Sunwar language

1. District Rāmechāp and Okhaldhū۠ngā
2. Kũbhu Kãsthālī, Rāmechāp
3. Pahare, Rāmechāp and Vacul, Okhaldhū۠ngā

A cluster of Sunwars villages are located around the region of the core spoken language. In the northern area, the village of Kũbhu Kãsthālī in Rāmechāp where a small group are speakers of Sunwar. Whereas the southern border, villages Pahare in Ramechap and Vacpu in Okhaldhū۠ngā the majority of the Sunwar speakers live in this region. According to Borchers, there are other villages located outside of the core region. The Surel are claimed to be Sunwar speakers however there are no certainties that it is true.

The Sunwar language is commonly spoken in the districts of Rāmechāp and Okhaldhū۠ngā distant from the Nepalese road system.[6] Therefore, many Sunwar households are farmers, own a small lot of land and livestock. Moreover, each village often visits their neighboring village markets to purchase inaccessible goods such as spices, sugar, tea, and salt.

Small groups of Sunwar speakers located in Nepal

Likhu Khola river

The Sunwar villages are scattered alongside the river banks of Likhu river. Located 1,800 meters above sea level, their fields aren’t all fallow from year round cultivation.[6] (Borchers, 2008) In the winter, they experience no snow but freezing temperatures. In warmer weather, they experience a lot of rainfall, in the summer, monsoon rainfall. Especially between June and August, it is when they

experience the most rain, more so monsoon rainfall.

जेँःतिच ब्रेःसे (jẽtica brese)

The trill mark ् represents, Jenticha sign virama- sangmilu, halant. It is used to silent the vowel after the consonant.[7] The trill mark ँ, is known as taslathenk, it corresponds to the diacritic ँ candravindu in devanagari.[7]

The Sunwar language has a mid-sized arrangement of twenty-two consonantal phonemes:

According to Borchers,[6] there are eleven vowel phonemes in Sunwar:

<a> [a~ɑ], /ā / [aː], /e/ [e~ɛ], /i/ [i], /o/ [o], /u/ [u], / ū/ [uː~y], /ã/ [ã~ɑ̃], /ã̄/ [ãː], /ẽ/ [ẽ~ɛ̃], /ĩ/ [ĩ]

Vowels with bar - Represents long vowels

Vowels with tilde -  Represents short nasalized vowels

Vowels with bar and tilda - Represents long and nasalized vowels

There are a total of eight diphthongs in Sunwar: /ai/ [aɪ], /aĩ/ [aɪ̃], /au/ [au], /eu/ [eu], /oi/ [oi], /oĩ/ [oĩ], /ui/ [ui], /uĩ/ [uĩ]

According to Borchers,[6] a principled way to distinguish diphthongs from a sequence of two monophthongs does not exist in the Sunwar language.

As exemplified by Borchers,[6] this table consists of examples of contrasts between diphthongs:

Syllable Structure of Sunwar: C₁(C₂)V₁(V₂)(C₃)(C₄)

According to Borchers,[6] “all case markers in the Sunwar language are suffixes.”

As exemplified by Borchers,[6] this table consists of the noun case markers.

A dual marker can be associated with dual/pair or the cardinal number ‘two’. [6]

Example of dual marker by Borchers:[6]

In the Sunwar language, both nouns and pronouns can be marked as dual or plural.

In addition items in a group can be marked plural. [6]

Examples of the plural marker used to point at items in a group by Borchers: [6]

According to Borchers,[6] the Sunwar language does not have a zero morpheme, but it can still indicate the number amount of something through verbal agreement markers or numerals.

Example of the absent marker by Borchers:[6]

According to Borchers,[6] the possessive suffix <-ke> is attached to a human or animate agent to indicate a possessive relationship.

Examples of the possessive <-ke> by Borchers:[6]

According to Borchers,[6] inanimate subjects are marked with the possessive suffix <-ke> to indicate what it is ‘made of’. Example of possessive <-ke> indicating what it is ‘made of’ by Borchers:[6]

Quantifiers in the Sunwar language are loaned from Nepali. Quantifiers are used for amounts or masses.[6] As exemplified by Borchers,[6] this table consists of quantifiers; including some that are loaned from Nepali.

Examples of quantifiers that indicate amounts or masses by Borchers: [6]

According to Borchers,[6] adjectives can belong to the verbal noun form, with an attached <-⟆o>. In the Sunwar language, some adjectives are borrowed from Nepali.

Borchers also notes that adjectives can belong to the form/term color. [6] As exemplified by Borchers, this table consists of the color form/terms.[6]

The Sunwar language has a category for adjectives under the form ‘others’, that are not verbal nouns. In addition, some adjectives may be interchangeable as an adverb. [6] As exemplified by Borchers, this table consists of the adjectives that are not verbal nouns ending in <-⟆o> form/terms.[6]

Examples of adjectives that are not verbal nouns ending in <-⟆o> by Borchers: [6]

As exemplified by Borchers, this table consists of particles in correlation to various relationships. [6]

According to Borchers, the Sunwar language borrows particles from Nepali that indicate the relationship between clauses.[6] Examples of postpositional particles by Borchers:[6]

Example by Borchers: [6]

Examples of order: Subject/Object/Verb by Borchers[6]