Himalayan Languages

Himalayan Languages
Author: Anju Saxena
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages: 445
Release: 2011-05-12
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 311089887X

With its many and diverse languages, including some with very long documented histories, its cultural diversity, and its widespread multilingualism- both the stable and transient kind- the Himalayan region is a treasure trove of empirical data for linguistic research on language typology and universals, historical linguistics, language contact and areal linguistics. Himalayan Languages contains contributions on Himalayan linguistics written by some of the leading experts in the field. The volume is divided into three parts: First, a general overview is given of the linguistic study of Himalayan languages and language communities. The second part offers synchronic studies of individual languages of the region (Indo-Aryan languages Shina and Kalasha, and Tibeto-Burman languages Belhare, Magar, Kinnauri, Classical Tibetan and Thangmi). The papers in the third part of the volume address topics in historical and areal linguistics, with an emphasis on the Tibeto-Burman languages of the region, discussing grammaticalization processes (in Sunwar, Newar, Seke, Tshangla and Bantawa) and the subgrouping of Tibeto-Burman.

Trans-Himalayan Linguistics

Trans-Himalayan Linguistics
Author: Thomas Owen-Smith
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages: 452
Release: 2013-12-12
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 311031083X

The Himalaya and surrounding regions are amongst the world's most linguistically diverse places. Of an estimated 600 languages spoken here at Asia's heart, few are researched in depth and many virtually undocumented. Historical developments and relationships between the region's languages also remain poorly understood. This book brings together new work on under-researched Himalayan languages with investigations into the complexities of the area's linguistic history, offering original data and perspectives on the synchrony and diachrony of the Greater Himalayan Region. The volume arises from papers given and topics discussed at the 16th Himalayan Languages Symposium in London in 2010. Most papers focus on Tibeto-Burman languages. These include topics relating to individual - mostly small and endangered - languages, such as Tilung, Shumcho, Rengmitca, Yongning Na and Tshangla; comparative research on the Tibetic, East Bodish and Tamangic language groups; and several papers whose scope covers the whole language family. The remaining paper deals with the origins of Burushaski, whose genetic affiliation remains uncertain. This book will be of special interest to scholars of Tibeto-Burman, and historical as well as general linguists.

Languages of the Greater Himalayan Region, Volume 4: A Grammar of Kulung

Languages of the Greater Himalayan Region, Volume 4: A Grammar of Kulung
Author: Gerard Tolsma
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2006-05-01
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9047418166

This book is the first description of Kulung, a complex-pronominalising Kiranti (Tibeto-Burman) language spoken in eastern Nepal. This grammar of Kulung is an exhaustive reference work for Tibeto-Burman linguistics, language typology, and linguistic theory.

Himalayan Languages and Linguistics

Himalayan Languages and Linguistics
Author: Mark Turin
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 331
Release: 2011-04-21
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 9004194487

Himalayan Languages and Linguistics is an edited collection of new and unpublished primary research findings, some fresh from the field and others derived from comparative textual material, on the Tibeto-Burman, Indo-Aryan and Austroasiatic languages of this important and underdocumented mountainous region.

A Grammar Of Lepcha

A Grammar Of Lepcha
Author: Heleen Plaisier
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2007
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9004155252

This highly readable book is the first comprehensive reference grammar of the Lepcha language of Darjeeling, Sikkim and Kalimpong. This grammar explains the structure of the language, its sound system and salient features, and includes a lexicon and cultural history.

How Languages Work

How Languages Work
Author: Carol Genetti
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 677
Release: 2014-01-23
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1107782570

A new and exciting introduction to linguistics, this textbook presents language in all its amazing complexity, while guiding students gently through the basics. Students emerge with an appreciation of the diversity of the world's languages, as well as a deeper understanding of the structure of human language, the ways it is used, and its broader social and cultural context. Chapters introducing the nuts and bolts of language study (phonology, syntax, meaning) are combined with those on the 'functions' of language (discourse, prosody, pragmatics, and language contact), helping students gain a better grasp of how language works in the real world. A rich set of language 'profiles' help students explore the world's linguistic diversity, identify similarities and differences between languages, and encourages them to apply concepts from earlier chapter material. A range of carefully designed pedagogical features encourage student engagement, adopting a step-by-step approach and using study questions and case studies.

A Grammar of Dhimal

A Grammar of Dhimal
Author: King John T.
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 634
Release: 2009
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9004175733

The present work, a grammar of Dhimal, fills an important void in the documentation of the vast and ramified Tibeto-Burman language family. Dhimal, a little known and endangered tongue spoken in the lowlands of southeastern Nepal by about 20,000 individuals, is detailed in this work. With data gathered in the village of hiy b r , the author crafts a readable description of the western dialect, using over 1000 examples to illustrate usage. Included in this reference work are seventeen texts, riddles, songs and a Dhimal-English glossary. Joining other recent ground-breaking linguistic descriptions by researchers from the Himalayan Languages Project at Leiden University, this grammar of Dhimal will have lasting scientific value and aid the Dhimal community in preserving their language.

A grammar of Japhug

A grammar of Japhug
Author: Guillaume Jacques
Publisher: Language Science Press
Total Pages: 1596
Release: 2021
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 3961103054

Japhug is a vulnerable Gyalrongic language, which belongs to the Trans-Himalayan (Sino-Tibetan) family. It is spoken by several thousand speakers in Mbarkham county, Rngaba district, Sichuan province, China. This grammar is the result of nearly 20 years of fieldwork on one variety of Japhug, based on a corpus of narratives and conversations, a large part of which is available from the Pangloss Collection. It covers the whole grammar of the language, and the text examples provide a unique insight into Gyalrong culture. It was written with a general linguistics audience in mind, and should prove useful not only to specialists of Trans-Himalayan historical linguistics and typologists, but also to anthropologists doing research in Gyalrong areas. It is also hoped that some readers will use it to learn Japhug and pursue research on this fascinating language in the future.

The Linguistic Landscape of the Indian Himalayas

The Linguistic Landscape of the Indian Himalayas
Author: Anju Saxena
Publisher: Brill's Studies in South and S
Total Pages: 496
Release: 2022-05-25
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9789004512245

The book deals with the linguistic situation of Kinnaur - so far little described - whose Sino-Tibetan and Indo-Aryan languages are described both as independent entities and as parts of a multifaceted linguistic ecology, also in relation to a wider Himalayan context.