Kiranti languages

Kiranti
Ethnicity: Kirat, Limbu, Rai, etc.
Geographic
distribution:
Nepal
Linguistic classification: Sino-Tibetan
Subdivisions:
Eastern
Central
Western

The Kiranti languages (also called Bahing–Vayu in the terminology of Benedict (1972)) are a major family of Tibeto-Burman languages spoken in Nepal by the Kirat people.

Contents

Classification

The Kiranti languages are frequently posited to form part of a Maha-Kiranti family, although specialists are not completely certain of either the existence of a Kiranti subgroup or its precise membership.[1]

The languages

There are about two dozen Kiranti languages. The better known are Bahing, Limbu, Vayu, Lohorung and Kulung (Rai). Over all, they are:

Limbu
Eastern Kiranti
Central Kiranti
Western Kiranti

Kiranti verbs are not easily segmentable, due in large part to the presence of portmanteau morphemes, crowded affix strings, and extensive (and often nonintuitive) allomorphy.

Notes

  1. ^ Matisoff 2003, pp. 5-6; Thurgood 2003, pp. 15-16; Ebert 2003, pg. 505.

References