Kiranti languages

Kiranti languages
Kiranti
Ethnicity: Kirat, Limbu, Rai, etc.
Geographic
distribution:		 Nepal
Linguistic classification: Sino-Tibetan
Subdivisions:
Eastern
Central
Western

The Kiranti languages (also called Bahing–Vayu in the terminology of Benedict (1972)) are a major family of Tibeto-Burman languages spoken in Nepal by the Kirat people.

Contents

Classification

The Kiranti languages are frequently posited to form part of a Maha-Kiranti family. Although specialists are not completely certain of either the existence of a Kiranti subgroup or its precise membership.[1]

The languages

There are about two dozen Kiranti languages. The better known are Bahing, Limbu, Vayu, Lohorung and Kulung (Rai). Over all, they are:

Limbu
  • Limbu (affinities to Eastern Kiranti)
Eastern Kiranti
Central Kiranti
Western Kiranti
  • Midwestern: Thulung (perhaps a primary branch of Kiranti)
  • Chaurasiya: Wambule, Jerung
  • Upper Dudhkosi River: Khaling, Dumi, Kohi
  • Northwestern (Sunwari): Bahing, Sunuwar, Wayu

Kiranti verbs are not easily segmentable, due in large part to the presence of portmanteau morphemes, crowded affix strings, and extensive (and often nonintuitive) allomorphy.

Notes

  1. ^ Matisoff 2003, pp. 5-6; Thurgood 2003, pp. 15-16; Ebert 2003, pg. 505.

References

  • George van Driem (2001) Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region. Brill.
  • Bickel, Balthasar, G. Banjade, M. Gaenszle, E. Lieven, N. P. Paudyal, & I. Purna Rai et al. (2007). Free prefix ordering in Chintang. Language, 83 (1), 43–73.
  • James A. Matisoff: Handbook of Proto-Tibeto-Burman. University of California Press 2003.
  • Graham Thurgood (2003) "A Subgrouping of the Sino-Tibetan Languages: The Interaction between Language Contact, Change, and Inheritance," The Sino-Tibetan Languages. Routledge. pp. 3–21.
  • Karen H. Ebert (2003) "Kiranti Languages: An Overview," The Sino-Tibetan Languages. Routledge. pp. 505–517.



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Kiranti-Sprachen — Die Kiranti Sprachen bilden eine Untereinheit der Mahakiranti Sprachen, die zu den tibetobirmanischen Sprachen gehören, einem Primärzweig des Sinotibetischen. Die etwa 30 Kiranti Sprachen werden von 600.000 Menschen in Nepal südlich des Mount… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Kiranti — Die Kiranti Sprachen bilden eine Untereinheit der Mahakiranti Sprachen, die zu den tibetobirmanischen Sprachen gehören, einem Primärzweig des Sinotibetischen. Die etwa 30 Kiranti Sprachen werden von 600.000 Menschen in Nepal südlich des Mount… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Languages of Asia — There is a wide variety of languages spoken throughout Asia, comprising a number of families and some unrelated isolates. Many languages have a long tradition of writing. Contents 1 Central and North Asian languages 2 East Asian 3 Southeast Asian …   Wikipedia

  • Mahakiranti languages — Mahakiranti Bahing–Vahu Geographic distribution: Nepal Linguistic classification: Sino Tibetan (Tibeto Burman) Bodish ? …   Wikipedia

  • Sino-Tibetan languages — Sino Tibetan Geographic distribution: East Asia Linguistic classification: One of the world s major language families. Subdivisions: Sinitic Tibeto Burman ISO 639 …   Wikipedia

  • Tibeto-Burman languages — Introduction       language group within the Sino Tibetan family (Sino Tibetan languages). At the end of the 20th century, Tibeto Burman languages were spoken by approximately 57 million people; countries that had more than 1 million Tibeto… …   Universalium

  • Proto-Kiranti language — Proto Kiranti is the reconstructed protolanguage of the Kiranti language family, developed largely by Sergei Starostin in the 1980s. The most important consequence of the project, from a grammarian s perspective, has been a better understanding… …   Wikipedia

  • Tibeto-Burman languages — Infobox Language family name=Tibeto Burman region=East Asia familycolor=Sino Tibetan family = Sino Tibetan (debated) [Cf. Beckwith, Christopher I. 1996. The Morphological Argument for the Existence of Sino Tibetan. Pan Asiatic Linguistics:… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Tibeto-Burman languages — *Bai (Northern (dialects: Nujiang, Lanping), Central (dialects: Jianchuan, Heqing, Lanping, Eryuan, Yunlong), Southern: (dialects: Dali, Xiangyun)) *Himalayish **Baima **Mahakiranti ***Kham Magar Chepang Sunwari ****Chepang (Bujhyal, Chepang,… …   Wikipedia

  • Camling language — Camling Spoken in Nepal. India, Bhutan Native speakers 10,000  (date missing) Language family Sino Tibetan (Tibeto Burman) …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”