Rajbanshi language (Nepal)
Appearance
Rajbanshi | |
---|---|
राजबंशी Tajpuria | |
Native to | Nepal |
Region | Jhapa District, Morang District |
Ethnicity | Rajbanshi |
Native speakers | 170,000 (2011)[1] |
Devanagari | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Either:rjs – Rajbanshikyv – Kayort |
Glottolog | rajb1243 Rajbanshikayo1247 Kayort |
Rajbanshi (also called Tajpuria[3]) is a Bengali-Assamese language spoken in Nepal. It is related to, but distinct from Rangpuri/Kamta in Bangladesh and India, which is also known by the alternative name "Rajbanshi", with which it forms the KRNB cluster.[4]
Phonology
[edit]This section is based on Wilde 2008.
Consonants
[edit]Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stop | voiceless | p | t̪ | ʈ | k | ||
aspirated | pʰ | t̪ʰ | ʈʰ | kʰ | |||
voiced | b | d̪ | ɖ | ɡ | |||
breathy | bʱ | d̪ʱ | ɖʱ | ɡʱ | |||
Affricate | voiceless | ts | |||||
aspirated | tsʰ | ||||||
voiced | dz | ||||||
breathy | dzʱ | ||||||
Fricative | s | (ʃ) | h | ||||
Nasal | plain | m | n̪ | ŋ | |||
breathy | mʱ | n̪ʱ | ŋʱ | ||||
Trill | plain | r | |||||
breathy | rʱ | ||||||
Approximant | lateral | l | |||||
lateral br. | lʱ | ||||||
central | (w) | (j) |
- /ts, tsʰ, dz, dzʱ/ can often be heard as post-alveolar [tʃ, tʃʰ, dʒ, dʒʱ], when following back vowels.
- /r/ and /rʱ/ can have allophones of [ɽ ɾ] and [ɽʱ ɾʱ].
- /b/ can have allophones of [β w].
- /pʰ/ can also be realised as [f].
- /s/ can also have an allophone of [ʃ].
- /h/ can be realised as voiceless or voiced [ɦ] in word-initial positions.
- /n̪/ can be heard as alveolar [n] before an alveolar consonant, and as a retroflex [ɳ] when preceding a retroflex consonant.
- A word-final /r/ may tend to be voiceless [r̥].
- Central approximants [w j] occur, but are deemed allophones of /u i/.
Vowels
[edit]Front | Central | Back | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
High | i | u | ||
Mid | e | ʌ | o | |
Low | æ | (ɐ) |
In addition to these vowels, Rangpuri has the following diphthongs: /ie, iæ, iu, iʌ, ui, uæ, uʌ, ei, eu, æi, æu, ʌi, ʌu/.
- Vowels /i, e/ can have shortened allophones of [ɪ, ɛ].
- /æ/ can also be articulated more central as [ɐ, ä].
- /ʌ/ may also be heard as two sounds [ɜ, ə] in free variation.[5]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Rajbanshi at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019)
Kayort at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019) - ^ a b Toulmin, Mathew W S (2006). Reconstructing linguistic history in a dialect continuum: The Kamta, Rajbanshi, and Northern Deshi Bangla subgroup of Indo-Aryan (PhD). The Australian National University. p. 305.
- ^ Toulmin 2009, p. 16.
- ^ Toulmin 2009, p. 3.
- ^ Wilde 2008, p. [page needed].
References
[edit]- Toulmin, Mathew W. S. (2009). From linguistic to sociolinguistic reconstruction: the Kamta historical subgroup of Indo-Aryan (PDF). Pacific Linguistics 604. Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University. doi:10.15144/PL-604 (inactive 1 November 2024). hdl:1885/146752. ISBN 978-0-85883-604-4.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link) - Wilde, Christopher P. (2008). A Sketch of the Phonology and Grammar of Rājbanshi (Ph.D. thesis). University of Helsinki. hdl:10138/19290.