Chamling language

Chamling
Rodong
Native to Nepal, India, Bhutan
Native speakers
 77,000 in Nepal (2011)[1]
Sino-Tibetan
Language codes
ISO 639-3 rab
Glottolog caml1239[2]

Chamling is one of the Kiranti languages spoken by the Kiranti and Rai peoples of eastern Nepal. Alternate renderings and names include Chamling, Chamlinge Rai and Rodong (which means "Kirati").[1] It is closely related to the Bantawa (some Bantawa-speaking communities call their language "Camling") and Puma languages of the Kirati language family in eastern Nepal, and it belongs to the broader Sino-Tibetan language family.[3]

History

The Chamling language is one of the languages of the ancient Kiranti culture, which existed well before the arrival of Vedic period civilisation in South Asia.[4] Important versions of the Mundhum — the main religious text forming the religious foundation of the Kirant Mundhum religion and the cultural heritage of the various Kirati people — are composed in Camling; such versions are distinctive to the Camling-speaking tribes and a guide to their distinctive religious practices and cultural identity.[5]

Distribution

The Chamling language is used by small communities in eastern Sagarmatha Zone, in central Khotang District, Bhojpur District and scattered areas in northern Udayapur District and a few more districts of eastern Nepal, the southeastern neighbour Indian state of Sikkim, the hill city of Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal and the kingdom of Bhutan.[3]

Demographics

Despite its geographic prevalence, the actual number of Chamling speakers is estimated to be 10,000, spread across small tribes and villages.[3] Many members of the Chamling ethnic and tribal communities are no longer fluent in the Chamling language, which is taught only in remote areas in the Udayapur District.[3] Like Bantawa, Chamling is an endangered language. Many people in these areas speak a variety of Chamling that is mixed with the Nepali language, which is the official language of Nepal.[3] Most Chamling-speaking people are Hindus or practitioners of Kiranti Mundhum.

Phonology and voice

Bilabial Labio-
dental		 Dental/
Alveolar		 Velar Glottal
Nasal m n (ɳ)
Fricative f ʃ f

[6]

  1. Phuima = pluck
  2. Toma = see, experience
  3. Ityu = brought from above
  4. Dhotyu-cyu' = assembled them
  5. Bhuima = pound
  6. Doma = close
  7. Idyu = gave him
  8. Dhodyu-cyu = stabbed them[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Chamling at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Camling". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Ethnologue report on Camling
  4. ↑ Cemjoṅga, Īmāna Siṃha (2003). History and Culture of the Kirat People. Kirat Yakthung Chumlung. ISBN 99933-809-1-1.
  5. ↑ Monika Bock, Aparna Rao. Culture, Creation, and Procreation: Concepts of Kinship in South Asian Practice. Page 65. 2000, Berghahn Books.
  6. 1 2 Phonology - The Rosetta Project Archived April 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
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