Tudu Hommie at 10:47, 1 January 2026

2026-01-01T10:47:12Z

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{{Short description|Hrusish language spoken in India and Tibet}}
{{Distinguish|Bangru language (Haryana)}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Bangru
| altname = Ləvai
| nativename = ''Tadə Baŋru''
| region = [[Arunachal Pradesh]], [[Tibet]]
| states = India, China
| ethnicity =
| speakers = 1,500
| date = 2015
| ref = <ref name="Bodt-Lieberherr"/>
| familycolor = Sino-Tibetan
| fam1 = possibly [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]]?
| fam2 = [[Hrusish languages|Hrusish]]?
| fam3 = [[Mijiic languages|Mijiic]]
| iso3 = none
| glotto = bang1369
| glottorefname = Bangru
}}

'''Bangru''' (''Tadə Baŋru'' or ''Tadʑu Baŋru''), also known as '''Ləvai''' (''Ləwjɛ'') and occasionally as '''Northern Miji'''<ref name="Blench2011">{{citation|first1=Roger |last1=Blench |first2=Mark |last2=Post |title=(De)classifying Arunachal languages: Reconstructing the evidence |url=http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/South%20Asia/NEI/General/Lingres/Declassifying%20Arunachal.pdf |year=2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130526230734/http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/South%20Asia/NEI/General/Lingres/Declassifying%20Arunachal.pdf |archivedate=2013-05-26 }}</ref> is a language spoken in Sarli Circle,<ref name="Blench2015"/> northern [[Kurung Kumey District]] by 1,500 people.<ref name="Bodt-Lieberherr"/> Long unclassified due to poor documentation, it turns out to be related to the [[Miji languages]].<ref>Blench, Roger. 2018. ''[https://www.academia.edu/36413415/Mijiic_the_Miji_and_Bangru_languages_distribution_dialects_wordlist_and_classification Mijiic, the Miji and Bangru languages: distribution, dialects, wordlist and classification]''. m.s.</ref>

==Distribution==
Blench (2015),<ref name="Blench2015">Blench, Roger. 2015. [https://www.academia.edu/12657496/The_Mijiic_languages_distribution_dialects_wordlist_and_classification ''The Mijiic languages: distribution, dialects, wordlist and classification'']. m.s.</ref> citing Ramya (2012),<ref name="Ramya2012">Ramya, T. 2012. Bangrus of Arunachal Pradesh: An Ethnographic Profile. ''International Journal of Social Science Tomorrow'', 1(3):1-12.</ref> lists the Bangru (Northern Miji) villages Bala, Lee, Lower Lichila, Upper Lichila, Machane, Milli, Molo, Nade, Namju, Palo, Rerung, Sape, Sate (''saːtəː''),<ref name="Bodt-Lieberherr"/> Wabia, and Walu’, as well as Sarli Town. Traditionally, the Bangru lived in the 'thirteen Bangru villages' (Bangru language: ''{{IPA|ləwjɛː neːpeː rəŋleː kətə̃ĩŋ}}'').<ref name="Bodt-Lieberherr"/> The linguistic zone where the Bangru language is used is the northern part of the hilly region of the Kurung Kumey district, mainly comprising the adjacent villages of the Sarli circle.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ramya |first1=Tame |title=An Ethnolinguistic Profile of Bangru: The Lesser-Known Language Community of Arunachal Pradesh, India |url=http://www.antrocom.net/upload/sub/antrocom/150219/015-Antrocom.pdf |website=www.antrocom.net/ |publisher=Online Journal of Anthropology |access-date=2022-03-03 |archive-date=2022-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303102752/http://www.antrocom.net/upload/sub/antrocom/150219/015-Antrocom.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In China, Bangru (transcribed in Chinese as ''Bengru'' 崩如) is spoken in the area of Bixia 比夏, southern [[Longzi County]] 隆子县, [[Shannan Prefecture]] 山南地区, Tibet — in the villages of Jieli 结列, Baluo 巴洛, Xiade 夏德, Li 利, Lilaqi 利拉齐, and Gelangge 嘎朗洛 (Li 2003).<ref name="li2003bangru">Li Daqin [李大勤]. 2003. "A sketch of Bengru" [崩如语概况]. ''Minzu Yuwen'' 2003(5), 64-80.</ref> Bangru is also spoken by many of the nearby Sulung people, who live in San'an Qulin Township 三安曲林乡 of Longzi County. Names of Bangru include ''{{IPA|ləʔ˧˩ wai˥}}'' (autonym), ''{{IPA|pɤn˧˩ ru˥}}'' ([[Bangni language|Bangni]] exonym), and ''{{IPA|bu˧ zuai˥ bi˧}}'' ([[Sulung language|Sulung]] exonym).<ref name="li2003bangru"/> There are also 6 people living in Douyu Village No. 1 (斗玉一村) on the Chinese side. Li (2003) reports that there are about 1,600 Bangru people as of 1980, and about 2,000 as of 2003.

As with more than 90% of the residents of [[Kurung Kumey District]], most Bangru speakers can also speak Nyasang, a [[Nyishi language]] variety.<ref name="Bodt-Lieberherr">{{cite journal | surname1 = Bodt | given1 = Timotheus Adrianus | surname2 = Lieberherr | given2 = Ismael | year = 2015 | title = First notes on the phonology and classification of the Bangru language of India | journal = Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area | volume = 38 | issue = 1 | pages = 66–123 | doi = 10.1075/ltba.38.1.03bod | doi-access = free | url = https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/34631/1/LTBA%20BANGRU%2016022015.pdf }}</ref> Bangru speakers make up about 40% of the population of Sarli circle, which also has small numbers of [[Puroik language|Puroik]] speakers.

The Bangru refer to themselves as the ''taːdə'' or ''taːdʑuː baŋruː'', and to the Eastern Miji and Western Miji as ''{{IPA|waːduː baŋruː}}''.<ref name="Bodt-Lieberherr"/> The Bangru claim that they are the descendants of one of the sons of the Grandmother Sun (''{{IPA|ʔaseː lədʑuwjɛː}}''), while the Miji are the descendants of the other son who migrated to the Lada Circle area in [[East Kameng district]]. There are five Bangru clans:<ref name="Bodt-Lieberherr"/>
*Pisa (''{{IPA|pədʑoː dʑuː}}'')
*Melo (''{{IPA|məloː dʑuː}}'')
*Tagang (''{{IPA|təgaŋ dʑuː}}'')
*Mili (''{{IPA|məli dʑuː}}'')
*Sape (''{{IPA|saːpə}}'')

Bangru traditional religion revolved around reverence of the sun and moon ("our Grandfather Moon" ''{{IPA|ʔaloː ləbãĩ}}'' and "our Grandmother Sun" ''{{IPA|ʔaseː lədʑuwjɛː}}''; ''see also'' [[Donyi-Polo]]), but it is now being replaced by Christianity.<ref name="Bodt-Lieberherr"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Sino-Tibetan languages}}
{{Arunachal languages}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Hrusish languages]]
[[Category:Languages of India]]
[[Category:Endangered languages of India]]

Bangru language - Revision history

Tudu Hommie at 10:47, 1 January 2026