Ajay Kumar at 05:31, 22 August 2023

2023-08-22T05:31:48Z

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{{Short description|Endangered language isolate of Nepal}}
{{distinguish|text=the [[Sundanese language{{!}}Sunda language]]}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Kusunda
| altname = Ban Raja
| nativename = ''mihaq''
| pronunciation = {{IPA-kgg|miɦjɑːk|lang|Miɦjɑːk_(Mihaq)_-_01.ogg}}
| states = [[Nepal]]
| region = [[Gandaki Province]], [[Lumbini Province]]
| ethnicity = 270 [[Kusunda people|Kusunda]] (2011 census)
| speakers = 1
| date = 2022
| ref = e26
| extinct =
| familycolor = Isolate
| family = [[Language isolate]]
| iso3 = kgg
| glotto = kusu1250
| glottorefname = Kusunda
| map = Kusunda_language.png
| mapcaption = Ethnologue locations: (west) [[Dang District, Nepal|Dang]] and [[Pyuthan District|Pyuthan]] districts (dark grey) within [[Lumbini Province]]; (center) [[Tanahun District]] within [[Gandaki Province]] EndangeredLanguages.com location: red [[World Atlas of Language Structures|WALS]] location: purple ([[Gorkha District]])
| notice = IPA
}}

'''Kusunda''' or ''Kusanda'' ([[endonym]] '''Mihaq''' {{IPA-kgg|miɦjɑːk|lang|Miɦjɑːk_(Mihaq)_-_01.ogg}}) is a [[language isolate]] spoken by a few among the [[Kusunda people]] in western and central [[Nepal]]. As of 2023, it only has a single fluent speaker, Kamala Khatri Sen,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bhattarai |first=Sewa |date=2023-05-13 |title=The last of the Kusunda |url=https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-last-of-the-kusunda |access-date=2023-05-28 |website=nepalitimes.com}}</ref> although there are efforts underway to keep the language alive.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McDougall |first=Eileen |title=The language that doesn't use 'no' |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220804-kusunda-the-language-isolate-with-no-word-for-no |access-date=2022-08-11 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Rediscovery==
[[File:Gyani Maiya Sen Kusunda - how Mihaq (Kusunda) language should be brought to life.webm|thumb|Gyani Maiya Sen Kusunda, a late native Kusunda speaker, expressing her desire for the active use of the Kusunda language in an excerpt from 2019 documentary "Gyani Maiya".]]
For decades the Kusunda language was thought to be on the verge of extinction, with little hope of ever knowing it well. The little material that could be gleaned from the memories of former speakers suggested that the language was an isolate, but, without much evidence, it was often classified along with its neighbors as [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman]]. However in 2004 three Kusundas, Gyani Maya Sen, Prem Bahadur Shahi and Kamala Singh,<ref name=3Kusundas>{{cite web |url=http://listserv.emich.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0410&L=endangered-languages-l&P=439 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121210104535/http://listserv.emich.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0410&L=endangered-languages-l&P=439 |archive-date=2012-12-10 |title=Kusunda language does not fall in any family: Study |access-date=2007-09-12 |last=Rana |first=B.K. |date=2004-10-12 |work=email with pasted news article |publisher=Himalayan News Service, Lalitpur, 2004-10-10 }}</ref> were brought to [[Kathmandu]] for help with citizenship papers. There, members of [[Tribhuvan University]] discovered that one of them, a native of Sakhi VDC in southern [[Rolpa District]], was a fluent speaker of the language. Several of her relatives were also discovered to be fluent. In 2005 there were known to be seven or eight fluent speakers of the language, the youngest in her thirties.<ref name="Watters"/> However the language is [[moribund language|moribund]], with no children learning it, since all Kusunda speakers have married outside their ethnicity.<ref name="Watters" />

It was presumed that the language became extinct with the death of Rajamama Kusunda on 19 April 2018.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2018-04-19/rajamama-lone-kusunda-language-speaker-dies.html|title=Rajamama, lone Kusunda language speaker, dies|access-date=2018-06-18|language=en}}</ref> However Gyani Maiya Sen and her sister Kamala Kusunda survived him and further data were collected.<ref>{{Cite report|doi = 10.17613/1zy2-k376|year = 2019|last1 = Aaley|first1 = Uday Raj|last2 = Bodt|first2 = Timotheus (Tim) Adrianus|title = New data on Kusunda| publisher=Humanities Commons }}</ref> The sisters, together with author and researcher Uday Raj Aaley, have been teaching the language to interested children and adults.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kathmandupost.com/national/2019/01/04/resuscitating-dying-kusunda-language|title=Resuscitating dying Kusunda language|date=4 January 2019|website=The Kathmandu Post|access-date=17 September 2019}}</ref>

Aaley, the facilitator and Kusunda-language teacher, has written the book ''Kusunda Tribe and Dictionary''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kathmandupost.com/art-entertainment/2017/08/01/book-that-traces-kusunda-tribes-history-hits-shelves|title=Book that traces Kusunda tribe's history hits shelves|date=1 August 2017|website=The Kathmandu Post|access-date=17 September 2019}}</ref> The book has a compilation of more than 1000 words from the Kusunda language.

==Classification==
[[David E. Watters]] published a mid-sized grammatical description of the language, plus vocabulary ([[#Watters2005|Watters 2005]]), although further works have been published since.<ref>[[#stance|Donohue & Gautam (2013)]].</ref> He argued that Kusunda is indeed a language isolate, not just genealogically but also lexically, grammatically and phonologically distinct from its neighbors. This would imply that Kusunda is a remnant of the languages spoken in northern India before the influx of Tibeto-Burman- and [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]-speaking peoples; however it is not classified as a [[Munda languages|Munda]] nor a [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] language. It thus joins [[Burushaski]], [[Nihali]] and (potentially) the substrate of the [[Vedda language]] in the list of South Asian languages that do not fall into the main categories of Indo-European, Dravidian, [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]], and [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]].

Before the recent discovery of active Kusunda speakers there had been several attempts to link the language to an established language family. B.K. Rana (2002) maintained that Kusunda was a [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman language]] as traditionally classified. [[Merritt Ruhlen]] argued for a relationship with [[Juwoi language|Juwoi]] and other [[Andamanese languages]]; and for a larger [[Indo-Pacific languages|Indo-Pacific language family]], with them and other languages, including [[Nihali]].<ref>{{Cite journal
| title = Kusunda: An Indo-Pacific language in Nepal
| journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
| date = 2004-04-13
| volume = 101
| pages = 5692–5695
|author1=Paul Whitehouse |author2=Timothy Usher |author3=Merritt Ruhlen |author-link3=Merritt Ruhlen |author4=William S.-Y. Wang |author-link4=William S-Y. Wang | doi = 10.1073/pnas.0400233101
| pmid = 15056764
| issue = 15
| pmc = 397480
| bibcode = 2004PNAS..101.5692W
| doi-access = free
}}</ref>

Others have linked Kusunda to [[Munda languages|Munda]] (see [[David E. Watters|Watters]] 2005); [[Yeniseian languages|Yeniseian]] (Gurov 1989); [[Burushaski language|Burushaski]] and [[Caucasian languages|Caucasian]] (Reinhard and Toba 1970; this would be a variant of Gurov's proposal if [[Sino-Caucasian]] were accepted); and the [[Nihali language|Nihali]] isolate in central India (Fleming 1996, Whitehouse 1997). More recently a relationship between Kusunda, Yeniseian and Burushaski has been proposed.<ref>van Driem, George (2014). 'A Prehistoric Thoroughfare between the Ganges and the Himalayas'. In: Jamir, Tiatoshi/Hazarika, Manjil eds 50 Years after Daojali-Hading: Emerging Perspectives in the Archaeology of Northeast India. New Delhi: Research India Press. 60–98.</ref>

==Phonology==

===Vowels===
Phonetically, Kusunda has six vowels in two [[vowel harmony|harmonic]] groups, which are arguably three vowels phonemically: a word will normally have vowels from the upper (pink) or lower (green) set, but not both simultaneously. There are very few words that consistently have either always upper or always lower vowels; most words may be pronounced either way, though those with [[uvular consonant]]s require the lower set (as in many languages). There are a few words with no uvular consonants that still bar such dual pronunciations, though these generally only feature the distinction in careful enunciation.<ref name="Watters" />

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+Kusunda vowels
! Vowels
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Central vowel|Central]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| bgcolor="#ffcccc" | {{IPAlink|i}} || || bgcolor="#ffcccc"|{{IPAlink|u}}
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| bgcolor="#ccffcc"| {{IPAlink|e}} || bgcolor="#ffcccc"|{{IPAlink|ə}} || bgcolor="#ccffcc"|{{IPAlink|o}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| || bgcolor="#ccffcc"| {{IPAlink|a}} ||
|}

===Consonants===
Kusunda consonants seem to only contrast the active articulator, not where that articulator makes contact. For example, apical consonants may be [[dental consonant|dental]], [[alveolar consonant|alveolar]], [[retroflex consonant|retroflex]], or [[palatal consonant|palatal]]: {{IPA|/t/}} is dental {{IPA|[t̪]}} before {{IPA|/i/}}, alveolar {{IPA|[t͇]}} before {{IPA|/e, ə, u/}}, retroflex {{IPA|[ʈ]}} before {{IPA|/o, a/}}, and palatal {{IPA|[c]}} when there is a following uvular, as in {{IPA|[coq]}} ~ {{IPA|[t͇ok]}} ('we').<ref name="Watters" />

In addition, many consonants vary between [[stop consonant|stops]] and [[fricative consonant|fricative]]s; for instance, {{IPA|/p/}} seems to surface as {{IPA|[b]}} between vowels, while {{IPA|/b/}} surfaces as {{IPA|[β]}} in the same environment. [[Aspiration (phonetics)|Aspiration]] appears to be recent to the language. Kusunda also lacks the [[retroflex consonant]] phonemes common to the region, and is unique in the region in having [[uvular consonant]]s.<ref name="Watters" />
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" |[[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! colspan="2" |[[Coronal consonant|Coronal]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
!{{small|plain}}
!{{small|[[Sibilant consonant|sibilant]]}}
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|{{IPA link|m}}
|{{IPA link|n}}
|
|
|{{IPA link|ŋ}}
|{{IPAlink|ɴˤ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="4" |[[Stop consonant|Stop]]
![[Voicelessness|voiceless]]
|{{IPA link|p}}~{{IPAlink|b}}
|{{IPA link|t}}~{{IPAlink|d}}
|{{IPA link|t͡s}}
|
|{{IPA link|k}}~{{IPAlink|ɡ}}
|{{IPAlink|q}}~{{IPAlink|ɢ}}
|{{IPA link|ʔ}}
|-
![[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]
|{{IPAlink|b}}~{{IPAlink|β}}
|{{IPAlink|d}}
|{{IPA link|d͡z}}
|
|{{IPA link|ɡ}}~{{IPAlink|ɣ}}
|
|
|-
![[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]]
|({{IPA link|pʰ}})
|({{IPA link|tʰ}})
|({{IPA link|t͡sʰ}})
|
|({{IPA link|kʰ}}~{{IPAlink|x}})
|({{IPA link|qʰ}})
|
|-
![[Breathy voice|breathy]]
|({{IPA link|bʱ}})
|({{IPA link|dʱ}})
|({{IPA link|d͡zʱ}})
|
|({{IPA link|ɡʱ}})
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
|
|
|{{IPA link|s}}
|
|
| rowspan="2" |{{IPAlink|ʁ}}~{{IPAlink|ʕ}}
|{{IPA link|h}}
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|{{IPAlink|w}}
|{{IPA link|l}}
|
|{{IPA link|j}}
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Flap consonant|Flap]]
|
|{{IPAlink|ɾ}}
|
|
|
|
|
|}
{{IPA|[ʕ]}} does not occur initially, and {{IPA|[ŋ]}} only occurs at the end of a syllable, unlike in neighboring languages. {{IPA|[ɴʕ]}} only occurs between vowels; it may be |{{IPA|ŋ+ʕ}}|.<ref name="Watters" />

==Pronouns==

Kusunda has several cases, marked on nouns and pronouns, three of which are the [[nominative]] (Kusunda, unlike its neighbors, has no [[ergativity]]), [[genitive]], and [[accusative case|accusative]].<ref name="Watters">[[#Watters2005|Watters (2005)]].</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
!
! Nominative
! Genitive
! Accusative
|-
! 1st person, singular
| tsi || tsi, tsi-yi || tən-da
|-
! 1st person, plural
| tok || tig-i || (toʔ-da)
|-
! 2nd person, singular
| nu || nu, ni-yi || nən-da
|-
! 2nd person, plural
| nok || ?nig-i || (noʔ-da)
|-
! 3rd person
| gina || (gina-yi) || gin-da
|}

Other case suffixes include '''-ma''' "together with", '''-lage''' "for", '''-əna''' "from", '''-ga, -gə''' "at, in".

There are also [[demonstrative pronoun]]s '''na''' and '''ta'''. Although it is not clear what the difference between them is, it may be [[animacy]].

Subjects may be marked on the verb, though when they are they may either be prefixed or suffixed. An example with ''am'' "eat", which is more regular than many verbs, in the present tense (''-ən'') is,

{| class="wikitable"
|+ am "eat"
!
! Singular
! Plural
|-
! 1st person
| align="center"| t-əm-ən || align="center"| t-əm-da-n
|-
! 2nd person
| align="center"| n-əm-ən || align="center"| n-əm-da-n
|-
! 3rd person
| align="center"| g-əm-ən || align="center"| g-əm-da-n
|}

Other verbs may have a prefix '''ts-''' in the first person, or zero in the third.

==See also==
* [[Gyani Maiya Sen-Kusunda]]
*[[Wiktionary:Appendix:Kusunda word list|Kusunda word list]] (Wiktionary)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal | last1 = Donohue | first1 = Mark | last2 = Raj Gautam | first2 = Bhoj | year = 2013 | title = Evidence and stance in Kusunda | url = https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/55434/2/01_Donohue_Evidence_and_stance_in__2013.pdf | journal = Nepalese Linguistics | volume = 28 | pages = 38–47 | ref=stance }}
* Rana, B.K. ''Significance of Kusundas and their language in the Trans-Himalayan Region''. Mother Tongue. Journal of the Association for the Study of Language in Prehistory (Boston) IX, 2006, 212–218
* Reinhard, Johan and Sueyoshi Toba. (1970): ''A preliminary linguistic analysis and vocabulary of the Kusunda language''. Summer Institute of Linguistics and Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu.[http://languageserver.uni-graz.at/ls/book?id=2632] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517055137/http://languageserver.uni-graz.at/ls/book?id=2632 |date=2011-05-17 }}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Toba | first1 = Sueyoshi | year = 2000 | title = Kusunda wordlists viewed diachronically | url = http://www.ethnologue.com/show_work.asp?id=43518 | journal = Journal of Nationalities of Nepal | volume = 3 | issue = 5| pages = 87–91 }}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Toba | first1 = Sueyoshi | year = 2000 | title = The Kusunda language revisited after 30 years | url = http://www.ethnologue.com/show_work.asp?id=43519 | journal = Journal of Nationalities of Nepal | volume = 3 | issue = 5| pages = 92–94 }}
* {{cite book | last1 = Watters | first1 = David | author-link=David E. Watters | year = 2005 |chapter=Kusunda: a typological isolate in South Asia | title=Contemporary issues in Nepalese linguistics |editor=Yogendra Yadava |editor2=Govinda Bhattarai |editor3=Ram Raj Lohani |editor4=Balaram Prasain |editor5=Krishna Parajuli | publisher = Linguistic Society of Nepal |location=Kathmandu | pages = 375–396 | ref=Watters2005 }}
* {{cite book | last1 = Watters | first1 = David | year = 2006 | title = Notes on Kusunda Grammar: A language isolate of Nepal | url = https://escholarship.org/uc/item/83v8d1wv | journal = Himalayan Linguistics Archive | volume = 3 | pages = 1–182 | isbn=99946-35-35-2 | ref=watters }}

==External links==
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17537845 "Nepal's mystery language on the verge of extinction"], Bimal Gautum, [[BBC]], 12 May 2012
* [https://archive.today/20121210104535/http://listserv.emich.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0410&L=endangered-languages-l&P=439 ''Kusunda language does not fall in any family: Study'', Himalayan News Service, Lalitpur, October 10, 2004]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928030703/http://www.southasiabibliography.de/Bibliography/Kusunda__Banaraj__Myahak_/kusunda__banaraj__myahak_.html Partial bibliography]
* [http://www.southasiabibliography.de/index.html Portal to Asian Internet Resources (Project). ''Bibliography for Seldom Studied and Endangered South Asian Languages''. Germany: John Peterson].
* [http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:7HbGd2OInk8J:lloyd.emich.edu/cgi-bin/wa%3FA3%3Dind0103%26L%3Dling-amerindia%26P%3D49137%26E%3D2%26B%3D------%253D_NextPart_000_162c_198c_e16%26N%3DKusund~1.doc%26T%3Dapplication%252Fmsword+kusunda+Tribhuvan+University&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=us Rana, B.K. ''A Short note on Kusunda language.'' Janajati 2/4, 2001.]
* [http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/kusunda.htm Rana, B.K., Linguistic Society of Nepal ''New Materials on Kusunda Language'', Presented to the Fourth Round Table International Conference on Ethnogenesis of South and Central Asia, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA. May 11–13, 2002]
* [http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:w65I3i0DiWkJ:nipforum.org/Harvard_ASLIP_Kusunda_Paper_2006.pdf+kusunda+Tribhuvan+University&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us Rana, B.K., ''Significance of Kusundas and Their Language in the Trans-Himalayan Region'', Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, October 21–22, 2006]
*{{Cite web
| title = Obscure language isolate will die with this woman
| work = The Hot Word - Hot & Trending Words Daily Blog at Dictionary.com
| access-date = 2012-08-02
| date = 2012-06-03
| url = http://hotword.dictionary.com/kusunda/
}}
* [http://kusunda.linguistics.anu.edu.au/ Kusunda linguistics (ANU)]

{{Languages of Nepal}}
{{Languages of South Asia}}
{{Language families}}
{{Eurasian languages}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kusunda Language}}
[[Category:Kusunda language| ]]
[[Category:Languages of Nepal]]
[[Category:Language isolates of Asia]]
[[Category:Endangered language isolates]]
[[Category:Languages of Gandaki Province]]
[[Category:Languages of Lumbini Province]]

Kusunda language - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 05:31, 22 August 2023