Kutang language

Endangered Tibeto-Burman language of Nepal
Kutang
Kuke
Native toNepal
EthnicityTamang people
Native speakers
29 (2011 census)[1]
Language family
Sino-Tibetan
  • (Tibeto-Burman)
    • Tamangic?
      • Ghale
        • Kutang
Language codes
ISO 639-3ght
Glottologkuta1241

Kutang, also known as Kutang Ghale, Kuke, and Kukay, is a minor Tibeto-Burman language of Nepal. Anthropologist Geoff Childs notes that "the term Kukay literally means "Language of Kutang," but it has a double meaning in that the first syllable - ku, for Kutang - is a homonym of the first sylllbe of the Tibetan word for their, kuma. Therefore, Kukay is also interpreted to mean "stolen language," since it incorporates words and phrases from several neighboring languages, including Tibetan."[2]

Locations

Kutang is spoken in Dyang, Rana, Bihi, Ghap, Chak, Kwak, and Krak villages of Bihi VDC, Gorkha District, Gandaki Province, Nepal (Ethnologue).

Dialects

There are three Kutang dialects, Bihi, Chak, and Rana, which have limited intelligibility. The varieties spoken in Chhak and Kwak villages are reportedly similar to each other, and different from the varieties spoken in all of the other villages.

References

  1. ^ Kutang at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Childs, Geoff (2004). Tibetan Diary. University of California Press. p. 22.
  • v
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Sino-Tibetan branches
Western Himalayas
(Himachal, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim)
Greater Magaric
Map of Sino-Tibetan languages
Eastern Himalayas
(Tibet, Bhutan, Arunachal)Myanmar and Indo-Burmese border
"Naga"
Sal
East and Southeast Asia
Burmo-Qiangic
Dubious (possible isolates)
(Arunachal)
Greater Siangic
Proposed groupingsProto-languages
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches.
  • v
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West Himalayish
(Kanauric)
Western
Kinnauric
Lahaulic
Eastern
Central
Almora
Bodish
Tibetic
Central Tibetan
Amdo
Kham (Eastern)
Southern
Western
Ladakhi–Balti (Western Archaic)
Lahuli–Spiti (Western Innovative)
Sherpa-Jirel
Kyirong–Kagate
Tshangla-East Bodish
Tshangla
East Bodish
Basum
Tamangic
TGTM
Ghale
Kaike