Created by Ajay Kumar
Last edited August 24, 2023


Bugun
Khowa
Native toIndia
RegionArunachal Pradesh
EthnicityBugun (Khowa)
Native speakers
(900 cited 2001)e25
Language codes
ISO 639-3bgg
Glottologbugu1246

Bugun, also known as Khowa, is a small possible language isolate spoken in Arunachal Pradesh state of India by the Bugun. They numbered about 1,700 in 2011.

Classification[edit | edit source]

Bugun is classified as a Kho-Bwa language in Blench & Post (2013), although Blench (2015)[1] believes Bugun may actually be unrelated to the rest of the Kho-Bwa languages.

Dialects[edit | edit source]

Lieberherr & Bodt (2017)[2] list the following Bugun dialects along with their numbers of speakers.

  • Dikhyang (100 speakers)
  • Singchung (680 speakers)
  • Wangho (220 speakers)
  • Bichom (630 speakers)
  • Kaspi (80 speakers)
  • Namphri (180 speakers)

Distribution[edit | edit source]

Bugun is spoken in the following villages in southern West Kameng District, Arunachal Pradesh (Dondrup 1990:iv).[3] The total population numbered 800 in 1981. Names in parentheses are spellings as given in Ethnologue.

  • Wanghoo (Wangho)
  • Singchung
  • Kaspi (New Kaspi)
  • Lichini
  • Ramo (Ramu)
  • Namphri
  • Chithu (Situ)
  • Sachida (Sachita)
  • Pani-Phu
  • Ditching (Diching)
  • Dikhiyang (Dikiang)
  • Bicham (Bichom) (a recently founded hamlet)

Ethnologue also lists Mangopom village. These villages are located on the mountains on both sides of Rupa River, and are interspersed among Aka villages.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Blench, Roger. 2015. The Mey languages and their classification. Presentation given at the University of Sydney.
  2. Lieberherr, Ismael; Bodt, Timotheus Adrianus. 2017. Sub-grouping Kho-Bwa based on shared core vocabulary. In Himalayan Linguistics, 16(2).
  3. Dondrup, Rinchin. 1990. Bugun language guide. Itanagar: Directorate of Research, Government of Arunachal Pradesh.

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