Rajbanshi language (Nepal)

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Rajbanshi
राजबंशी‎, ताजपुरीया
Native to Nepal
Region Jhapa District, Morang District
Ethnicity Rajbanshi
Native speakers
170,000 (2011) [1]
Devanagari and Bengali–Assamese Script
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Either:
rjs   Rajbanshi
kyv   Kayort
Glottolog rajb1243   Rajbanshi
kayo1247   Kayort

Rajbanshi (also called Tajpuria [3] ) is a Bengali-Assamese language spoken in Nepal. It is related to, but distinct from Rangpuri/Kamta in Bangladesh and India, which is also known by the alternative name "Rajbanshi", with which it forms the KRNB cluster. [4]

Contents

Phonology

This section is based on Wilde 2008.

Consonants

Labial Dental/
Alveolar
Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop voiceless pʈk
aspirated t̪ʰʈʰ
voiced bɖɡ
breathy d̪ʱɖʱɡʱ
Affricate voiceless ts
aspirated tsʰ
voiced dz
breathy dzʱ
Fricative s(ʃ)h
Nasal plainmŋ
breathy n̪ʱŋʱ
Trill plainr
breathy
Approximant lateral l
lateral br.
central (w)(j)

Vowels

Front Central Back
High iu
Mid eʌo
Low æ(ɐ)

In addition to these vowels, Rangpuri has the following diphthongs: /ie,iæ,iu,iʌ,ui,uæ,uʌ,ei,eu,æi,æu,ʌi,ʌu/.

Notes

  1. Rajbanshi at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
    Kayort at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. 1 2 Toulmin, Mathew W S (2006). Reconstructing linguistic history in a dialect continuum: The Kamta, Rajbanshi, and Northern Deshi Bangla subgroup of Indo-Aryan (PhD). The Australian National University. p. 305.
  3. Toulmin 2009, p. 16.
  4. Toulmin 2009, p. 3.
  5. Wilde 2008, p. [ page needed ].

References