Zoyeford at 20:20, 22 February 2026

2026-02-22T20:20:11Z

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article

2023-08-27T13:39:42Z

Created a new article

New page

{{Short description|Language family}}
{{Infobox language family
| name = Kiranti
| region = [[Eastern Nepal]] and [[India]] ([[Sikkim]], [[Darjeeling]], [[Kalimpong]] & [[Bhutan]]
| ethnicity = [[Kirati people|Kirati]], [[Rai people|Rai]], [[Yakkha people|Yakkha]], [[Limbu people|Limbu]], and [[Sunuwar people|Sunuwar]]
| familycolor = Sino-Tibetan
| fam2 = [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman]]
| fam3 = [[Mahakiranti languages|Mahakiranti]] (?)
| child2 = Eastern
| child3 = Central
| child4 = Western
| glotto = kira1253
| glottorefname = Kiranti
}}

The '''Kiranti languages''' are a major family of [[Sino-Tibetan languages]] spoken in [[Nepal]] and [[India]] (notably [[Sikkim]], [[Darjeeling]], [[Kalimpong]], and [[Bhutan]]) by the [[Kirati people]].

== External relationships ==
[[George van Driem]] had formerly proposed that the Kiranti languages were part of a [[Mahakiranti languages|Mahakiranti]] family, although specialists are not completely certain of either the existence of a Kiranti subgroup or its precise membership.<ref>Matisoff 2003, pp. 5-6; Thurgood 2003, pp. 15-16; Ebert 2003, pg. 505.</ref> LaPolla (2003), though, proposes that Kiranti may be part of a larger "[[Rung languages|Rung]]" group.

== Languages ==
There are about two dozen Kiranti languages. The better known are [[Limbu language|Limbu]], [[Sunuwar language|Sunuwar]], [[Bantawa|Bantawa Rai]], [[Chamling|Chamling Rai]], [[Khaling language|Khaling Rai]], [[Bahing language|Bahing Rai]], [[Yakkha language]], [[Wayu language|Vayu]], [[Dungmali language|Dungmali Rai]], [[Lohorung language|Lohorung Rai]] and [[Kulung language (Nepal)|Kulung Rai]].

Kiranti verbs are not easily segmentable, due in large part to the presence of [[portmanteau]] [[morpheme]]s, crowded [[affix]] strings, and extensive (and often nonintuitive) [[allomorph]]y.

=== Classification ===
Overall, Kiranti languages are:

* [[Limbu language|Limbu]]
* Eastern Kiranti
** Greater Yakkha
*** [[Yakkha language|Yakkha]]
*** [[Belhare language|Belhare Rai]]
*** [[Athpare language|Athpare Rai]]
*** [[Chintang language|Chintang Rai]]
*** [[Chulung language|Chulung Rai]]
** Upper Arun River
*** Yamphu-Lohorung Rai
**** [[Yamphu language|Yamphu Rai]]
**** [[Lohorung language|Lohorung Rai]]
*** [[Mewahang language|Mewahang Rai]]
*** ? [[Waling language|Waling Rai]] †
* Central
** Khambu (Rai)
*** [[Kulung language (Nepal)|Kulung Rai]]
*** [[Nachhiring language|Nachhiring Rai]]
*** [[Sampang language|Sampang Rai]]
*** [[Saam language|Saam Rai]]
** Southern
*** [[Bantawa language|Bantawa Rai]]
*** [[Puma language|Puma Rai]]
*** [[Chamling language|Chamling Rai]]
*** [[Dungmali language|Dungmali]]
* Western
** [[Thulung language|Thulung Rai]] (perhaps a primary branch of Kiranti Rai)
** Chaurasiya
*** [[Wambule language|Wambule Rai]]
*** [[Jerung language|Jerung Rai]]
** Upper Dudhkosi River:
*** [[Khaling language|Khaling Rai]]
*** [[Dumi language|Dumi Rai]]
*** [[Koi language|Koi Rai]]
** Northwestern
*** [[Bahing language|Bahing Rai]]
*** [[Sunuwar language|Sunuwar]]
*** [[Vayu language|Vayu]]

''Ethnologue'' adds [[Tilung language|Tilung Rai]] to Western Kiranti, based on Opgenort (2011).

=== Opgenort (2005) ===
Opgenort (2005)<ref>Opgenort, Jean Robert. [http://www.opgenort.nl/kiranti_database_project Comparative and Etymological Kiranti Database] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224040404/http://www.opgenort.nl/kiranti_database_project |date=2019-02-24 }}.</ref> classifies the Kiranti languages as follows, and recognizes a basic east-west division within Kiranti.

; Kiranti
* ''Western''
** [[Wayu language|Hayu]]
** (branch)
*** [[Thulung language|Thulung]]
*** (branch)
**** [[Bahing language|Bahing]], [[Sunuwar language|Sunuwar]]
**** [[Jerung language|Jero]], [[Wambule language|Wambule]]
* ''Eastern''
** [[Khaling language|Khaling]], [[Dumi language|Dumi]]
** (branch)
*** [[Yamphu language|Yamphu]], [[Limbu language|Limbu]]
*** (branch)
**** [[Kulung language (Nepal)|Kulung]]
**** [[Chamling language|Chamling]], [[Bantawa language|Bantawa]]

=== Gerber & Grollmann (2018) ===
[[Historical linguist]]s, as early as 2012, do not consider Kiranti to be a coherent group, but rather a [[paraphyletic]] one due to lack of [[shared innovation]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Agreement Morphology: The Case of Rgyalrongic and Kiranti |first=Guillaume |last=Jacques |date=2012|journal=Language and Linguistics|url=https://www.ling.sinica.edu.tw/item/en?act=journal&code=download&article_id=380|page=84}}</ref> Gerber & Grollmann (2018) gave a formal proof of the paraphyletic nature of Kiranti. A Central-Eastern Kiranti group is considered to be valid by Gerber & Grollmann (2018), but they consider "Western Kiranti" unclassified within [[Trans-Himalayan languages]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gerber |first1=Pascal |last2=Grollmann |first2=Selin |title=What is Kiranti?: A Critical Account |journal=Bulletin of Chinese Linguistics |date=20 November 2018 |volume=11 |issue=1-2 |pages=99–152 |doi=10.1163/2405478X-01101010 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

* Central-Eastern Kiranti
** [[Lhokpu language|Lhokpu]], [[Dhimal language|Dhimal]], [[Toto language|Toto]]
** Central Kiranti
** Upper Arun
** Greater Yakkha-[[Limbu language|Limbu]]

Independent branches (formerly part of "Western Kiranti") that are unclassified within Trans-Himalayan (Sino-Tibetan):
* [[Dumi language|Dumi]]-[[Khaling language|Khaling]]
* Chaurasiya-Northwest: [[Wambule language|Wambule]], [[Bahing language|Bahing]], [[Sunuwar language|Sunuwar]]; ? [[Jerung language|Jero]]; ? [[Wayu language|Hayu]]
* [[Thulung language|Thulung]]-[[Tilung language|Tilung]]-[[Koi language|Kohi]]

==== Sound changes ====
[[Sound change]]s defining each subgroup (Gerber & Grollmann 2018):
* Central-Eastern Kiranti (*voiceless > preglottalised; *voiced > voiceless; *ʔk > kʰ; *ʔc > cʰ)
** Lhokpu, Dhimal, Toto
** Central Kiranti (*ʔp > b; *ʔt > d)
** Upper Arun (*ʔp > b; *ʔt > d; *r > j)
** Greater Yakkha-Limbu (*ʔp > pʰ; *ʔt > tʰ; *r > j)

Independent branches (formerly part of "Western Kiranti") that are unclassified within Trans-Himalayan (Sino-Tibetan):
* Dumi-Khaling (innovative verbal dual marker -i)
* Chaurasiya-Northwest (*kʷ > ʔw ~ ʔb)
** Wambule, Bahing, Sunuwar; ? Jero; ? Hayu
* Thulung-Tilung-Kohi (*p > t; *b > d)

== Reconstruction ==
Research on proto-Kiranti includes work on phonology and comparative morphology by van Driem,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=van Driem |first1=George |title=The Fall and Rise of the Phoneme /r/ in Eastern Kiranti: Sound Change in Tibeto-Burman |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |date=1990 |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=83–86 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X00021273 |jstor=618970 |s2cid=128967034 }}</ref> reconstructions by Michailovsky (1991)<ref>Michailovsky, Boyd. 1991. [http://stedt.berkeley.edu/~stedt-cgi/rootcanal.pl/source/BM-PK7 ''Big black notebook of Kiranti, proto-Kiranti forms'']. (unpublished ms. contributed to STEDT).</ref> and Sergei Starostin 1994.<ref>Starostin, Sergei A. 1994-2000. Proto-Kiranti reconstruction (online
database). http://starling.rinet.ru/</ref> Michailovsky and Starostin differ by the number of stop series reconstructed (three vs four) and the interpretation of the correspondences.

Opgenort introduces the reconstruction of preglottalized resonants;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Opgenort |first1=Jean-Robert |year=2004 |url=http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/opgenort2004implosive.pdf |title=Implosive and preglottalized stops in Kiranti |journal=Linguistics of the Tibeto–Burman Area |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=1–27 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Opgenort |first1=Jean Robert |title=A Grammar of Jero: With a Historical Comparative Study of the Kiranti Languages |date=2005 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-474-1508-4 }}{{pn|date=July 2022}}</ref> his reconstruction is generally based on Starostin's four series system. More recently, Jacques proposed reconstruction of proto-Kiranti verb roots in a framework following Michailovsky's system,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jacques |first1=Guillaume |title=A reconstruction of Proto-Kiranti verb roots |journal=Folia Linguistica |date=27 November 2017 |volume=51 |issue=s38–s1 |pages=177–215 |doi=10.1515/flih-2017-0007 |s2cid=149278651 |url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01731021/file/proto-kiranti.pdf }}</ref> and analyzes the other initial correspondences (in particular, the series reconstructed as non-aspirated unvoiced stops by Starostin) as due to morphological alternations and inter-Kiranti borrowing. In addition, he presents a preliminary discussion of the reconstruction of stem alternation and stress patterns on the basis of Khaling and Dumi.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1515/9783110452754-003 |chapter=Tonogenesis and tonal alternations in Khaling |title=Tone and Inflection |year=2016 |last1=Jacques |first1=Guillaume |pages=41–66 |isbn=978-3-11-045275-4 |chapter-url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01486954/file/Jacques2016_KhalingTonogenesis.pdf }}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |first=George |last=van Driem |date=2001 |title=Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden, The Netherlands |doi=10.1163/9789004514911}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Bickel |first1=Balthasar |last2=Banjade |first2=Goma |last3=Gaenszle |first3=Martin |last4=Lieven |first4=Elena |last5=Paudyal |first5=Netra Prasad |last6=Rai |first6=Ichchha Purna |last7=Rai |first7=Manoj |last8=Rai |first8=Novel Kishore |last9=Stoll |first9=Sabine |title=Free Prefix Ordering in Chintang |journal=Language |date=2007 |volume=83 |issue=1 |pages=43–73 |doi=10.1353/lan.2007.0002 |jstor=4490337 |s2cid=54992476 }}
* Tara Mani Rai (2015). "A Grammar of Koyee" Ph.D. diss. Tribhuvan University. https://www.amazon.com/Grammar-Koyee-Tara-Mani-Rai/dp/3969391121
* {{cite book |last1=Matisoff |first1=James A. |title=Handbook of Proto-Tibeto-Burman: System and Philosophy of Sino-Tibetan Reconstruction |date=2003 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-09843-5 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/19d79619 }}
* {{cite book |first=Graham |last=Thurgood |date=2003 |chapter=A Subgrouping of the Sino-Tibetan Languages: The Interaction between Language Contact, Change, and Inheritance |title=The Sino-Tibetan Languages |publisher=Routledge |pages=3–21 |editor1-first=Randy J. |editor1-last=LaPolla |editor2-first=Graham |editor2-last=Thurgood |isbn=9780203221051}}
* {{cite book |first=Karen H. |last=Ebert |date=2003 |chapter=Kiranti Languages: An Overview |pages=3–21, 505–517 |title=The Sino-Tibetan Languages |publisher=Routledge |editor1-first=Randy J. |editor1-last=LaPolla |editor2-first=Graham |editor2-last=Thurgood |isbn=9780203221051}}

'''Reconstructions'''
* Michailovsky, Boyd. 1991. ''[http://stedt.berkeley.edu/~stedt-cgi/rootcanal.pl/source/BM-PK7 Big black notebook of Kiranti, proto-Kiranti forms]''. (unpublished ms. contributed to STEDT).
* {{cite journal | surname = Opgenort | given = Jean Robert | title = A note on Tilung and its position within Kiranti | journal = Himalayan Linguistics | year = 2011 | volume = 10 | issue = 1 | pages = 253–271 | url = https://escholarship.org/uc/item/32j1n5s7 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Jacques |first=Guillaume |title=A reconstruction of Proto-Kiranti verb roots |journal=Folia Linguistica |volume=51 |issue=38 (supplement nr. 1) |date=2017 |pages=177-215 |doi=10.1515/flih-2017-0007 |url=https://www.academia.edu/23687367/Proto-Kiranti_database_}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
* Ebert, K. 1994. The structure of Kiranti languages, comparative grammar and texts: Kiranti subordination in the South Asian areal context. Zürich: Arbeiten des Seminars für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (ASAS).
* {{cite journal |last=Lahaussois |first=Aimée |title=Ideophonic patterns in Kiranti languages and beyond |journal=Folia Linguistica |volume=57 |issue=1 |date=2023 |pages=1-36 |doi=10.1515/flin-2022-2053}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.opgenort.nl/kiranti_database_project Kiranti Database Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224040404/http://www.opgenort.nl/kiranti_database_project |date=2019-02-24 }} (Jean Robert Opgenort)

{{Sino-Tibetan languages}}
{{Kiranti languages}}
{{Languages of Nepal}}

[[Category:Kiranti languages| ]]
[[Category:Languages of Koshi Province]]

Kiranti languages - Revision history

Zoyeford at 20:20, 22 February 2026

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article