Bahing language

Bahing
Region	Nepal
Ethnicity	Bahing
Native speakers	12,000 (2011 census)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Mahakiranti (?) Kiranti Western Sunwari Bahing
Official status
Official language in	Nepal
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bhj
Glottolog	bahi1252
ELP	Bahing

Bahing (also known as Paiwa, Dungmowa, Rukhusalu, Waripsawa, Timriwa, Dhimriwa, Nayango, Dhayango, Khaliwa/Khaluwa, Rendukpa/Rendu, Rungbu) is a language spoken by 14449 people (census 2021) of the Bahing ethnic group in Nepal. It belongs to the family of Kiranti languages, a subgroup of Sino-Tibetan.

The group Rumdali is also known as Nechali among some of them.

Names

Ethnologue lists the following alternate names for Bahing: Baying, Ikke lo, Kiranti-Bahing, Pai Lo, Radu lo. Procha lo

Geographical distribution

Bahing is spoken in the following locations of Nepal (Ethnologue).

• Northeastern Okhaldhunga District, Sagarmatha Zone: Harkapur, Ragdip, Bigutar, Baruneswor, Okhaldhunga, Rumjatar, Barnalu, Mamkha, Ratmate, Serna, Diyale, and Bhadaure VDC's (Rumdali dialect)
• Mid-southeastern Okhaldhunga District: Ketuke, Moli, Waksa, and Ubu VDC's (Tolocha dialect)
• Southern tip of Solukhumbu District: Necha Batase and Salyan VDC's
• Khotang District

Dialects

According to Ethnologue, Bahing consists of the Rumdali, Nechali, Tolacha, Moblocha, and Hangu dialects, with 85% or above intelligibility among all dialects.

Documentation

The Bahing language was described by Brian Houghton Hodgson (1857, 1858) as having a very complex verbal morphology. By the 1970s, only vestiges were left, making Bahing a case study of grammatical attrition and language death.

Phonology

Bahing and the related Khaling language have synchronic ten-vowel systems. The difference of [mərə] "monkey" vs. [mɯrɯ] "human being" is difficult to perceive for speakers of even neighboring dialects, which makes for "an unlimited source of fun to the Bahing people" (de Boer 2002 PDF).

Vowels

Vowel phonemes

	Front		Central		Back
	unrounded		unrounded		unrounded		rounded
	short	long	short	long	short	long	short	long
High	i ⟨इ⟩	iː ⟨इः⟩			ɯ ⟨उ़⟩	ɯː ⟨उ़ः⟩	u ⟨उ⟩	uː ⟨उः⟩
High-mid	e ⟨ए⟩	eː ⟨एः⟩			ɤ ⟨ओ़⟩	ɤː ⟨ओ़ः⟩	o ⟨ओ⟩	oː ⟨ओः⟩
Low-mid	ɛ ⟨ए़⟩		ʌ ⟨अ⟩	ʌː ⟨अः⟩
Low			ä ⟨आ⟩	äː ⟨आः⟩

• Bahing language has no long vowel /ɛ/.

Consonants

Bahing consonant phonemes

			Bilabial	Dental	Apico- alveolar	Lamino- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal			m ⟨म⟩		n ⟨न⟩			ŋ ⟨ङ⟩
Plosive/ Affricate	implosive		ɓ ⟨ळ⟩
	voiceless	unaspirated	p ⟨प⟩	t̪ ⟨त⟩	t ⟨ट⟩	t͡s ⟨च⟩		k ⟨क⟩	ʔ
		aspirated	pʰ ⟨फ⟩	t̪ʰ ⟨थ⟩	tʰ ⟨ठ⟩	t͡sʰ ⟨छ⟩		kʰ ⟨ख⟩
	voiced	unaspirated	b ⟨ब⟩	d̪ ⟨द⟩	d ⟨ड⟩	d͡z ⟨ज⟩		ɡ ⟨ग⟩
		aspirated	bʱ ⟨भ⟩	d̪ʱ ⟨ध⟩	dʱ ⟨ढ⟩	d͡zʱ ⟨झ⟩		ɡʱ ⟨घ⟩
Fricative					s ⟨स⟩				ɦ ⟨ह⟩
Trill					r ⟨र⟩
Lateral					l ⟨ल⟩
Approximant			w ⟨व⟩				j ⟨य⟩

• Bahing has its unique sound /ɓ/ ळ.
• Nowadays use ट, ठ, ड, ढ, have disappeared or are less used.

Morphology

Hodgson (1857) reported a middle voice formed by a suffix -s(i) added to the verbal stem, corresponding to reflexives in other Kiranti languages.

External links

• Himalayan Languages Project