Chamling
Chamling is one of the Kirati languages spoken by the Chamling (Mansungcha, Lipungchha, Malekungchha, Maidhung, kherasung,Rakhomi,Rodung, etc) of Nepal, India and Bhutan. Alternate renderings and names include ''Chamling'', ''Chamlinge'' and ...
(Mansungcha, Lipungchha, Malekungchha, Maidhung, kherasung,Rakhomi,Rodung, etc) of
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
and
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountai ...
. Alternate renderings and names include ''Chamling'', ''Chamlinge'' and ''Rodong''. It is closely related to the Bantawa (some Bantawa-speaking communities call their language "Camling") and Puma languages of the Kiranti language family in eastern Nepal, and it belongs to the broader Sino-Tibetan language family.Ethnologue report on Camling /ref> Chamling has SOV word order.
History
The Chamling language is one of the languages of the ancient Kiranti culture, which existed well before vedic period 3500–5000 in
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...
. Important versions of the '' Mundhum'' — the main
religious text
Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...
forming the religious foundation of the Kirant Mundhum religion and the cultural heritage of the various Kirati people — are composed in Camling; such versions are distinctive to the Camling-speaking tribes and a guide to their distinctive religious practices and cultural identity.
Distribution
The Chamling language is used by small communities in eastern
Sagarmatha Zone
Sagarmāthā Zone ( ne, सगरमाथा अञ्चल) or Sagarmatha Anclal ( ne, सगरमाथा अञ्चल) was one of the fourteen zones of Nepal until the restructuring of zones into provinces. The headquarters of Sagarma ...
, in central
Khotang District
Khotang District ( ne, खोटाङ जिल्ला) is one of 14 districts of Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal. The district, with Diktel as its district headquarters, covers an area of and has a population (2021) of 206,312.Bhojpur District and scattered areas in northern
Udayapur District
Udayapur District ( ne, उदयपुर जिल्ला, is one of 14 districts of Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal. The district, with Triyuga as its district headquarters, covers an area of and in 2001 had a population of 287,689, in 2 ...
and a few more districts of eastern Nepal, the southeastern neighbour
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
n state of
Sikkim
Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligu ...
, the hill city of
Darjeeling
Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Ne ...
,
Kalimpong
Kalimpong (Hindi: कलिम्पोंग) is a town and the headquarters of an Kalimpong district, eponymous district in the Indian states and territories of India, state of West Bengal. It is located at an average elevation of . The town i ...
in the Indian state of
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the four ...
and the kingdom of
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountai ...
.
Demographics
Despite its geographic prevalence, the actual number of Chamling speakers is estimated to be 10,000, spread across small tribes and villages. Many members of the Chamling ethnic and tribal communities are no longer fluent in the Chamling language, which is taught only in remote areas in the Udayapur District. Like Bantawa, Chamling is an endangered language. Many people in these areas speak a variety of Chamling that is mixed with the
Nepali language
Nepali (; , ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Himalayas region of South Asia. It is the official, and most widely spoken, language of Nepal, where it also serves as a '' lingua franca''. Nepali has official status in the Indian st ...
, which is the official language of Nepal. Most Chamling-speaking people are Hindus or practitioners of Kiranti Mundhum.
Phonology and voice
*Phonology
Consonants
Vowels
*Voice
#''Phuima'' = pluck
#''Toma'' = see, experience
#''Ityu'' = brought from above
#''Dhotyu-cyu' = assembled them
#''Bhuima'' = pound
#''Doma'' = close
#''Idyu'' = gave him
#''Dhodyu-cyu'' = stabbed themPhonology - The Rosetta Project
Bound Morphemes
Chamling uses many bound morphemes, many of which denote possession or the change of possession of something.
Phrase Structure Rules
NP —> (D) N
VP —> (NP) (A) (Adv) V (Adv)
CP —> C S
S —> NP
examples:
This is 3. an example of a sentence that is formed by an NP and a VP. The NP contains a determiner and a noun, and the VP contains a verb.
This is an example of a sentence that is formed by a NP and a VP. The NP contains a noun and a VP contains a verb and an adverb.
This is an example of two NP's forming a sentence. One NP contains "khamo nung" ("''your name"'') and the second NP contains "de" ("''what").''
See also
*
Languages of Nepal
Languages of Nepal constitutionally called Nepalese languages are the languages having at least an ancient history or origin inside the sovereign territory of Nepal spoken by Nepalis. The 2011 National census lists 123 languages spoken as a mot ...
*
Languages of Bhutan
There are two dozen languages of Bhutan, all members of the Tibeto-Burman language family except for Nepali, which is an Indo-Aryan language, and Bhutanese Sign Language. Dzongkha, the national language, is the only native language of Bhutan with ...
References
8.Rai, Tara Mani and Sizar Tamang (2014) A sociolinguistic survey of Chamling: A Tibeto-Burman language.https://cdltu.edu.np