Puneet Varma (Editor)

Kiranti languages

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Glottolog:
  
kira1253

Ethnicity:
  
Kiranti:Limbu,Yakkha, Sunwar, Rai, etc.

Geographic distribution:
  
Nepal, Sikkim, Darjeeling

Linguistic classification:
  
Sino-Tibetan Mahakiranti ? Kiranti

Subdivisions:
  
Limbu Eastern Central Western

The Kiranti languages (also called Bahing–Vayu in the terminology of Benedict (1972)) are a major family of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Nepal, Sikkim and Darjeeling Hills by the Kiranti people.

Contents

Classification

The Kiranti languages are frequently posited to form part of a Mahakiranti family, although specialists are not completely certain of either the existence of a Kiranti subgroup or its precise membership. LaPolla (2003), though, proposes that Kiranti may be part of a larger "Rung" group.

Languages

There are about two dozen Kiranti languages. The better known are Chamling, Sunuwar, Bahing, Limbu, Vayu, Dungmali, Lohorung and Kulung. Overall, they are:

Limbu

  • Limbu (affinities to Eastern Kiranti)

    • Eastern Kiranti

  • Greater Yakkha: Yakkha, Belhare, Athpare, Chintang, Chulung
  • Upper Arun River: Yamphu–Lohorung, Meohang, Waling?

    • Central Kiranti

  • Khambu (Rai): Kulung, Nachhiring, Sampang, Saam
  • Southern: Bantawa, Puma, Chamling, Dungmali

    • Western Kiranti

  • Midwestern: Thulung (perhaps a primary branch of Kiranti)
  • Chaurasiya: Wambule, Jerung
  • Upper Dudhkosi River: Khaling, Dumi, Koi
  • Northwestern (Sunuwar Kõits): Bahing, Sunwar, Vayu

    • Ethnologue adds Tilung to Western Kiranti, based on Opgenort (2011).

    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.

    References

    Kiranti languages Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA