PattyFreytag2 at 12:15, 17 April 2026

2026-04-17T12:15:53Z

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{{short description|Language in Nepal, Bhutan and India}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Chamling
| nativename = चाम्लिङ
| states = [[Nepal]] [[India]] ([[Sikkim]], [[Darjeeling]], [[Kalimpong]]) [[Bhutan]] (southern areas)
| speakers = {{sigfig|76,800|2}} in Nepal
| ethnicity = [[Kirati people|Rodung Chamling]]
| date = 2011
| ref = e18
| familycolor = Sino-Tibetan
| fam2=[[Tibeto-Burman language|Tibeto-Burman]]
| fam3=[[Mahakiranti languages|Mahakiranti]] (?)
| fam4=[[Kiranti languages|Kiranti]]
| fam5=Central Kiranti
| fam6=Southern
| script = [[Devanagari]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Chamling |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/rab |website=Ethnologue |access-date=20 September 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
| iso3 = rab
| glotto = caml1239
| glottorefname = Camling
| notice = IPA
| image = Chamling language.svg
| imagecaption = The word "Chamling" written in Devanagari script
}}

'''Chamling''' is one of the [[Kirati languages]] spoken by the Chamling people, a subgroup of the [[Rai people|Kirat]] (Horsungchha, Dikhalichha,Terahachha, Mulihachha, Ditumachha, Mansungcha, Lipuhochha, Malekungchha, Maidhung, Kherasung, Rakhomi, Bhijaichha, Hodorichha, Yayochha, Pitruchha etc) of [[Nepal]], [[India]] and [[Bhutan]]. Alternate renderings and names include ''Chamling'', ''Chamlinge'' and ''Rodong''.<ref name="e18"/> It is closely related to the [[Bantawa language|Bantawa]] (some Bantawa-speaking communities call their language "Camling") and [[Puma language]]s of the Kiranti language family in eastern Nepal, and it belongs to the broader [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan language family]].<ref name="E">[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=rab Ethnologue report on Camling]</ref> Chamling has SOV word order.

==History==
The Chamling language is one of the languages of the ancient Kiranti culture, which existed well before vedic period 3500–5000 in [[South Asia]].<ref name="Cemjonga">{{cite book| last=Cemjoṅga | first=Īmāna Siṃha | title=History and Culture of the Kirat People | year=2003 | publisher=Kirat Yakthung Chumlung | isbn=99933-809-1-1}}</ref> Important versions of the ''[[Mundum]]'' — the main [[religious text]] forming the religious foundation of the [[Kirant Mundum]] 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.<ref>Monika Bock, Aparna Rao. ''Culture, Creation, and Procreation: Concepts of Kinship in South Asian Practice''. Page 65. 2000, Berghahn Books.</ref>

==Distribution==
The Chamling language is used by small communities in eastern [[Sagarmatha Zone]], in central [[Khotang District]], [[Bhojpur District, Nepal|Bhojpur District]] and scattered areas in northern [[Udayapur District]] and a few more districts of eastern Nepal, the southeastern neighbour [[India]]n state of [[Sikkim]], the hill city of [[Darjeeling]], [[Kalimpong]] in the Indian state of [[West Bengal]] and the kingdom of [[Bhutan]].<ref name="E"/>

==Demographics==
Despite its geographic prevalence, the actual number of Chamling speakers is estimated to be 10,000, spread across small tribes and villages.<ref name="E"/> 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.<ref name="E"/> 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.<ref name="E"/> Most Chamling-speaking people are [[Hindu]]s or practitioners of Kiranti Mundum.

==Phonology==
===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! colspan="2" |<ref name=":0" />
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Dental consonant|Dental]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Dorsal consonant|Dorsal]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
![[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]
|{{IPA link|m}}
|{{IPA link|n}}
|
|{{IPA link|ŋ}}
|
|-
![[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]] [[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]]
|{{IPA link|mʱ}}
|{{IPA link|nʱ}}
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="4" |[[Plosive]]/ [[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
![[Voicelessness|voiceless]]
|{{IPA link|p}}
|{{IPA link|t̪|t}}
|{{IPA link|ts}}
|{{IPA link|k}}
|
|-
![[Voicelessness|voiceless]] [[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]]
|{{IPA link|pʰ}}
|{{IPA link|tʰ}}
|{{IPA link|tsʰ}}
|{{IPA link|kʰ}}
|
|-
![[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]
|{{IPA link|b}}
|{{IPA link|d}}
|({{IPA link|dz}})
|({{IPA link|ɡ}})
|
|-
![[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]] [[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]]
|{{IPA link|bʱ}}
|{{IPA link|dʱ}}
|({{IPA link|dzʱ}})
|({{IPA link|ɡʱ}})
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
|{{IPA link|r}} {{IPA link|rʱ}}
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Fricative]]
|{{IPA link|f}}
|{{IPA link|s}}
|
|
|{{IPA link|h}}
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Approximant]]
|{{IPA link|w}}
|{{IPA link|l}} {{IPA link|lʱ}}
|
|{{IPA link|j}}
|
|}

===Vowels===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!
![[Front vowel|front]]
![[Central vowel|central]]
![[Back vowel|back]]
|-
![[High vowel|high]]
| {{IPA link|i}}
|
| {{IPA link|u}}
|-
![[Mid vowel|mid]]
| {{IPA link|e}}
|({{IPA link|ə}})
| {{IPA link|o}}
|-
![[Low vowel|low]]
|
| {{IPA link|a}}
|({{IPA link|ɒ}})
|}
*'''Voice'''

#''Phuima'' = pluck
#''Toma'' = see, experience
#''Ityu'' = brought from above
#''Dhotyu-cyu'' = assembled them
#''Bhuima'' = pound
#''Doma'' = close
#''Idyu'' = gave him
#''Dhodyu-cyu'' = stabbed them<ref name="RP">[http://www.rosettaproject.org/archive/rab/phon-1?page_view=image_view Phonology - The Rosetta Project] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080423035847/http://www.rosettaproject.org/archive/rab/phon-1?page_view=image_view|date=23 April 2008}}</ref>

== Bound Morphemes ==
{| class="wikitable"
!
!chamling
!example word
!morphological rule
|-
|plural suffix
|/-ci/
|"challa-ci" = my brothers
|N —> N + plural /-ci/
|-
|"his"
|/m-/
|"m-tõ" = his ha1. ir
|N —> /m/ + N
|-
|"my"
|/a-/
|"a-nicho" = my sibling
|N —> /a/ + N
|-
|"your"
|/kap-/
|"kap-tõ" = your hair
|N —> /kap/ + N
|}
<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Camling (Chamling)|last=Ebert|first=Karen|publisher=Mulnchen: LINCOM Europa|year=1997}}</ref>

Chamling uses many bound morphemes, many of which denote possession or the change of possession of something.

== Phrase Structure Rules ==
: NP —> (D) N
: VP —> (NP) (A) (Adv) V (Adv)
: CP —> C S
: S —> NP {VP, NP, CP}

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|anga a-khim hinge
|my {my house} be
|D N V
|"I have a house"}}

This is 3. an example of a sentence that is formed by an NP and a VP. The NP contains a determiner and a noun, and the VP contains a verb.

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|a-challa-ci oda paina
|{my brothers} here not
|N V Adverb
|"my brothers are not here"}}

This is an example of a sentence that is formed by a NP and a VP. The NP contains a noun and a VP contains a verb and an adverb.

{{interlinear|number=ex:
|khamo nung de?
|your name what
|D N N
|"what is your name?"}}

This is an example of two NP's forming a sentence. One NP contains "khamo nung" ("''your name"'') and the second NP contains "de" ("''what").''

==See also==
*[[Languages of Nepal]]
*[[Languages of Bhutan]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

* Rai, Tara Mani and Sizar Tamang (2014). ''A sociolinguistic survey of Chamling: A Tibeto-Burman language''. Available at: https://cdltu.edu.np

==External links==
*[http://globalrecordings.net/program/C03351 Global Recordings - Camling language recordings]

{{Sino-Tibetan languages}}
{{Kiranti languages}}
{{Languages of Bhutan}}
{{Languages of Nepal}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Camling Language}}
[[Category:Kiranti languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Nepal]]
[[Category:Languages of India]]
[[Category:Languages of Bhutan]]
[[Category:Endangered Sino-Tibetan languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Koshi Province]]
[[Category:Languages written in Devanagari]]

Chamling language - Revision history

PattyFreytag2 at 12:15, 17 April 2026