Bumthang language
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| Bumthang | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Bhutan |
Native speakers | 20,000 (2011)[1] |
| Tibetan script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kjz |
| Glottolog | bumt1240 |
The Bumthang language (
Dzongkha: བུམ་ཐང་ཁ་, Wylie: bum thang kha); also called "Bhumtam", "Bumtang(kha)", "Bumtanp", "Bumthapkha", and "Kebumtamp") is an East Bodish language spoken by about 20,000 people in Bumthang and surrounding districts of Bhutan.[2][3] Van Driem (1993) describes Bumthang as the dominant language of central Bhutan.[3]
Dialects
The five dialects of Bumthang are ‘Ura, Tang, Chogor, Chunmat, and Nupbikha’.[4]
Related languages
Historically, Bumthang and its speakers have had close contact with speakers of the Kurtöp, Nupbi and Kheng languages, nearby East Bodish languages of central and eastern Bhutan, to the extent that they may be considered part of a wider collection of "Bumthang languages."[5][6][7]
Bumthang language is largely lexically similar with Kheng (98%),
Grammar
Bumthang is an
ergative–absolutive language. The ergative case is not used on every transitive subject, but, like in so many other languages of the region shows some optionality, discussed in detail by Donohue & Donohue (2016).[8]
| Absolutive | Ergative | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | singular | plural | |
| 1st | ngat | nget | ngai (ngaile) | ngei (ngeile) |
| 2st | wet | yin | wi (wile) | yinle |
| 3rd | khit | bot | khi (khile) | boi (boile) |
See also
References
- ^ Bumthang at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b c "Bumthangkha". Ethnologue Online. Dallas: SIL International. 2006. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
- ^ SOAS. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2010-11-01. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
- ISBN 978-2-490768-08-0.
- ISBN 9780906026441.
- ISBN 978-0-7007-1197-0.
- ISBN 978-3-11-017050-4.
- S2CID 147531925.
- ^ van Driem 1995, p. 13.
Bibliography
- van Driem, George (1995). Grammar of Bumthang - A Language of Central Bhutan. Dzongkha Development Commission.
- van Driem, George. 2015. Synoptic grammar of the Bumthang language. Himalayan Linguistics. Open access
External links
Wikivoyage has a phrasebook for Bumthangkha.
Sino-Tibetan branches | |||||
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| Western Himalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim) |
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| Eastern Himalayas (Tibet, Bhutan, Arunachal) | |||||
| Myanmar and Indo-Burmese border |
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| East and Southeast Asia |
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Arunachal ) |
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| Proposed groupings | |||||
| Proto-languages | |||||
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches. | |||||