Non-pronominalised Himalayan languages. Lepcha-Tamang-Gurung-Newari-Mangar-Sunwar

128 Pages·0.817 MB·Nepali

NON-PRONOMINALISED HIMALAYAN
LANGUAGES
LEPCHA-TAMANG-GURUNG-NEWARI-MANGARI-SUNWAR

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LEPCHA

S.GANESH BASKARAN

1. INTRODUCTION

The present study gives out the grammatical sketch of Lepcha language spoken in
Sikkim state based on the data collected during the field investigation from June 1997 to
September 1997.

1.1 FAMILY AFFILIATION

According to Grierson (1909: Vol. III) Lepcha Language belongs to the Non-
Pronominalized Himalayan group of TibetoBurman sub family. As per the subsequent
classification by Paul Benedict Lepcha (in Sikkim) belongs to the “Himalayan” group of
“Tibetan –Kanauri (Bodish-Himalaya)” branch of Tibeto Burman sub-family. [Benedict:
1972]

1.2 LOCATION

According to G. A. Grierson 1909 (reprint 1967,p-233) the Lepchas are considered
as the oldest inhabitants of Sikkim. They are also found in Western Bhutan, Eastern
Nepal and in Darjeeling district of West Bengal. In Indian Census the Lepcha is returned
mainly from Sikkim and West Bengal.

1.3 SPEAKERS STRENGTH
Language-Mother Tongue- Bilingualism

The speakers’ strength of Lepcha in respect of language / mother tongue and
bilingualism/ trilingualism as per 2001 Census publication is given below.

Language

LEPCHA TOTAL M F RURAL M F URBAN M F
INDIA 50,629 26,111 24,518 48,295 24,954 23,341 2,334 1,157 1,177
Sikkim 35,728 18,505 17,223 34,289 17,753 16,536 1,439 752 687

Mother tongue

LEPCHA TOTAL M F RURAL M F URBAN M F
INDIA 50,629 26,111 24,518 48,295 24,954 23,341 2,334 1,157 1,177
Sikkim 35,728 18,505 17,223 34,289 17,753 16,536 1,439 752 687
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1.4. BILINGULISM

As returned in 2001 Census out of 35728 Lepcha speakers in Sikkim 26620 are the
bilinguals and they are bi-linguals in the following languages in descending order.

Language of
Sl. Language of Trilingualism
Total Male Female Total Male Female
No Bilingualism among the
Bilingualism
1 Nepali 21013 10956 10057 i. Hindi 2605 1516 1089
ii.English 1391 772 619
iii.Bhotia 1206 698 508
iv.Limbu 86 42 44
v.Tibetan 48 42 6
vi.Sherpa 13 3 10
vii.Tamang 4 1 3
viii.Rai 1 0 1
ix. Others @ 42 26 16

2 English 2702 1532 1170 i.Hindi 1294 740 554
ii.Nepali 1145 645 500
iii.Bhotia 28 16 12
iv.Limbu 5 2 3
v.Tibetan 2 2 0
vi.Others @ 8 6 2

3 Bhotia 1423 777 646 i. Nepali 915 517 398
ii.Tibetan 4 4 0
iii.Sherpa 1 1 0
iv.Others @ 27 18 9

4 Hindi 1357 761 596 i. Nepali 670 374 296
ii.English 328 181 147
iii.Bhotia 25 11 14
iv.Limbu 4 2 2
v.Tibetan 3 3 0
vi.Others @ 8 6 2

5 Tibetan 34 27 7 i. Nepali 20 19 1
ii.Bhotia 1 1 0
iii.Others @ 2 2 0
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6 Limbu 27 14 13 i. Nepali 19 10 9

7 Rai 3 1 2 i.Nepali 1 0 1
ii.Limbu 1 1 0

8 Sherpa 5 1 4 I.Nepali 3 0 3
ii.Hindi 1 1 0

9 Tamang 1 1 0 0 0 0 0

9 Total of Others # 55 29 26 i.Nepali 6 3 3
ii.Others @ 3 2 1

Accordingly 74.51% are bilinguals among the Lepcha speakers of Sikkim.

# Under the languages of Bilingualism the clubbed Total of Others comprise of
Bilingual speakers strength in relevant languages below 100. But in the states of
Sikkim the languages like Nepali, Bhotia, Limbu, Lepcha, Sherpa, Tibetan,
Tamang and Rai are the most important languages. So, the bilingual strength in
respect of these languages, even if it is below 100 speakers, have been taken
separately and not clubbed under "Total of Others"

@ Under the head Trilingualism the clubbed Others comprise of trilingual speakers
strength in relevant languages below 100. But in the states of Sikkim the
languages like Nepali, Bhotia, Limbu, Lepcha, Sherpa, Tibetan, Tamang and Rai
are the most important languages. So, the trilingual strength in respect of these
languages,even if it is below 100 speakers,have been taken separately and not
clubbed under "Others"

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1.5. SOCIOLINGUISTIC SETTING

The Lepchas who return their mother tongue as “Lepcha” or “Rong” call
themselves Rongkup or Mutanchi. Prior to 1641 Sikkim was ruled by Lepchas only who
are known as the original inhabitants of Sikkim. Risley (1891) mentioned two branches
among them – the Rong and Khamba-.

The Lepchas are divided into several exogamous patrilineal clans. They generally
follow endogamy at the community level, but marriages with the Bhotia are not
discouraged. Monogamy is the norm in Lepcha community.
Traditionally, the Lepchas were hunters, food gatheres and pastoralists. Now, of
course, they are primarily land owning cultivators. However, a few of them are found as
landless agricultural and non- agricultural labourers.

The Lepcha or Rong is a language of non-pronominalised Himalayan group of
Tibeto –Burman sub-family of Tibeto-Chinese Language family. They use mutencse rom
ameenam script. For the intergroup communication they use Nepali, and to some extent,
Hindi.
Lepachas are all Buddhist.
In Sikkim Lepchas are concentrated in Dzongu of North district mainly.
The Lepchas have their rich tradition of folklore and folk tales.

The sociolinguistic setting of Lepcha can be explained on the extent of its use as
mother tongue and the extent of use as other tongue in different domains.

Lepcha as a mother tongue is used in different domains like home, kin and
community. The use of mother tongue is related in three ways in descending order of
generation, that is, parent ego children in the home and extra kin situation. Thus in the
domain of locality the mother tongue is also in use. In the parent-ego-children
relationship the parents invariably interact in the mother tongue with the children and
also with the aged people. Since the children of these days are exposed to other languages
through education most often their speech is mixed with Nepali and with English. The
use of mother tongue is more between the aged people and among the middle aged
whereas among the young and between the young the use of mother tongue is
comparatively less. Among the women the use of mother tongue is more in comparison
to the men folk.

In the formal domains of Education, Administration, Judiciary and Mass media
the role of Lepcha as mother tongue is evident in the oral communication level.

In the domain of the Education in the rural and urban areas the verbal interaction
between the teacher and student and among the students in and outside the classroom in
Lepcha only. Lepcha language is taught as a subject in a graduate level.

In the Administration although all written correspondences are e through Nepali
and English, Lepcha is used as the medium of the verbal interaction between the staffs
and officials, between staffs and the public in the rural and semi urban areas. The state
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Government imparts training to the officials in Lepcha language for smooth running of
Administration and building up of a cordial relation with the Lepcha people.

In the level of Judiciary also Lepcha language is used in informal oral
communication in the lower courts during the cross examination of the convicts by the
Lawyers. Sometimes the Judge, if he is a local person, also interacts with the local people
in their respective language. The social workers of the registered organisations interact
with both the parties of litigation in the lower courts in Lepcha and helped them to come
to a possible settlement and to convince them.

In the domain of Mass media, Doordarshan and private television channel
telecast folk music riddles and stories in Lepcha language. Further the Government of
Sikkim encourages Lepcha people to continue their cultural programme in Lepcha in
respective festive occasions. The local magazines like Sikkim herald, Suttak 6 monthly
publishing the poems and stories. In the All India Radio news is broad casted in Lapcha
language.

The Sikkim Government patronises preparation of dictionary and glossaries in
Lepcha language and extends necessary financial aids to the welfare association of
Lepcha for the purpose. In 1876 George Byres Mainwaring published a grammar of
Lepcha language. Albert Gruen Wedel in 1898 edited and published one Lepcha-English
Dictionary.

Thus it is evident, through Nepali control the formal domains, but Lepcha being a
regional language by the motification of Sikkim official language Act 1977 of
Government of Sikkim, has a distinct socio linguistic impact in the State of Sikkim.

Lepcha possesses its own ancient script ‘mutencse rom ameenam’. The Lepcha
language is taught in the graduate level.

1.6 REVIEW OF EARLIER LITERATURE

According to G.A. Grierson (1909-reprint 1967-: p233). The Lepchas call
themselves Rong and are known to the Tibetans as Rong –pa or Mun –pa. Lepcha is a
nickname given to them by the Nepalese. According to Sikkim Gazetteer the local
pronunciation of the word is Lepcha or Lepche. Dr. Waddell thinks that it is composed of
/lap/ ‘speech’ and /cha/ ‘vile and that it consequently means ‘vile speach’ and by
extention they have became ‘vile speakers’. Presently Lepcha word is used without
connotation.

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2. PHONOLOGY

There are 35 phonemes in Lepcha language of which 29 are consonants and 6 are
vowels as revealed by the field study . Tone is also phonemic in Lepcha.

2.1.1 SEGMENTAL PHONEMES

Vowels
Front central back

High i ɨ u

Mid e o

Low a*

* The italised /a/ actually represents the low front unrounded vowel /a/

Consonants

Consonants Bilabial Labio Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Dental
vl. vd. vl. vd. vl. Vd. vl. vd. vl. vd. vl. vd. vl. vd.
Stops p b t d T D c j k g
ʔ
Aspirants ph th kh
Affricates C J
Fricatives f s z S’ h
Nasals m n M
Laterals l
Trills /flap r R
Semivowels w y

2.1.2 SUPRA SEGMENTAL PHONEMES
Tones
There are three tones found namely rising tone, level tone and falling tone.
Examples for Tones:

Mó ‘wound’ ‘rising tone’
mo ‘man’ ‘level tone’
mò ‘to worship’ ‘falling tone’

sí ‘wake up’ ‘rising tone’
si ‘to see’ ‘level tone’
sì ‘settlement’ ‘falling tone’
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Contrasting pairs
Vowel

/ i ~ e /
íM ‘husband’s brother’s wife
ér ‘skin of the fruit’
acìr ‘ray’
achek ‘ankle’
/ i ~ ɨ /
kìrkɨ ‘breast’
kɨyít ‘beard’
/ a ~ o /
ák ‘open (door)’
ót ‘pick (fruit)’
asàk ‘asthma’
azòM ‘elder sisters husband’

/ o ~ u /
op ‘shoot’
uM ‘water’
bagòk ‘foam’
pudùk ‘dust’
arwó ‘husband’
akú ‘fathers brother’

Consonants

/ b ~ b /
pudùk ‘dust’
bagòk ‘foam’

/ t ~ d /
tɨgé ‘chin’
dóm ‘leprosy’

/ T ~ D /
Túzo ‘morning food’
DóM ‘bench’

/ k ~ g /
kiM ‘hill’
gyák ‘itch
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/ k ~ ʔ /
kuM ‘tree’
ʔ íM ‘younger brother’
kóbu ‘main’
ʔ imo ‘wound’

/ p ~ ph /
pudùk ‘dust’
phuyùk ‘storm’

/ t ~ th /
tibók ‘belly’
thóp ‘ladle’

/ k ~ kh /
kɨ zòk ‘index’
khibù ‘skeleton’

/ C ~ J / Cɨ sim ‘crocodile’
Jùm ‘mown’

/ c ~ j / cizùk ‘brew’
jachòM ‘family’

/ f ~ p / fópoM ‘birds’
pinkòk ‘feather’

/ s ~ z / soMfúm ‘dawn’
zo ‘paddy’

/ s ~ S’/ somí ‘weather’
S’ó ‘rain’

/ k ~ h / kiM ‘hill’
hóm ‘vomit’

/ m ~ n / món ‘flesh’
nuM ‘visiting relatives’

/ m ~ M/
mitheM ‘mistakes’
Múci ‘dried fish’
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