Bahing language

Last updated
Bahing
Region Nepal
Ethnicity Bahing
Native speakers
12,000 (2011 census) [1]
Sino-Tibetan
Official status
Official language in
Nepal
Language codes
ISO 639-3 bhj
Glottolog bahi1252
ELP Bahing
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Bahing (also known as Paiwa, Dungmowa, Rukhusalu, Waripsawa, Timriwa, Dhimriwa, Nayango, Dhayango, Khaliwa/Khaluwa, Rendukpa/Rendu, Rungbu [2] ) is a language spoken by 14449 people (census 2021) of the Bahing ethnic group in Nepal. [3] It belongs to the family of Kiranti languages, a subgroup of Sino-Tibetan.

Contents

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 ).

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 [mərə] "monkey" vs. [mɯrɯ] "human being" is difficult to perceive for speakers of even neighboring dialects, which makes for "an unlimited source of fun to the Bahing people". [4]

Vowels

Vowel phonemes
Front Central Back
unrounded unrounded unrounded rounded
shortlongshortlongshortlongshortlong
High i इः ɯ उ़ ɯː उ़ः u उः
High-mid e एः ɤ ओ़ ɤː ओ़ः o ओः
Low-mid ɛ ए़ ʌ ʌː अः
Low ä äː आः

Consonants

Bahing consonant phonemes
Bilabial Dental Apico-
alveolar
Lamino-
alveolar
Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive/
Affricate
implosive ɓ
voiceless unaspirated p t t͡s k ʔ
aspirated t̪ʰ t͡sʰ
voiced unaspirated b d d͡z ɡ
aspirated d̪ʱ d͡zʱ ɡʱ
Fricative s ɦ
Trill r
Lateral l
Approximant w j

Morphology

Hodgson (1857) reported a middle voice formed by a suffix -s(i) added to the verbal stem, corresponding to reflexives in other Kiranti languages.

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References