Gurung language

Selected ethnic groups of Nepal; Bhotia, Sherpa, Thakali, Gurung, Kiranti, Rai, Limbu, Nepal Bhasa, Pahari, Tamang

Gurung (also, Tamu Kyi, Devanagari:तमु क्यी) is spoken by the Gurung people in two dialects with limited mutual intelligibility. Total number of all Gurung speakers in Nepal is 227,918 (1991 census). There is no distinction between Gurung as an ethnic group and the number of people who actually speak the language.

Nepali, Nepal's official language, is an Indo-European language, whereas Gurung is a Sino-Tibetan language. Gurung are recognized as an official nationality by the Government of Nepal.

Geographical distribution

Gurung is spoken in the following districts of Nepal (Ethnologue).

• Gandaki Zone: Kaski District, Syangja District, Lamjung District, Tanahu District, and Gorkha District, and possibly Manang District
• Dhawalagiri Zone: Parbat district

Grammar

Some miscellaneous grammatical features of the Gurung languages are;

• SOV;
• postpositions;
• genitives;
• adjectives relatives before noun heads;
• numerals after noun heads;
• rising intonation in bipolar questions;
• 1 prefix on negative verbs;
• maximum number of suffixes 3;
• case of noun phrase shown by preposition;
• no subject or object referencing in verbs;
• split ergative system according to tense;
• causatives;
• benefactives;
• CV, CCV, CCCV;

Phonetically, Gurung languages are tonal.

Writing system

Gurung languages did not originally have a script but they can be written using Tibetan scripts adopted by many castes belonging to Mongolian races. This language is popular not among only gurung but also other castes.

See also

• Languages of Nepal
• Languages of Bhutan
• Manang Language Project of Kristine A. Hildebrandt
• Manang Language Archive at the University of Virginia Tibetan and Himalayan Library

References

Bibliography

• J. Burton-Page. (1955). Two studies in Gurungkura: I. tone; II. Rhotacization and retroflexion. Bulletin of the Society of Oriental and African Studies 111-19.
• Viktor S.Doherty. (1974). "The Organizing Principles of Gurung Kinship." Kailash. 2.4: 273-301.
• Warren W. Glover. (1970). Gurung tone and higher levels. Occasional Papers of the Wolfenden society on Tibeto-Burman Linguistics III, Tone systems of Tibeto-Burman languages of Nepal, Pt. I, ed. by Austin Hale and Kenneth L. Pike, 52-73. Studies in tone and phonological segments. Urbana: University of Illinois.
• Warren W. Glover. (1974). Sememic and Grammatical Structures in Gurung (Nepal). Publication No. 49. Norman, OK: SIL Publications.
• Warren W. Glover and Jessie Glover. (1972). A Guide to Gurung Tone. Kathmandu: Tribhuvan University and Summer Institute of Linguistics.
• Warren W. Glover and John K. Landon. (1980). "Gurung Dialects." In Papers in Southeast Asian Languages No. 7, edited by R.L. Trail et al., 9-77. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
• Kristine A. Hildebrandt, D.N. Dhakal, Oliver Bond, Matt Vallejo and Andrea Fyffe. (2015). “A sociolinguistic survey of the languages of Manang, Nepal: Co-existence and endangerment.” NFDIN Journal, 14.6: 104-122.
• Pettigrew, Judith. (1999). "Parallel Landscapes: Ritual and Political Values of a Shamanic Soul Journey" in Himalayan Space: Cultural Horizons and Practices, edited by Balthasar Bickel and Martin Gaenszle, 247-271. Zürich: Völkerkundsmuseum

Languages of Bhutan
Sino-Tibetan	Bodish Tibetic Dzongkha Ngalong Laya Brokkat Brokpa Chocangacakha Khams Tibetan Lakha Sikkimese East Bodish Bumthang Kheng Kurtöp Nupbikha Chali Dakpa Dzala Nyenkha Tshangla (Sharchop) Gurung Kiranti including Chamling Limbu Lepcha Newar Tamang Unclassified Gongduk Lhokpu 'Ole
Indo-Aryan	Nepali
Isolate	Bhutanese Sign Language

Languages of Nepal
Official language	Nepali
Indigenous languages	Sino-Tibetan Kiranti Bahing Bantawa Belhare Chamling Limbu Sampang Sunwar Thulung Vayu Waling Yakkha Magaric Bhujel Chepang Dura Kham Magar Tamangic Chantyal Gurung Manang Tamang Tibetic Jirel Kyirong-Kagate Mugomt Naapa Sherpa Sikkimese Yolmo Other Baram Dhimal Kaike Lepcha Newar Raji Raute Thangmi Indo-Aryan Angika Bhojpuri Danwar Doteli Jumli Maithili Rangpuri Tharu Other Kusunda Majhwar Mundari
Sign languages	Nepali Sign Language Ghandruk Sign Language Jhankot Sign Language Jumla Sign Language

Gurung language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator