The Mahakiranti or Maha-Kiranti ('Greater Kiranti') languages are a proposed intermediate level of classification of the

Sino-Tibetan languages 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. ...

, consisting of the

Kiranti languages The Kiranti languages are a major family of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Nepal and India (notably Sikkim, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and Kumai) by the Kirati people. External relationships George van Driem had formerly proposed that the Kira ...

and neighbouring languages thought to be closely related to them. Researchers disagree on which languages belong in Mahakiranti, or even whether Mahakiranti is a valid group. The group was originally proposed by

George van Driem George "Sjors" van Driem (born 1957) is a Dutch linguist associated with the University of Bern, where he is the chair of Historical Linguistics and directs the Linguistics Institute. Education * Leiden University, 1983–1987 (PhD, ''A Grammar ...

, who retracted his proposal in 2004 after a field study in

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

Conceptions of Mahakiranti

van Driem (2001) posits that the Mahakiranti languages besides Kiranti proper are

Newar Newar (; new, नेवार, endonym: Newa; new, नेवा, Pracalit script:) or Nepami, are the historical inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley and its surrounding areas in Nepal and the creators of its historic heritage and civilisatio ...

, Baram, and Thangmi. Baram and Thangmi are clearly related, but it is not yet clear if the similarities they share with Newar demonstrate a 'Para-Kiranti' family, as van Driem suggests, or if they are borrowings. He sees Lepcha, Lhokpu, and the

Magaric languages The Magar languages (or Magaric languages) are a small proposed family of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Nepal, notably including Magar language, Magar and Magar Kham language, Kham. ''(Ethnologue'' considers each to be a cluster of languages.) ...

(in the narrow sense, whether or not Chepangic proves to be Magar) as the Bodic languages closest to Mahakiranti. ;van Driem's conception of Mahakiranti: * Mahakiranti **

Kiranti The Kirati people, also spelled as Kirant or Kiranti, are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group. They are peoples of the Himalayas, mostly the Eastern Himalaya extending eastward from Nepal to North East India (predominantly in the Indian state of Sikkim ...

** Newaric (Parakiranti) *** ''

'' *** **** '' Baram'' **** '' Thangmi'' Matisoff's Mahakiranti includes the Newar and the Magaric languages along with Kiranti. He groups Mahakiranti with the

Tibeto-Kanauri languages The Tibeto-Kanauri languages, also called Bodic, Bodish–Himalayish, and Western Tibeto-Burman, are a proposed intermediate level of classification of the Sino-Tibetan languages, centered on the Tibetic languages and the Kinnauri dialect cluste ...

(in which he includes Lepcha) as Himalayish. Bradley (1997) adds Magar and Chepang to van Driem's Mahakiranti and calls the result ''Himalayan.'' This, along with his "Bodish" (equivalent to Tibeto-Kanauri), constitutes his Bodic family. ''

Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...

'' (15th ed.) posits Magaric, Chepang, and

alongside Kiranti; Mahakiranti is in turn posited to be related to Tibeto-Kanauri in a ''Himalayish'' branch, largely equivalent to other scholars' Bodic. Benedict (1972) included Newar and Chepangic, but not Magaric. He mistakenly classified

Vayu Vayu (, sa, वायु, ), also known as Vata and Pavana, is the Hindu god of the winds as well as the divine massenger of the gods. In the ''Vedic scriptures'', Vayu is an important deity and is closely associated with Indra, the king of ...

as Chepangic and thus named the family ''Bahing–Vayu.''

Retraction of the hypothesis by van Driem

After a field visit to Bhutan, van Driem, the original proponent of this hypothesis, collected data on the

Gongduk language Gongduk or Gongdu (, it is also known as Gongdubikha) is an endangered Sino-Tibetan language spoken by about 1,000 people in a few inaccessible villages located near the Kuri Chhu river in the Gongdue Gewog of Mongar District in eastern Bhuta ...

which made him realize morphological traits common between Kiranti and Newar are not unique to either Kiranti or Newar but a shared retention of a far older trait. He retracted his proposal in 2004.

References

* George van Driem (2001). ''Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region.'' Brill. * Mark Turing, Newar-Thangmi lexical correspondence, Journal of Asian and African Studies,No. 68, 2004. {{Mahakiranti languages