Rajbanshi language (Nepal)

For the closely related language spoken in Bengal and Assam that is sometimes also called Rajbanshi, see Rangpuri language.

Rajbanshi
राजबंशी‎, ताजपुरीया
Native to	Nepal
Region	Jhapa District, Morang District
Ethnicity	Rajbanshi
Native speakers	170,000 (2011) [1]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Eastern Odia–Bengali–Assamese [2] Bengali–Assamese Kamrupa [2] Kamta Western Kamta Rajbanshi
Writing system	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]

Phonology

This section is based on Wilde 2008.

Consonants

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stop	voiceless	p	t̪	ʈ		k
	aspirated	pʰ	t̪ʰ	ʈʰ		kʰ
	voiced	b	d̪	ɖ		ɡ
	breathy	bʱ	d̪ʱ	ɖʱ		ɡʱ
Affricate	voiceless		ts
	aspirated		tsʰ
	voiced		dz
	breathy		dzʱ
Fricative			s		( ʃ )		h
Nasal	plain	m	n̪			ŋ
	breathy	mʱ	n̪ʱ			ŋʱ
Trill	plain		r
	breathy		rʱ
Approximant	lateral		l
	lateral br.		lʱ
	central	( w )			( j )

• /ts,tsʰ,dz,dzʱ/ can often be heard as post-alveolar [tʃ,tʃʰ,dʒ,dʒʱ], when following back vowels.
• /r/ and /rʱ/ can have allophones of [ɽɾ] and [ɽʱɾʱ].
• /b/ can have allophones of [βw].
• /pʰ/ can also be realised as [f].
• /s/ can also have an allophone of [ʃ].
• /h/ can be realised as voiceless or voiced [ɦ] in word-initial positions.
• /n̪/ can be heard as alveolar [n] before an alveolar consonant, and as a retroflex [ɳ] when preceding a retroflex consonant.
• A word-final /r/ may tend to be voiceless [r̥].
• Central approximants [wj] occur, but are deemed allophones of /ui/.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid	e		ʌ	o
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/.

• Vowels /i,e/ can have shortened allophones of [ɪ,ɛ].
• /æ/ can also be articulated more central as [ɐ,ä].
• /ʌ/ may also be heard as two sounds [ɜ,ə] in free variation. ^[5]

Morphology

One notable characteristic of Rājbanshi is the double agreement found regularly in verbs. Having this pattern also means that Rājbanshi, along with regional Indo-Aryan languages of Southern Nepal-Bihar-Jharkhand where multiple agreement is attested such as in Maithili, Kurmali, Majhi, and Darai share a verbal system that is distinct from the rest of the mainstream Indo-Aryan languages.

kalʰi

tomorrow

di-m-(k)u-n

give-FUT-2SG.OBJ-1SG.SUBJ

kalʰi di-m-(k)u-n

tomorrow give-FUT-2SG.OBJ-1SG.SUBJ

'I will give (it) to you tomorrow.'

Notes

1. Rajbanshi at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019)
   Kayort at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019)
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

• Toulmin, Mathew W. S. (2009). From linguistic to sociolinguistic reconstruction: the Kamta historical subgroup of Indo-Aryan (PDF). Pacific Linguistics 604. Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University. doi: 10.15144/PL-604 (inactive 12 July 2025). hdl:1885/146752. ISBN   978-0-85883-604-4.
• Wilde, Christopher P. (2008). A Sketch of the Phonology and Grammar of Rājbanshi (Ph.D. thesis). University of Helsinki. hdl: 10138/19290 .