Khaling language

Khaling
khāliṅ
खालिङ
Native toNepal
RegionSolukhumbu and Khotang districts
EthnicityKhaling Rai
Native speakers
14,467 in Nepal (2011 census)
unknown number in India
Sino-Tibetan
Devanagari
Language codes
ISO 639-3klr
Glottologkhal1275
ELPKhaling

Khaling (kʰɛ̂l brâː ख्या:ल् ब्रा:) is a Kiranti language spoken in Solukhumbu district, Nepal and Sikkim, Darjeeling, and Kalimpong in India. It is one of the few Kiranti languages with tonal contrasts, which are of secondary origin.

Khaling has approximately 15,000 speakers and is therefore considered a vulnerable language. Khaling has a complex system of stem alternations: as many as 10 distinct stems have to be posited for a word (Jacques et al. 2012). Khaling is very unusual in having an auditory demonstrative (see Jacques and Lahaussois 2014). Khaling is also known as Rai, Khalinge Rai, Khael Bra, and Khael Baat.

General information

Khaling is still being acquired by children who live in Khaling-speaking areas, as well as non-Khaling children who happen to live in that area.

Geographical distribution

Khaling is spoken in the following VDC's of Nepal (Ethnologue).

Phonology

Vowels

Vowel phonemes
Front Central Back
unrounded rounded unrounded rounded
short long short long short long short long
High i ⟨इ⟩ iː ʉ ⟨अ्यु⟩ ʉː u ⟨उ⟩ uː
High-mid e ⟨ए⟩ eː ɵ ⟨अ्यो⟩ ɵː o ⟨ओ⟩ oː
Low-mid ɛ ⟨अ्या⟩ ɛː ʌ ⟨अ⟩ oɔ ⟨अ्वा⟩
Low ä ⟨आ⟩ äː

Consonants

Khaling consonant phonemes
Bilabial Dental alveolar Velar Glottal
Nasal m ⟨म⟩ n ⟨न⟩ ŋ ⟨ङ⟩
Affricate voiceless unaspirated p ⟨प⟩ t̪ ⟨त⟩ ts ⟨च⟩ k ⟨क⟩ ʔ ⟨अ्⟩
aspirated pʰ ⟨फ⟩ t̪ʰ ⟨थ⟩ tsʰ ⟨छ⟩ kʰ ⟨ख⟩
voiced unaspirated b ⟨ब⟩ d̪ ⟨द⟩ dz ⟨ज⟩ ɡ ⟨ग⟩
aspirated bʱ ⟨भ⟩ d̪ʱ ⟨ध⟩ dzʱ ⟨झ⟩ ɡʱ ⟨घ⟩
Fricative s ⟨स⟩ h x ⟨ह⟩
Trill r ⟨र⟩
Lateral l ⟨ल⟩
Frictionless continuant w ⟨व⟩ j ⟨य⟩

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Khaling at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ↑ Jacques, Guillaume; Lahaussois, Aimée; Michailovsky, Boyd; Rai, Dhan Bahadur (2012). "An Overview of Khaling Verbal Morphology". Language and Linguistics. 13 (6): 1095–1170. ProQuest 1525426362.
  3. ↑ Jacques, Guillaume (2016). "Tonogenesis and tonal alternations in Khaling". In Palancar, Enrique L.; Léonard, Jean Léo (eds.). Tone and Inflection: New Facts and New Perspectives. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. pp. 41–66. ISBN 978-3-11-045275-4.
  4. ↑ "Did you know Khaling is vulnerable?". Endangered Languages. Archived from the original on 2016-06-10. Retrieved 2016-05-01.

Further reading