Native speakers 20,000 (2011 census) Glottolog dhim1246 | Ethnicity Toto people ISO 639-3 dhi | |
Language family Sino-TibetanBrahmaputran ?DhimalDhimal | ||
Dhimal is a Sino-Tibetan language of Nepal and India spoken by about 20,000 people. There is an eastern and western dialect, which are separated by the Kankai River in Jhapa district, Mechi Zone, Nepal. Most people transcribe Dhimal into Devanagari and there are standard conventions for extra phonological distinctions.
Contents
Distribution
Dhimal is spoken in the following areas of Nepal:
The eastern and western dialects are separated by the Kankai River in Jhapa District.
Vowels
Dhimal has 16 primary vowel phonemes, distinguished by length and nasality, and six diphthongs.
Consonants
Dhimal has 31 consonants, including a four-way distinction between voiced & voiceless, aspirated (breathy in the case of voiced) and unaspirated.
Grammar
Gender is marked morphologically, but only with body parts of human beings and on animate nouns. Animals may be marked for gender with distinct lexical items. Nouns are unmarked for number, except for personal pronouns. For personal pronouns, singular and plural are unmarked, and only the dual number is marked or distinguished.