Darmiya language

Last updated
Darma
Darmiya
Native to India
Region Uttarakhand
Native speakers
1,750 (2006) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 drd
Glottolog darm1243
ELP Darma

Darmiya or Darma is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in the Darma Valley, Dharchula Tehsil, Pithoragarh District of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is one of the fifteen tribes, as stated in The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Uttar Pradesh Order, 1967 (C.O. 78) in clause (1) of Article 342 of the Constitution of India. Majorly it is called Bhotia; Bhotia is the broad term used in Himalayan region: several communities and languages are considered under this term. This tribal language is the member of west Tibeto-Burman language family in the Himalayan region of Uttarakhand. It is related to Rangas, Rongpo, Chaudangsi, and Byangsi. [1] Alternate names for this language include Darma, Darma Lwo, Darma-Lwo, Darmani, Saukas, and Shaukas. [1]

Contents

Information about the language was first published in Grierson's Linguistic Survey of India , and it has been studied by Krishnamurti, Cristina Wills, K. Srikumar, Kavita Rastogi, Ashish Kumar Pandey and Vishnu Singh.

Darmiya language has 34 phonemes in which 8 vowels and 28 consonants have occurred, there are five long vowels and three short vowels.

Geographical distribution

Darmiya is spoken in the Dhauli valley, from Tawaghat near Dharchula south to Sipoo in the north along Dhauli river. This area is located in Dharchula and Munsiyari tehsils, Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand, India. [1] Darmiya is spoken in Dar, Bongling, Selachal, Nanglin, Baling, Dugtu, Saung, Baun, Philam, Datu, Gwo, Marchha, Dhakar, Sobla, and Sipoo villages. [1]

Phonology

The Darmiya language contains the following consonant phonemes: [2]

Consonants
Bilabial Dental Alveolar Post-
alveolar
Palatal Retroflex Velar
Nasal m ɲ ɳ ŋ
Stop voicelessunaspirated p t͡s t͡ʃ ʈ k
aspirated t̪ʰ t͡ʃʰ ʈʰ
voiced unaspirated b ɟ ɖ g
aspirated ɖʰ
Fricative s ʝ x
Approximant l j
Rhotic r ɽ

The language contains the following vowels: [2]

Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i u
Close-Mid e ɘ o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open ɑ

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panchchuli Glacier</span>

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Rangas or Rangkas is an extinct West Himalayish language spoken by the Rangkas people of Uttarakhand, India. The Rangkas joined the Kumaoni people and shifted to their language. There is currently an ethnic population of about 1,000 people.

Raji–Raute is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family that includes the three closely related languages, namely Raji, Raute, and Rawat. They are spoken by small hunter-gatherer communities in the Terai region of Nepal and in neighboring Uttarakhand, India.

Bhotiyas are people of presumed Tibetan heritage that live along the Indo-Tibetan border in the upper reaches of the Great Himalayas, at elevations ranging from 6,500 feet (2,000 m) to 13,000 feet (4,000 m). In Uttarakhand, they inhabit seven river valleys, three in the Garhwal division and four in the Kumaon division. Their main traditional occupation used to be Indo-Tibetan trade, with limited amounts of agriculture and pastoralism. The customary Indo-Tibetan trade drastically stopped following the 1962 Sino-Indian war, and was resumed in the early 1990s under state-regulated mechanisms. These days, medicinal and aromatic plant collection is a major livelihood among this group, alongside by out-migration for education and jobs. Transhumance and pastoralism have drastically reduced in prevalence among this group too. They follow Hinduism and Buddhism and traditionally speak West Himalayish languages.

Nyishi is a Sino-Tibetan language of the Tani branch spoken in Papum Pare, Lower Subansiri, Kurung Kumey, Kra Daadi, East Kameng, Pakke Kesang, Kamle districts of Arunachal Pradesh and Darrang District of Assam in India. According to the 2011 census of India, the population of the Nishi speakers is approximately 900,000. Though there are plenty of variations across regions, the dialects of Nishi, such as Akang, Aya, Nyishi (raga), Mishing, Tagin are easily mutually intelligible, with the exception of the rather small in population Bangni-Bangru and Solung Dialects being very different from the former. 'Nisi' is sometimes used as a cover term for western Tani languages.

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Chaudangsi is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in the Indian state of Uttarakhand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jad language</span> Tibetic language spoken in India

Jad (Dzad), also known as Bhotia and Tchhongsa, is a language spoken by a community of about 300 in the states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, in India. It is spoken in several villages, and the three major villages are Jadhang, Nelang and Pulam Sumda in the Harsil sub-division of the Uttarkashi District. Jad is closely related to the Lahuli–Spiti language, which is another Tibetic language. Jad is spoken alongside Garhwali and Hindi. Code switching between Jad and Garhwali is very common. The language borrows some vocabulary from both Hindi and Garhwali. It is primarily a spoken language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of Uttarakhand</span> Overview of and topical guide to Uttarakhand

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Uttarakhand:

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Darma at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. 1 2 Ramaswami, N (2014). Moran, Steven; McCloy, Daniel; Wright, Richard (eds.). "Darmiya sound inventory (RA)". phoible.org. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Retrieved 2017-02-10.

Further reading