Camling language
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| Camling | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Nepal. India, Bhutan | |
| Total speakers: | 10,000 | |
| Language family: | Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Kiranti Camling |
|
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | – | |
| ISO 639-3: | rab | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
The Camling language is one of the Kiranti languages spoken by the Kiranti and Rai peoples of eastern Nepal. Alternate names include Chamling, Chamlinge Rai and Rodong (which means "Kiranti").[1] It is closely related to the Bantawa (some Bantawa-speaking communities call their language "Camling") and Puma languages of the Kiranti language family in eastern Nepal, and it belongs to the broader Sino-Tibetan language family.[1]
Contents |
[edit] History
The Chamling language is one of the languages of the ancient Kiranti culture, which existed well before the arrival of Vedic civilisation in South Asia.[2] Important versions of the Mundhum — the main scripture forming the religious foundation of the Kiranti Mundhum religion and the cultural heritage of the various Kiranti tribes — are composed in Camling; such versions are distinctive to the Camling-speaking tribes and a guide to their distinctive religious practices and cultural identity.[3]
[edit] Prevalence
The Camling language is used by small communities in the Sagarmatha Zone, Khotang District, Bhojpur District and scattered areas in Udayapur District and a few more districts of eastern Nepal, the southeastern neighbour Indian state of Sikkim, the hill city of Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal and the kingdom of Bhutan.[1] Despite its geographic prevalence, the actual number of Camling speakers is estimated to be 10,000, spread across small tribes and villages.[1] Many members of the Camling ethnic and tribal communities are no longer fluent in the Camling language, which is taught only in remote areas in the Udayapur District.[1] Like Bantawa, Camling is an endangered language. Many people in these areas speak a variety of Camling that is mixed with the Nepali language, which is the official language of Nepal.[1] Most Camling-speaking people are Hindus or practioners of the ancient Kiranti Mundhum religion.
[edit] Phonology and voice
- Phonology
| Bilabial | Labio- dental |
Dental/ Alveolar |
Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | (ɳ) | ||
| Fricative | f | ʃ | ɦ |
- Voice
- Phuima = pluck
- Toma = see, experience
- Ityu = brought from above
- Dhotyu-cyu' = assembled them
- Bhuima = pound
- Doma = close
- Idyu = gave him
- Dhodyu-cyu = stabbed them[4]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f Ethnologue report on Camling
- ^ Cemjoṅga, Īmāna Siṃha (2003). History and Culture of the Kirat People. Kirat Yakthung Chumlung. ISBN 9993380911.
- ^ Monika Bock, Aparna Rao. Culture, Creation, and Procreation: Concepts of Kinship in South Asian Practice. Page 65. 2000, Berghahn Books.
- ^ a b Phonology - The Rosetta Project
