Mewahang (Meohang), or Newahang, is a
Kiranti
The Kirati people, also spelled as Kirant or Kiranti, are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group. They are peoples of the Himalayas, mostly the Eastern Himalaya extending eastward from Nepal to North East India (predominantly in the Indian state of Sikkim ...
language spoken in
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 mai ...
. The eastern and western dialects are structurally distinct.
Distribution and dialects
Western Mewahang is spoken in the upper Arun valley west of the
Arun River
The River Arun () is a river in the English county of West Sussex. At long, it is the longest river entirely in Sussex and one of the longest starting in Sussex after the River Medway, River Wey and River Mole. From the series of small stream ...
in
Sankhuwasabha District
Sankhuwasabha District ( ne, सङ्खुवासभा जिल्ला ) is one of 14 districts of Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal. The district's area is 3,480 km2 with a population of 159,203 in 2001 and 158,742 in 2011 ...
,
Kosi Zone
Kosi or Koshi ( ne, कोसी अञ्चल, ne, कोशी अञ्चल ) was one of the fourteen zones of Nepal until the restructure of zones to provinces. The headquarters of Kosi Zone was Biratnagar which was also its largest cit ...
, in the villages of Bala,
Yamdang,
Tamku
Tamku is a village development committee in Sankhuwasabha District in the Kosi Zone of north-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census
The 1991 Nepal census was a widespread national census conducted by the Nepal Central Bureau of St ...
, and
Sisuwa (''
Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...
'').
*The ''Bala'' dialect is spoken in Bala village,
Sankhuwasabha
Sankhuwasabha District ( ne, सङ्खुवासभा जिल्ला ) is one of 14 districts of Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal. The district's area is 3,480 km2 with a population of 159,203 in 2001 and 158,742 in 2011. ...
VDC.
*The ''Bumdemba'' dialect is spoken in
Sishuwakhola VDC.
Eastern Mewahang is spoken in
Mangtewa
Mangtewa is a village development committee in Sankhuwasabha District in the Kosi Zone of north-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census
The 1991 Nepal census was a widespread national census conducted by the Nepal Central Bureau of ...
,
Yaphu
Yamphu is a village development committee in Sankhuwasabha District in the Kosi Zone of north-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census
The 1991 Nepal census was a widespread national census conducted by the Nepal Central Bureau of St ...
, and
Choyang VDC's of
Sankhuwasabha District
Sankhuwasabha District ( ne, सङ्खुवासभा जिल्ला ) is one of 14 districts of Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal. The district's area is 3,480 km2 with a population of 159,203 in 2001 and 158,742 in 2011 ...
,
Kosi Zone
Kosi or Koshi ( ne, कोसी अञ्चल, ne, कोशी अञ्चल ) was one of the fourteen zones of Nepal until the restructure of zones to provinces. The headquarters of Kosi Zone was Biratnagar which was also its largest cit ...
(''
Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...
''). It is spoken in the upper Arun valley east of the
Arun River
The River Arun () is a river in the English county of West Sussex. At long, it is the longest river entirely in Sussex and one of the longest starting in Sussex after the River Medway, River Wey and River Mole. From the series of small stream ...
.
*The ''Sunsari'' dialect is spoken
Bhaludhunga and
Bishnupaduka
Q
Bishnupaduka is a village development committee in Sunsari District in the Kosi Zone of south-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 3651 people living in 661 individual households. It was merged into Dharan ...
VDC's of
Sunsari District
, nickname =
, native_name_lang =
, image_skyline =
, image_size =
, image_alt =
, image_caption = Night view of Dharan, Itahari & Tarahara :: Barahakshetra Temple: BPKIHS, Dharan : Dharan Clock Tower
, image_map = Sunsari district lo ...
.
*The ''Dibum (Dibung)'' dialect is spoken in
Mangtewa
Mangtewa is a village development committee in Sankhuwasabha District in the Kosi Zone of north-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census
The 1991 Nepal census was a widespread national census conducted by the Nepal Central Bureau of ...
VDC
*The ''Mulgaon-Wangtang'' dialect is spoken in
Yaphu
Yamphu is a village development committee in Sankhuwasabha District in the Kosi Zone of north-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census
The 1991 Nepal census was a widespread national census conducted by the Nepal Central Bureau of St ...
VDC.
Further reading
*Gerber, Pascal; Selin Grollmann (2020).
A field report on Sam Rai (Kiranti)'. ICSTLL 53.
*Bickel, Balthasar/Martin Gaenszle (2015). ‘First person objects, antipassives, and the political history of the Southern Kirant’. In: ''Journal of South Asian Languages and Linguistics'' 2.1. 63–86.
*van Driem, George (2001). ''Languages of the Himalayas''. An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region. 2 vols. Leiden/Boston/Köln: Brill.
*Gaenszle, Martin (2000). ''Origins and Migrations. Kinship, Mythology and Ethnic Identity among the Mewahang Rai of East Nepal''. Kathmandu: Mandala Book Point.
*Hanßon, Gerd (1991). ''The Rai of Eastern Nepal: Ethnic and Linguistic Grouping. Findings of the Linguistic Survey of Nepal''. Kirtipur: Linguistic Survey of Nepal/Centre for Nepal/Asian Studies, Tribhuvan University.
References
Kiranti languages
Languages of Nepal
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