Bodish languages

Last updated
Bodish
Geographic
distribution		 Tibetan Plateau
Linguistic classification Sino-Tibetan
Subdivisions
Glottolog bodi1257

Bodish, named for the Tibetan ethnonym Bod, is a proposed grouping consisting of the Tibetic languages and associated Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Tibet, North India, Nepal, Bhutan, and North Pakistan. It has not been demonstrated that all these languages form a clade, characterized by shared innovations, within Sino-Tibetan. [1]

Shafer, who coined the term "Bodish", used it for two different levels in his classification, called "section" and "branch" respectively: [2]

It is now generally accepted that the languages Shafer placed in the first three subgroups are all descended from Old Tibetan, and should be combined as a Tibetic subgroup, with the East Bodish languages as a sister subgroup. [3] More recent classifications omit Rgyalrongic, which is considered a separate branch of Sino-Tibetan. [4]

Bradley (1997) also defined a broad "Bodish" group, adding the West Himalayish languages, which Shafer treated as a sibling of his Bodish section. The resulting grouping is roughly equivalent to the "Tibeto-Kanauri" group in other classifications. Within this grouping, Bodish proper is a subgroup with two branches, Tibetic and East Bodish: [5]

East Bodish is among the least researched branches of Sino-Tibetan. Languages regarded as members of this family include Bumthang (Michailovsky and Mazaudon 1994; van Driem 1995), Tshangla (Hoshi 1987; Andvik 1999), Dakpa (Lu 1986; Sun et al. 1991), Zhangzhung (Nagano and LaPolla 2001), and maybe Zakhring (Blench & Post 2011).

According to Shafer, East Bodish is the most conservative branch of the Bodish languages.

As for grammars of the East Bodish languages, there is Das Gupta (1968) and Lu (2002). Some papers on Kurtöp include Hyslop (2008a, 2008b, 2009).

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Gongduk or Gongdu is an endangered Sino-Tibetan language spoken by about 1,000 people in a few inaccessible villages located near the Kuri Chhu river in the Gongdue Gewog of Mongar District in eastern Bhutan. The names of the villages are Bala, Dagsa, Damkhar, Pam, Pangthang, and Yangbari (Ethnologue).

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The Chocha Ngacha language or Chochangachakha or Tsamang is a Southern Tibetic language spoken by about 20,000 people in the Kurichu Valley of Lhuntse and Mongar Districts in eastern Bhutan.

The Bumthang language ; also called "Bhumtam", "Bumtang(kha)", "Bumtanp", "Bumthapkha", and "Kebumtamp") is an East Bodish language spoken by about 20,000 people in Bumthang and surrounding districts of Bhutan. Van Driem (1993) describes Bumthang as the dominant language of central Bhutan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mugom-Karmarong language</span> Sino-Tibetan language of western Nepal.

Mugom-Karmarong is the Sino-Tibetan language variety of the Tibetan people of Mugu district in Nepal. This language variety represents two dialects Mugom and Karmarong, which are spoken by distinct ethnicities and are separate language in the perceptions of these groups. Based on census data taken in 2011, the total population of Mugom-Karmarong is estimated to be about 7,500 speakers.

References

  1. ↑ Tournadre 2014, p. 105.
  2. ↑ Shafer 1955, pp. 100–101.
  3. ↑ Hill 2010, p. 111.
  4. ↑ Bradley 1997, p. 4.
  5. ↑ Bradley 1997, pp. 3–15.
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