Kyirong-Kagate language

Kyirong-Kagate
Region Nepal
Native speakers
16,000  (2000 – 2011 census)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Variously:
kgy  Kyerung
syw  Kagate
ttz  Tsum
scp  Helambu Sherpa
Glottolog kyir1235  (adds Nubri)[2]

Kyirong-Kagate is a subgroup of the Tibetic languages spoken primarily in Nepal, with a hundred or so speakers across the border in Tibet.

Dialects are:[3]

Kyirong (Lende), Kagate, Tsum, Langtang, Yolmo (Helambu Sherpa), Nubri, Gyalsumdo

Although there is a varying degree of mutual intelligibility between these varieties,[4] they are considered separate languages by their respective speakers. There are also some major distinctions. For example Kyirong has a three-tone system[5] whereas Yolmo and Kagate have a two-tone system.[6] The Gyalsumdo language variety spoken in the Manage district of Nepal shows strong similarities to Kyirong, as well as Nubri, and would therefore likely be classed in the "Kyirong-Kagate" group.[7]

See Yolmo language for a description of one of these varieties.

References

  1. Kyerung at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Kagate at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Tsum at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Helambu Sherpa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Kyirong–Kagate". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  3. N. Tournadre (2005) "L'aire linguistique tibétaine et ses divers dialectes." Lalies, 2005, n°25, p. 7–56
  4. Gawne, Lauren (2010). Nepalese Linguistics 25: 34–41 http://www.digitalhimalaya.com/collections/journals/nepling/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. Huber, Brigitte (2005). The Tibetan dialect of Lende (Kyirong). Bonn: VGH Wissenschaftsverlag.
  6. Hari, Anne Marie (2010). Yohlmo Sketch Grammar. Kathmandu: Ekta.
  7. Hildebrandt, Kristine Ann; Perry, J. Joseph (2011). "Preliminary notes on Gyalsumdo, an undocumented Tibetan variety in Manang District, Nepal.". Himalayan Linguistics (10): 167–185.