https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Kiranti_languagesKiranti languages - Revision history2026-07-31T12:51:53ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Kiranti_languages&diff=447854&oldid=prevZoyeford at 20:20, 22 February 20262026-02-22T20:20:11Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Sino-Tibetan language family}}<br />
<br />
{{Infobox language family<br />
| name = Kiranti<br />
| mapcaption = Ethnic groups within Nepal<br />
| map= Nepal_ethnic_groups.png<br />
| region = [[Eastern Nepal]] and [[India]] ([[Sikkim]], [[Darjeeling]], [[Kalimpong]] & [[Bhutan]]<br />
| ethnicity = [[Kirati people|Kirati]], [[Yakkha people|Yakkha]], [[Limbu people|Limbu]], [[Rai people|Rai]] and [[Sunuwar people|Sunuwar]]<br />
| familycolor = Sino-Tibetan<br />
| fam2 = [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman]]<br />
| fam3 = [[Mahakiranti languages|Mahakiranti]] (?)<br />
| child2 = Eastern<br />
| child3 = Central<br />
| child4 = Western<br />
| glotto = kira1253<br />
| glottorefname = Kiranti<br />
}}<br />
<br />
The '''Kiranti languages''' are a major family of [[Sino-Tibetan languages]] spoken in [[Nepal]] and [[India]] (notably [[Sikkim]], [[Darjeeling]], [[Kalimpong]], and [[Bhutan]]) by the [[Kirati people]].<br />
<br />
== External relationships ==<br />
[[George van Driem]] had formerly proposed that the Kiranti languages were part of a [[Mahakiranti languages|Mahakiranti]] family, although specialists are not completely certain of either the existence of a Kiranti subgroup or its precise membership.<ref>Matisoff 2003, pp. 5–6; Thurgood 2003, pp. 15–16; Ebert 2003, pg. 505.</ref> LaPolla (2003), though, proposes that Kiranti may be part of a larger "[[Rung languages|Rung]]" group.<br />
<br />
== Classification ==<br />
There are about two dozen Kiranti languages. Among the better known are [[Limbu language|Limbu]], [[Sunuwar language|Sunuwar]], [[Bantawa language|Bantawa]], [[Chamling language|Chamling]],<br />
[[Sampang language|Sampang]],<br />
[[Khaling language|Khaling]], [[Bahing language|Bahing]], [[Yakkha language|Yakkha]], [[Wayu language|Wayu]], [[Dungmali language|Dungmali]], [[Lohorung language|Lohorung]], and [[Kulung language (Nepal)|Kulung]].<br />
<br />
Kiranti verbs are not easily segmentable, due in large part to the presence of [[portmanteau]] [[morpheme]]s, crowded [[affix]] strings, and extensive (and often nonintuitive) [[allomorph]]y. Thus, their relationship to each other has been a subject of debate.<br />
<br />
Overall, Kiranti languages are classified:<br />
<br />
{{tree list}}<br />
* '''Eastern Kiranti'''<br />
** [[Limbu language]] <br />
**** [[Yakkha language]]<br />
**** [[Belhare language]]<br />
**** [[Athpare language]]<br />
**** [[Chintang language]]<br />
***** [[Yamphu language]]<br />
***** [[Lohorung language]]<br />
**** [[Mewahang language]]<br />
** '''Central Kiranti'''<br />
*** Khambu (Rai)<br />
**** [[Kulung language (Nepal)|Kulung language]]<br />
**** [[Nachhiring language]] <br />
**** [[Sampang language]]<br />
**** [[Saam language]]<br />
**** [[Bantawa language]]<br />
**** [[Puma language]]<br />
**** [[Chamling language]]<br />
**** [[Dungmali language]]<br />
*** [[Thulung language]] (perhaps a primary branch of Kiranti Rai)<br />
*** Chaurasiya<br />
**** [[Wambule language]]<br />
*** Upper Dudhkosi River: <br />
**** [[Khaling language]]<br />
**** [[Dumi language]]<br />
**** [[Koi language]]<br />
**** [[Bahing language]]<br />
*** '''Western Kiranti'''<br />
**** [[Sunuwar language]]<br />
**** [[Hayu language]]<br />
**** [[Jerung language]]<br />
{{tree list/end}}<br />
<br />
''Ethnologue'' adds [[Tilung language]] to Western Kiranti, based on Opgenort (2011).<br />
<br />
=== Opgenort (2005) ===<br />
Opgenort (2005)<ref>Opgenort, Jean Robert. [http://www.opgenort.nl/kiranti_database_project Comparative and Etymological Kiranti Database] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224040404/http://www.opgenort.nl/kiranti_database_project |date=2019-02-24 }}.</ref> classifies the Kiranti languages as follows, and recognizes a basic east-west division within Kiranti.<br />
<br />
{{tree list}}<br />
* '''Kiranti'''<br />
** ''Western''<br />
*** [[Wayu language|Hayu]]<br />
*** {{tree list/branching}}<br />
**** [[Thulung language|Thulung]]<br />
**** {{tree list/branching}}<br />
***** [[Bahing language|Bahing]], [[Sunuwar language|Sunuwar]]<br />
***** [[Jerung language|Jero]], [[Wambule language|Wambule]]<br />
** ''Central''<br />
*** [[Khaling language|Khaling]], [[Dumi language|Dumi]]<br />
**** {{tree list/branching}}<br />
***** [[Kulung language (Nepal)|Kulung]]<br />
***** [[Chamling language|Chamling]], [[Bantawa language|Bantawa]]<br />
** ''Eastern''<br />
**** [[Yamphu language|Yamphu]], [[Limbu language|Limbu]]<br />
<br />
{{tree list/end}}<br />
<br />
=== Gerber & Grollmann (2018) ===<br />
[[Historical linguist]]s, as early as 2012, do not consider Kiranti to be a coherent group, but rather a [[paraphyletic]] one due to lack of [[shared innovation]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Agreement Morphology: The Case of Rgyalrongic and Kiranti |first=Guillaume |last=Jacques |date=2012|journal=Language and Linguistics|url=https://www.ling.sinica.edu.tw/item/en?act=journal&code=download&article_id=380|page=84}}</ref> Gerber & Grollmann (2018) presented additional evidence supporting the paraphyletic nature of Kiranti. A Central-Eastern Kiranti group is considered to be valid by Gerber & Grollmann (2018), but they consider "Western Kiranti" unclassified within [[Trans-Himalayan languages]].<ref name="GG2018">{{cite journal |last1=Gerber |first1=Pascal |last2=Grollmann |first2=Selin |title=What is Kiranti?: A Critical Account |journal=Bulletin of Chinese Linguistics |date=20 November 2018 |volume=11 |issue=1–2 |pages=99–152 |doi=10.1163/2405478X-01101010 |doi-access=free }}</ref><br />
<br />
{{tree list}}<br />
* Central-Eastern Kiranti<br />
** [[Lhokpu language|Lhokpu]], [[Dhimal language|Dhimal]], [[Toto language|Toto]]<br />
** Central Kiranti<br />
** Upper Arun<br />
** Greater Yakkha-[[Limbu language|Limbu]]<br />
{{tree list/end}}<br />
<br />
Independent branches (formerly part of "Western Kiranti") that are unclassified within Trans-Himalayan (Sino-Tibetan):<br />
* [[Dumi language|Dumi]]-[[Khaling language|Khaling]]<br />
* Chaurasiya-Northwest: [[Wambule language|Wambule]], [[Bahing language|Bahing]], [[Sunuwar language|Sunuwar]]; ? [[Jerung language|Jero]]; ? [[Wayu language|Hayu]]<br />
* [[Thulung language|Thulung]]-[[Tilung language|Tilung]]-[[Koi language|Kohi]]<br />
<br />
Grollmann (2023) identifies a ''Khambu'' subgroup that consists of three languages, [[Kulung language (Nepal)|Kulung]], [[Nachiring language|Nachiring]], and [[Sampang language|Sampang]]. [[Camling language|Camling]] may also be a Khambu language.<ref name="Grollmann 2023">Grollmann, Selin. 2023. ''Remarks on the Khambu subgroup of Kiranti''. 26th Himalayan Languages Symposium, 4–6 September 2023. Paris: INALCO.</ref><br />
<br />
==== Sound changes ====<br />
[[Sound change]]s defining each subgroup (Gerber & Grollmann 2018):<ref name="GG2018"/><br />
* Central-Eastern Kiranti (*voiceless > preglottalised; *voiced > voiceless; *ʔk > kʰ; *ʔc > cʰ)<br />
** Lhokpu, Dhimal, Toto<br />
** Central Kiranti (*ʔp > b; *ʔt > d)<br />
** Upper Arun (*ʔp > b; *ʔt > d; *r > j)<br />
** Greater Yakkha-Limbu (*ʔp > pʰ; *ʔt > tʰ; *r > j)<br />
<br />
Independent branches (formerly part of "Western Kiranti") that are unclassified within Trans-Himalayan (Sino-Tibetan):<br />
* Dumi-Khaling (innovative verbal dual marker -i)<br />
* Chaurasiya-Northwest (*kʷ > ʔw ~ ʔb)<br />
** Wambule, Bahing, Sunuwar; ? Jero; ? Hayu<br />
* Thulung-Tilung-Kohi (*p > t; *b > d)<br />
<br />
The Khambu branch is defined by the following sound changes.<ref name="Grollmann 2023"/><br />
* *ŋ > zero, *k > zero in final syllabic position, and also vowel change to o, ʌ, ə before the precending vowel *a<br />
* Palatalization of *t and *n before /i/ in final syllabic position<br />
* *eŋ > aŋ<br />
<br />
== Reconstruction ==<br />
Research on proto-Kiranti includes work on phonology and comparative morphology by [[George van Driem]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=van Driem |first1=George |title=The Fall and Rise of the Phoneme /r/ in Eastern Kiranti: Sound Change in Tibeto-Burman |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |date=1990 |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=83–86 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X00021273 |jstor=618970 |s2cid=128967034 }}</ref> reconstructions by Michailovsky (1991)<ref>Michailovsky, Boyd. 1991. [http://stedt.berkeley.edu/~stedt-cgi/rootcanal.pl/source/BM-PK7 ''Big black notebook of Kiranti, proto-Kiranti forms'']. (unpublished ms. contributed to STEDT).</ref> and [[Sergei Starostin]] 1994.<ref>Starostin, Sergei A. 1994–2000. Proto-Kiranti reconstruction (online database). http://starling.rinet.ru/</ref> Michailovsky and Starostin differ by the number of stop series reconstructed (three vs four) and the interpretation of the correspondences.<br />
<br />
Opgenort introduces the reconstruction of preglottalized resonants;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Opgenort |first1=Jean-Robert |year=2004 |url=http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/opgenort2004implosive.pdf |title=Implosive and preglottalized stops in Kiranti |journal=Linguistics of the Tibeto–Burman Area |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=1–27 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Opgenort |first1=Jean Robert |title=A Grammar of Jero: With a Historical Comparative Study of the Kiranti Languages |date=2005 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-474-1508-4 }}{{page needed|date=July 2022}}</ref> his reconstruction is generally based on Starostin's four series system. More recently, [[Guillaume Jacques|Jacques]] proposed a reconstruction of proto-Kiranti verb roots based on Michailovsky's system,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jacques |first1=Guillaume |title=A reconstruction of Proto-Kiranti verb roots |journal=Folia Linguistica |date=27 November 2017 |volume=51 |issue=s38–s1 |pages=177–215 |doi=10.1515/flih-2017-0007 |s2cid=149278651 |url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01731021/file/proto-kiranti.pdf }}</ref> and analyzes the other initial correspondences (in particular, the series reconstructed as non-aspirated unvoiced stops by Starostin) as due to morphological alternations and inter-Kiranti borrowing. In addition, he presents a preliminary discussion of the reconstruction of stem alternation and stress patterns on the basis of [[Khaling language|Khaling]] and [[Dumi language|Dumi]].<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1515/9783110452754-003 |chapter=Tonogenesis and tonal alternations in Khaling |title=Tone and Inflection |year=2016 |last1=Jacques |first1=Guillaume |pages=41–66 |isbn=978-3-11-045275-4 |chapter-url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01486954/file/Jacques2016_KhalingTonogenesis.pdf }}</ref><br />
<br />
== Notes ==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{refbegin}}<br />
* {{cite book |first=George |last=van Driem |date=2001 |title=Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden, The Netherlands |doi=10.1163/9789004514911|isbn=9789004514911 |s2cid=247418335 }}<br />
* {{cite journal |last1=Bickel |first1=Balthasar |last2=Banjade |first2=Goma |last3=Gaenszle |first3=Martin |last4=Lieven |first4=Elena |last5=Paudyal |first5=Netra Prasad |last6=Rai |first6=Ichchha Purna |last7=Rai |first7=Manoj |last8=Rai |first8=Novel Kishore |last9=Stoll |first9=Sabine |title=Free Prefix Ordering in Chintang |journal=Language |date=2007 |volume=83 |issue=1 |pages=43–73 |doi=10.1353/lan.2007.0002 |jstor=4490337 |s2cid=54992476 }}<br />
* Tara Mani Rai (2015). "A Grammar of Koyee" Ph.D. diss. Tribhuvan University. https://www.amazon.com/Grammar-Koyee-Tara-Mani-Rai/dp/3969391121<br />
* {{cite book |last1=Matisoff |first1=James A. |title=Handbook of Proto-Tibeto-Burman: System and Philosophy of Sino-Tibetan Reconstruction |date=2003 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-09843-5 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/19d79619 }}<br />
* {{cite book |first=Graham |last=Thurgood |date=2003 |chapter=A Subgrouping of the Sino-Tibetan Languages: The Interaction between Language Contact, Change, and Inheritance |title=The Sino-Tibetan Languages |publisher=Routledge |pages=3–21 |editor1-first=Randy J. |editor1-last=LaPolla |editor2-first=Graham |editor2-last=Thurgood |isbn=9780203221051}}<br />
* {{cite book |first=Karen H. |last=Ebert |date=2003 |chapter=Kiranti Languages: An Overview |pages=3–21, 505–517 |title=The Sino-Tibetan Languages |publisher=Routledge |editor1-first=Randy J. |editor1-last=LaPolla |editor2-first=Graham |editor2-last=Thurgood |isbn=9780203221051}}<br />
<br />
'''Reconstructions'''<br />
* Michailovsky, Boyd. 1991. ''[http://stedt.berkeley.edu/~stedt-cgi/rootcanal.pl/source/BM-PK7 Big black notebook of Kiranti, proto-Kiranti forms]''. (unpublished ms. contributed to STEDT).<br />
* {{cite journal | surname = Opgenort | given = Jean Robert | title = A note on Tilung and its position within Kiranti | journal = Himalayan Linguistics | year = 2011 | volume = 10 | issue = 1 | pages = 253–271 | url = https://escholarship.org/uc/item/32j1n5s7 }}<br />
* {{cite journal |last=Jacques |first=Guillaume |title=A reconstruction of Proto-Kiranti verb roots |journal=Folia Linguistica |volume=51 |issue=38 (supplement nr. 1) |date=2017 |pages=177–215 |doi=10.1515/flih-2017-0007 |s2cid=149278651 |url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01731021/file/proto-kiranti.pdf}}<br />
{{refend}}<br />
<br />
== Further reading ==<br />
* Ebert, K. 1994. ''The structure of Kiranti languages, comparative grammar and texts: Kiranti subordination in the South Asian areal context''. Zürich: Arbeiten des Seminars für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (ASAS).<br />
* {{cite journal |last=Lahaussois |first=Aimée |title=Ideophonic patterns in Kiranti languages and beyond |journal=Folia Linguistica |volume=57 |issue=1 |date=2023 |pages=1–36 |doi=10.1515/flin-2022-2053|s2cid=256548395 }}<br />
<br />
== External links ==<br />
* [http://www.opgenort.nl/kiranti_database_project Kiranti Database Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224040404/http://www.opgenort.nl/kiranti_database_project |date=2019-02-24 }} (Jean Robert Opgenort)<br />
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{{Sino-Tibetan languages}}<br />
{{Kiranti languages}}<br />
{{Languages of Nepal}}<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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[[Category:Kiranti languages| ]]<br />
[[Category:Languages of Koshi Province]]</div>Zoyeford