Saam language

Last updated
Saam
Native to Nepal
Region Mechi Zone
Ethnicity Kirati
Native speakers
530 (2011 census) [1]
(400 Saam, 130 Lingkhim) [1]
Dialects
  • Bungla
  • Lingkhim
  • Sambya
Language codes
ISO 639-3 raq
Glottolog saam1282
ELP Saam

Saam, Saama Kha, is a nearly extinct Kiranti language spoken in Nepal. The name Saam is ambiguous, and shared with neighboring languages.

Chukwa may be Saam if it is not Kulung.

Geographical distribution

Saam is spoken in the following locations of Nepal ( Ethnologue ).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahakali Zone</span> Mahakali province

Mahakali was one of the fourteen zones located in the Far-Western Development Region of Nepal, covering an area of 6,205 km2 in the most western part of the country. It stretches along Nepal's far western border with India, marked by the Kali River or Mahakali River.

Puma is a Kiranti language spoken by about 4,310 people in Sagarmatha Zone, Nepal. The actual population may be somewhat higher. The same term ‘Puma’ refers both to the people and the language they speak [Sharma 2014].

Magar Dhut is a Sino-Tibetan Language spoken mainly in Nepal, Southern Bhutan, and in Darjeeling and Sikkim, India, by the Magar people. It is divided into two groups and further dialect divisions give distinct tribal identity. In Nepal 788,530 people speak the language.

Yakkha is a language spoken in parts of Nepal, Darjeeling district and Sikkim. The Yakkha-speaking villages are located to the East of the Arun river, in the southern part of the Sankhuwasabha district and in the northern part of the Dhankuta district of Nepal. About 14,000 people still speak the language, out of 17,003 ethnic Yakkha in Nepal. Genealogically, Yakkha belongs to the Eastern Kiranti languages and is in one subgroup with several Limbu languages, e.g. Belhare, Athpare, Chintang and Chulung. Ethnically however, the Yakkha people perceive themselves as distinct from the other Kiranti groups such as Limbu.

Wambule is a Kiranti language language spoken by the Wambule Rai, one of the Rai groups belonging to the Kiranti (किरान्ती) ethnolinguistic family of eastern Nepal. Wambule is spoken by more than 5000 people living around the confluence of the Sunkosi (सुनकोसी) and Dudhkosi (दूधकोसी) rivers near Kui-Bhir Hill. The Wambule-speaking area comprises the southernmost part of Okhaldhunga district, the westernmost part of Khotang district, the northernmost part of Udayapur district, and the northeasternmost part of Sindhuli district.

Bahing ancestors named Paiwa, Dungmowa, Rukhusalu, Waripsawa, Timriwa, Dhimriwa, Nayango, Dhayango, Khaliwa/Khaluwa, Rendukpa/Rendu, Rungbu/Rumdali/Diburcha/Thamrocha) is a language spoken by 11,658 people of the Bahing ethnic group in Nepal. It belongs to the family of Kiranti languages, a subgroup of Sino-Tibetan.

Yamphu language is a Kirati language spoken by the Kirat Yamphu people, a Kirati people of the Himalayas of Nepal. Tomyang (Chongka) is a recently discovered dialect spoken by only 20 people. Both it and Yamphe are distinct. Southern Yamphu is also considered to be Southern Kirat Lorung language. These varieties are all closely related.

Chintang is an eastern Kirati languages language spoken by 5,000 to 6,000 people in Chhintang VDC and Ahale VDC in Dhankuta District, Province No. 1, Nepal. The language has two dialects, Mulgaun and Sambhugaon. Most speakers of Chintang are also fluent speakers of the Indo-European Nepali language, which is the lingua franca of Nepal and the sole language of instruction in school, and the Sino-Tibetan Bantawa language, which is closely related to Chintang. The UNESCO World Atlas of Languages classifies the language as definitely endangered.

Kulung is one of the Rai languages; it is spoken by an estimated 33,000 people. Van Driem (2001) includes Chukwa as a dialect.

Bhujel, also called Bujhyal, is a Chepangic language of Greater Magaric Branch spoken in central Nepal. It is a semi-tonal language, employing a complex array of affixes. It is believed that their original homeland was Nisi-Buji area of Baglung. In addition, Bhujel term is also the clan name of various ethnic groups including Brahmin, Chhetri & Magar. Bhujel people normally are with Mongoloid features rather than with Caucasoid features. Due to the social structure & social development, This term has been the identity of many other ethnic people too.

Baram is a critically endangered Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Nepal. Speakers are shifting to Nepali. Dialects are Dandagaun and Mailung.

Koyee [कोयी] is a Sino-Tibetan language belonging to the Kiranti languages spoken in the Khotang district of Nepal. Like other Kiranti languages, it displays a fairly complex system of person-marking and stem alternations. No full description of this language exists, but Lahaussois provides some grammatical information, and stories have been archived at the Lacito Archive.

Magar Kaike is a Sino-Tibetan language of Nepal. Ethnologue classifies it as a West Bodish language.

Jerung or Jero is a moribund Kiranti language spoken in Nepal. The native language consultants whom Opgenort (2005) consulted, preferred the term ‘Jero’ to designate the language. The term ‘Jerung’, by contrast, is a toponym used in the names of several villages within the language area as well as the name of a village in the Wambule-speaking area. The Jerung language is mutually intelligible with Wambule. Jerung is spoken by more than 2,000 people living in Okhalḍhuṅgā and Sindhulī districts of eastern Nepal. Gerd Hanßon (1991) claims that there are three to four dialects of Jerung: Madhavpur, Balkhu-Sisneri, and Ratnawati (Sindhuli). However, according to Opgenort's (2005) consultants, there are only two major dialects: a northern dialect, which is spoken in Okhaldhunga District (ओखलढुङ्गा), and a southern dialect, which is spoken in Sindhuli District (सिनधुली).

Dungmali, or Dungmali-Bantawa, is a Kirati languages language spoken in Nepal. It is largely cognate with Bantawa language, but differs grammatically and phonologically.

Mewahang (Meohang), or Newahang, is a Kiranti language spoken in Nepal. The eastern and western dialects are structurally distinct.

Chulung (Chɨlɨng) is a Kirati languages spoken in Ankhisalla VDC, Dhankuta District, Koshi Zone, Nepal.

Kutang, also known as Kutang Ghale and Kuke, is a minor Tibeto-Burman language of Nepal.

Tilung is a moribund Kiranti language spoken in Nepal. According to Opgenort, Tilung occupies an independent position within the Kiranti language family, and can be placed roughly between the Western languages Thulung, Khaling and Dumi, on the one side, and the Southern Central Kiranti languages Kulung, Chamling and Bantawa, on the other. Even though Tilung is spoken directly to the south of the Wambule speaking area, Tilung and Wambule are not mutually intelligible. The Choskule and Dorungkecha "dialects" may be related languages.

{{Infobox language

 |name=Nachhiring  |region=Rakha Bangdel, Badel, para, Khotang District, Sagarmatha Zone  | ethnicity= [[Rai people|Kirat Nachhiring] |states=Nepal  |speakers=10,000  |date=2011 census  |ref=e18  |familycolor=Sino-Tibetan  |fam2=Mahakirati ?  |fam3=Kirati  |fam4=Central   |fam5=Khambu  |iso3=ncd  |glotto=nach1240  |glottorefname=Nachering

References

  1. 1 2 Saam at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)