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.