Nar Phu language

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Nar Phu
Native to Nepal
RegionManang district
Native speakers
600 (2011) [1]
Dialects
  • Nar (Lower Nar)
  • Phu (Upper Nar)
Language codes
ISO 639-3 npa
Glottolog narp1239
ELP Nar Phu
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Nar Phu, or ’Narpa, is a Sino-Tibetan variety spoken in the two villages of Nar and Phu, in the Valley of the Nar Khola in the Manang district of Nepal. It forms a dialect continuum with Manang and may be intelligible with it; however, the Nar and Phu share a secret language to confound Gyasumdo and Manang who would otherwise understand them. [1]

Contents


Phonology

Vowels

Front Back
Close iu
Close-mid eo
Open-mid ɛ
Low aɑ

The language lacks all middle vowels and the open mid vowel /ɔ/.

Consonants

Bilabial Dental Retroflex Alveolo-palatal Velar
Plosive unaspiratedptʈk
aspirated ʈʰ
Affricate unaspiratedts
aspirated tsʰtɕʰ
Fricative sɕ
Nasal mnɲŋ
Lateral voiced l
voiceless
Rhotic voiced r
voiceless
Approximant wjɰ

Comparatively to the English language, the /g/ is not in the language.

Tones

Nar Phu distinguishes four tones: high falling, high level, low rising murmured, and mid/low falling murmured.

Language Patterns

Nar-Phu has a different vowel system than other Tamangic languages, due to the amount of front vowels. Nar-Phu is a four-tone language. Tones 1 and 4 are falling; tones 3 and 4 are murmured. Tone 2 is distinguished by its clear, high quality. Nar-Phu has no formal gendered language system, but some suffixes are used to describe animals, even castrated male animals. Honorific Noun phrases are used when there is not a noun in place for said words. [1]

Swadesh List

[1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Nar Phu at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

Bibliography