibetan (7th to 9th centuries).Tournadre, Nicolas. 2014. "The Tibetic languages and their classification." In ''Trans-Himalayan linguistics, historical and descriptiv ...
). It has been further identified with both the gTsang and mNgahris sub-groups of Central (Tibetan) at various times. These subgroups are names of Central Tibetan dialects associated with
Lhasa
Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level city, prefecture-level Lhasa (prefecture-level city), Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Regio ...
and Ngari of the
Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR), respectively. Tournadre uses the term ''"Tibetic"'' as a sub-level classification referring to languages descended from Old Tibetan, grouped into 8 geographic categories. Under this more simplified classification, Mugom-Karmarong can be identified under Old Tibetan as
South-Western Tibetic.
Closely related languages in this group include
Humla
Humla District ( ne, हुम्ला जिल्ला), a part of Karnali Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Simikot as its district headquarters, covers an area of and has population of 50,858 as ...
utto the west and
Dolpo
Dolpo ( bo, དོལ་པོ ) is a high-altitude culturally Tibetan region in the upper part of the Dolpa District of western Nepal, bordered in the north by China.. Part of the region lies in Shey Phoksundo National Park. The sparse, agro ...
reto the east, the closest geographically, as well as
Gyalsumdo gyo
, fully titled in Japan, is a horror ''seinen'' manga written and illustrated by Junji Ito, appearing as a serial in the weekly manga magazine ''Big Comic Spirits'' from 2001 to 2002. Shogakukan collected the chapters into two bound volume ...
], Yolmo language, Hyolmo [scp], Jirel language, Jirel [
ethnologue:jul, jul], Kyirong language, Kyerong [
ethnologue:kgy, kgy], Lhomi language, Lhomi [
ethnologue:lhm, lhm],
Lowa language, Lhowa loy">ethnologue:loy.html" ;"title="nowiki/>ethnologue:loy">loy Nubri language">Nubri
Nubri ( Tibetan: ནུབ་རི; ) is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by about 2000 ethnically Tibetan people living in Nubri Valley in northern Central Nepal, upper Gorkhā District of Gandaki Province. Nubri has at least three dialects as ...