Bahing language

Bahing
Bahing
Region	Nepal
Ethnicity	Bahing
Native speakers	12,000 (2011 census)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Mahakiranti ? Kiranti Western Sunwari Bahing; ; ; ; ;
Official status
Official language in	Nepal
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bhj
Glottolog	bahi1252
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Bahing ancestors named Paiwa, Dungmowa, Rukhusalu, Waripsawa, Timriwa, Dhimriwa, Nayango, Dhayango, Khaliwa/Khaluwa, Rendukpa/Rendu, Rungbu/Rumdali/Diburcha/Thamrocha^[2]) is a language spoken by 11,658 people (2011 census) of the Bahing ethnic group in Nepal.^[3] It belongs to the family of Kiranti languages, a subgroup of Sino-Tibetan.

The group Rumdali is also known as Nechali among some of them.

NamesEdit

Ethnologue lists the following alternate names for Bahing: Baying, Ikke lo, Kiranti-Bahing, Pai Lo, Radu lo. Procha lo

Geographical distributionEdit

Bahing is spoken in the following locations of Nepal (Ethnologue).

Northeastern Okhaldhunga District, Sagarmatha Zone: Harkapur, Ragdip, Bigutar, Baruneswor, Okhaldhunga, Rumjatar, Barnalu, Mamkha, Ratmate, Serna, Diyale, and Bhadaure VDC's (Rumdali dialect)
Mid-southeastern Okhaldhunga District: Ketuke, Moli, Waksa, and Ubu VDC's (Tolocha dialect)
Southern tip of Solukhumbu District: Necha Batase and Salyan VDC's
Khotang District

DialectsEdit

According to Ethnologue, Bahing consists of the Rumdali, Nechali, Tolacha, Moblocha, and Hangu dialects, with 85% or above intelligibility among all dialects. Bahing is best understood by the most people.

DocumentationEdit

The Bahing language was described by Brian Houghton Hodgson (1857, 1858) as having a very complex verbal morphology. By the 1970s, only vestiges were left, making Bahing a case study of grammatical attrition and language death.

PhonologyEdit

Bahing and the related Khaling language have synchronic ten-vowel systems. The difference of [mərə] "monkey" vs. [mɯrɯ] "human being" is difficult to perceive for speakers of even neighboring dialects, which makes for "an unlimited source of fun to the Bahing people" (de Boer 2002 PDF).