Bokar language

Bokar
Bokar-Ramo
RegionArunachal Pradesh, Tibet
EthnicityLhoba
Sino-Tibetan
  • Tani
    • Eastern Tani
      • Bokar
Dialects
  • Bokar
  • Ramo
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
Glottologboka1249
ELPBokar
Bokar is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.

Bokar or Bokar-Ramo (IPA: [bɔk˭ar ɡɔm]; pinyin: Bogar Luoba) is a Tani language spoken by the Lhoba in West Siang district, Arunachal Pradesh, India (Megu 1990) and Nanyi Township 南伊珞巴民族乡, Mainling County, Tibet Autonomous Region, China (Ouyang 1985).

The Ramo dialect is spoken in Mechukha Subdivision and Monigong Circle (Badu 2004).

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar (Alveolo-)
palatal
Velar Glottal
plain pal.
Plosive voiceless p pʲ t k
voiced b bʲ d ɡ
Affricate voiceless tɕ
voiced dʑ
Fricative (s) ɕ h, (ɦ)
Nasal m mʲ n ɲ ŋ
Trill r
Approximant w l j

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i (ɨ) ɯ u
Mid e ə o
Open a

Writing system

Bokar is written in the Latin script in India and the Tibetan script in China.

IPA a b t͡ɕ ʈ͡ʂ d e ə g h ɦ i ɯ d͡ʑ k l m n ŋ n̠ʲ o p r ɕ t u w j ʔ
Latin a b c ch d e ë g h hh i ï j k l m n ng ny o p r s t u w y '
Tibetan ཨ བ ཙ ཅ ད ཨེ ག ཧ འ ཨི ཇ ཀ ལ མ ན ང ཉ ཨོ པ ར ས ཏ ཨུ ཝ ཡ N/A

Diphthongs are written as a digraph of there vowels, <y> is used to mark palatalization.

Glottal stops before vowels are unwritten in tibetan.

References

  1. ↑ Sun, Tianshin (1993). A Historical-comparative Study of the Tani (Mirish) Branch in Tibeto-Burman. p. 495.
  2. ↑ Ouyang, Jueya (1985). Luobazu yuyan jian zhi (Beng ni - Bo ga er yu) [珞巴族 语言 简 志 (崩 尼 - 博 嘎 尔 语)]. Minzu chubanshe [民族出版社].
  3. ↑ Megu, Shri Arak (1990). Bokar Language Guide. Itanagar: Directorate of Research, Government of Arunachal Pradesh.
  4. ↑ "ScriptSource - Luoba, Boga'er".
  5. ↑ "Bokar language, alphabet and pronunciation". www.omniglot.com. Retrieved 2026-02-11.