Bahing language

Template:Infobox language

Bahing is one of the ethnicities present in Nepal which consist of the following ancestors: Paiwa, Dungmowa, Rukhusalu, Waripsawa, Timriwa, Dhimriwa, Nayango, Dhayango, Khaliwa/Khaluwa, Rendukpa/Rendu, and Rungbu.^[1] These ancestors spoke the Bahing language. The Bahing language was recorded (census 2021) to be spoken by 14449 people of the Bahing ethnic group in Nepal.^[2] It belongs to the family of Kiranti languages, a subgroup of Sino-Tibetan.

The group Rumdali is also known as Nechali among some of them.

Names

Ethnologue lists the following alternate names for Bahing: Baying, Ikke lo, Kiranti-Bahing, Pai Lo, Radu lo. Procha lo

Geographical distribution

Bahing is spoken in the following locations of Nepal (Ethnologue).

Northeastern Okhaldhunga District, Sagarmatha Zone: Harkapur, Ragdip, Bigutar, Baruneswor, Okhaldhunga, Rumjatar, Barnalu, Mamkha, Ratmate, Serna, Diyale, and Bhadaure VDC's (Rumdali dialect)
Mid-southeastern Okhaldhunga District: Ketuke, Moli, Waksa, and Ubu VDC's (Tolocha dialect)
Southern tip of Solukhumbu District: Necha Batase and Salyan VDC's
Khotang District

Dialects

According to Ethnologue, Bahing consists of the Rumdali, Nechali, Tolacha, Moblocha, and Hangu dialects, with 85% or above intelligibility among all dialects.

Documentation

The Bahing language was described by Brian Houghton Hodgson (1857, 1858) as having a very complex verbal morphology. By the 1970s, only vestiges were left, making Bahing a case study of grammatical attrition and language death.

Phonology

Bahing and the related Khaling language have synchronic ten-vowel systems. The difference of Template:IPA "monkey" vs. Template:IPA "human being" is difficult to perceive for speakers of even neighboring dialects, which makes for "an unlimited source of fun to the Bahing people".^[3]

Vowels

Vowel phonemes
	Front		Central		Back
	unrounded		unrounded		unrounded		rounded
	short	long	short	long	short	long	short	long
High	Template:IPA link Template:Angbr	Template:IPA link Template:Angbr			Template:IPA link Template:Angbr	Template:IPA link Template:Angbr	Template:IPA link Template:Angbr	Template:IPA link Template:Angbr
High-mid	Template:IPA link Template:Angbr	Template:IPA link Template:Angbr			Template:IPA link Template:Angbr	Template:IPA link Template:Angbr	Template:IPA link Template:Angbr	Template:IPA link Template:Angbr
Low-mid	Template:IPA link Template:Angbr		Template:IPA link Template:Angbr	Template:IPA link Template:Angbr
Low			Template:IPA link Template:Angbr	Template:IPA link Template:Angbr

Bahing language has no long vowel /ɛ/.

Consonants

Bahing consonant phonemes
			Bilabial	Dental	Apico- alveolar	Lamino- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal			Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr		Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr			Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr
Plosive/ Affricate	implosive		Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr
	voiceless	unaspirated	Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr	Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr	Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr	Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr		Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr	Template:IPA link
	voiceless	aspirated	Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr	Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr	Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr	Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr		Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr
	voiced	unaspirated	Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr	Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr	Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr	Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr		Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr
	voiced	aspirated	Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr	Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr	Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr	Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr		Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr
Fricative					Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr				Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr
Trill					Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr
Lateral					Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr
Approximant			Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr				Template:IPAlink Template:Angbr