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Mahakiranti Languages
The Mahakiranti or Maha-Kiranti ('Greater Kiranti') languages are a proposed intermediate level of classification of the Sino-Tibetan languages, consisting of the Kiranti languages 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, who retracted his proposal in 2004 after a field study in Bhutan. Conceptions of Mahakiranti van Driem (2001) posits that the Mahakiranti languages besides Kiranti proper are Newar, 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 (in the narrow sense, whether or not Chepangic proves to be Magar) as the Bodic languages closest to Mahakiranti. ;van Driem's concept ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China China–Nepal border, to the north, and India India–Nepal border, to the south, east, and west, while it is narrowly separated from Bangladesh by the Siliguri Corridor, and from Bhutan by the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Sikkim. Nepal has a Geography of Nepal, diverse geography, including Terai, fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the world's ten List of highest mountains#List, tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and List of cities in Nepal, its largest city. Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural state, with Nepali language, Nepali as the official language. The name "Nepal" is first record ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bhutan
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , Bhutan ranks List of countries and dependencies by area, 133rd in land area and List of countries and dependencies by population, 160th in population. Bhutan is a Democracy, democratic constitutional monarchy with a King of Bhutan, King as the head of state and a Prime Minister of Bhutan, prime minister as the head of government. The Je Khenpo is the head of the state religion, Vajrayana Buddhism. The Himalayas, Himalayan mountains in the north rise from the country's lush subtropical plains in the south. In the Mountains of Bhutan, Bhutanese Himalayas, there are peaks higher than above sea level. Gangkhar Puensum is Bhutan's highest peak and is the highest unclimbed mountain in the world. The wildlife of Bhutan is notable for its diversi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vayu Language
Vayu (वायु), Wayu or Hayu (हायु) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Nepal by about 1,520 people in Bagmati Province. Dialects include Pali gau (पालि गाउ) Mudajor Sukajor Ramechhap Sindhuli and Marin Khola. The Vayu language features SOV ordering. There are strong Nepali influences in its phonology, lexicon, and grammar. Its writing system uses the Devanagari script. There are no known monolingual speakers of the language, as its speaking population also uses Nepali. Despite a lack of monolingual children, use of Vayu has survived into the 21st century Frawley, W. (2003). Wayu. ''The International Encyclopedia of Linguistics.'' (Vol. 4, pp. 536) New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc. Phonology Grammar Geographical distribution Hayu is spoken in the following locations of Nepal. * Ramechhap District, Bagmati Province Bagmati Province (, ''Bāgmatī pradēśa'') is one of the seven Provinces of Nepal, provinces of Nepal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' 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 comprehensive catalogue of languages. It was first issued in 1951 and is now published by SIL International, an American evangelical Parachurch organization, Christian non-profit organization. Overview and content ''Ethnologue'' has been published by SIL Global (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics), a Christian linguistics, linguistic service organization with an international office in Dallas, Texas. The organization studies numerous minority languages to facilitate language development, and to work with speakers of such language communities in translating portions of the Bible into their languages. Despite the Christian orientation of its publisher, ''Ethnologue'' is not ideologically or theologically biased. ''Ethnologue'' includes alternative names and Exo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Himalayish Languages
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 speak Tibeto-Burman languages. The name derives from the most widely spoken of these languages, Burmese and the Tibetic languages, which also have extensive literary traditions, dating from the 12th and 7th centuries respectively. Most of the other languages are spoken by much smaller communities, and many of them have not been described in detail. Though the division of Sino-Tibetan into Sinitic and Tibeto-Burman branches (e.g. Benedict, Matisoff) is widely used, some historical linguists criticize this classification, as the non-Sinitic Sino-Tibetan languages lack any shared innovations in phonology or morphology to show that they comprise a clade of the phylogenetic tree. History During the 18th century, several scholars noticed parallel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 cluster. The conception of the relationship, or if it is even a valid group, varies between researchers. Conceptions of Tibeto-Kanauri Benedict (1972) originally posited the Tibeto-Kanauri Bodish–Himalayish relationship, but had a more expansive conception of Himalayish than generally found today, including Qiangic, Magaric, and Lepcha. Within Benedict's conception, Tibeto-Kanauri is one of seven linguistic nuclei, or centers of gravity along a spectrum, within Tibeto-Burman languages. The center-most nucleus identified by Benedict is the Jingpho language (including perhaps the Kachin–Luic and Tamangic languages); other peripheral nuclei besides Tibeto-Kanauri include the Kiranti languages (Bahing–Vayu and perhaps the Newar langua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lhokpu Language
Lhokpu, also ''Lhobikha'' or ''Taba-Damtoe-Bikha'', is one of the autochthonous languages of Bhutan spoken by the Lhop people. It is spoken in southwestern Bhutan along the border of Samtse and Chukha Districts. Van Driem (2003) leaves it unclassified as a separate branch within the Sino-Tibetan language family. Phonology Vowels Consonants Classification George van Driem (2001:804) notes that Lhokpu, although unclassified, may be more closely related to the Kiranti languages than to Lepcha. Gerber, et al. (2016) also notes a particularly close relationship between Lhokpu and Kiranti. Furthermore, van Driem (2001:804–805) notes that Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan, may in fact have a Lhokpu substratum. Grollmann & Gerber (2017) consider Lhokpu to have a particularly close relationship with Dhimal and Toto. Name Lhokpu is spoken by the Lhop—a Dzongkha term meaning "Southerners"—, who "represent the aboriginal dungDung population of western Bhutan. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lepcha Language
Lepcha language, or Róng language ( Lepcha: ; ''Róng ríng''), is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Lepcha people in Sikkim, India and parts of West Bengal, Nepal, and Bhutan. Despite spirited attempts to preserve the language, Lepcha has already effectively been lost everywhere in favour of Nepali. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) lists Lepcha as an endangered language with the following characterization. The Lepcha language is spoken in Sikkim and Darjeeling district in West Bengal of India. The 1991 Indian census counted 39,342 speakers of Lepcha. Lepcha is considered to be one of the indigenous languages of the area in which it is spoken. Unlike most other languages of the Himalayas, the Lepcha people have their own indigenous script (the world's largest collection of old Lepcha manuscripts is kept in Leiden, with over 180 Lepcha books). Lepcha is the language of instruction in some schools in Sikkim. In comparison to o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thangmi Language
Thangmi, also called Thāmī, Thangmi Kham, Thangmi Wakhe, and Thani, is a Tibeto-Burman languages, Sino-Tibetan language spoken in central-eastern Nepal and northeastern India by the Thami, Thami people. The Thami refer to their language as ''Thangmi Kham'' or ''Thangmi Wakhe'' while the rest of Nepal refers to it as ''Thāmī''. The majority of these speakers, however, live in Nepal in their traditional homeland of Dolakha District, Dolakhā District. In India, the Thami population is concentrated mostly in Darjeeling. The Thangmi language is written using the Devanagari script. Thangmi has been extensively documented by Mark Turin. Distribution Thangmi is spoken in Bagmati Province, mainly in the region of Dolakha District, Dolakha; villages on Sailung Khola (The northern Salient (geography), panhandle of the Ramechhap District; mainly in Gokulganga Rural Municipality, Gokulganga); eastern regions of Sindhupalchok District, Sindhupalchowk District; and by some elders among the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baram Language
Baram (Baraamu, Bhramu) is a critically endangered Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Nepal. Speakers are shifting to Nepali. Dialects are Dandagaun and Mailung. Locations Baram is spoken in Dandagaun and Mailung VDCs in central and southern Gorkha District, Gandaki Province, and in Takhu village up the Doraundi Khola (east side above Chorgate, near Kumhali) (''Ethnologue''). There are possibly about 7 villages in Dhading District, Bagmati Province Bagmati Province (, ''Bāgmatī pradēśa'') is one of the seven Provinces of Nepal, provinces of Nepal established by the constitution of Nepal. Bagmati is Nepal's second-most populous province and fifth largest province by area. It is bordered .... References Mahakiranti languages Languages of Nepal Languages of Gandaki Province {{st-lang-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newar Language
Newar (; , ) is a Sino-Tibetan languages, Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Newar people, the indigenous inhabitants of Nepal Mandala, which consists of the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding regions in Nepal. The language is known officially in Nepal as Nepal Bhasa, a name that has been historically used for the language. The term "Newari" is also used to refer to the language, although the Indic ''-i'' suffix is considered inappropriate by some Newar speakers. The language served as the official language of Nepal during the Malla dynasty (Nepal), Malla dynasty since the 14th century till the end of dynasty in 1769 during which the language was referred as "Nepal Bhasa", a term which literally means "Nepalese Language". However, the language is not the same as Nepali language, Nepali, an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language and the current official language of Nepal, which only got the name Nepali in the 1930s. Newar literature, Literature in Newar is one of the oldest i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Van Driem
George "Sjors" van Driem (born 1957) is a Dutch professor emeritus of linguistics at the University of Bern. He studied East Asian languages and is known for the father tongue hypothesis. Education * Leiden University, 1983–1987 (PhD, ''A Grammar of Limbu'') * Leiden University, 1981–1983 (MA Slavic, BA English, MA General Linguistics) * Leiden University, 1979–1981 (BA Slavic) * University of Virginia at Charlottesville, 1975–1979 (BA Biology) * Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen, 1978–1979 * Watling Island Marine Biological Station on San Salvador Island in the Bahamas, 1977 * Duke University at Durham, North Carolina, 1976 Research George van Driem has conducted field research in the Himalayas since 1983. He was commissioned by the Royal Government of Bhutan to codify a grammar of Dzongkha, the national language, design a phonological romanisation for the language known as Roman Dzongkha, and complete a survey of the language communities of the kingdom. He and nat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
