ʼOle language

ʼOle, also called ʼOlekha or Black Mountain Monpa, is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by about 1,000 people in the Black Mountains of Wangdue Phodrang and Trongsa Districts in western Bhutan. The term ʼOle refers to a clan of speakers.[3]

ʼOle
ʼOlekha, Monkha, Monpa, ʼOle Mönpa
Black Mountain Monpa
RegionBhutan
Native speakers
500 (2007)[1]
Tibetan script
Language codes
ISO 639-3ole
Glottologolek1239
ELPOlekha[2]
Rindzi Phup, one of the last speakers of the ʼOle Mönpa language. Photo by George van Driem

Locations

According to the Ethnologue, ʼOlekha is spoken in the following locations of Bhutan.

Dialects are separated by the Black Mountains.

Varieties

Black Mountain Monpa is spoken in at least 6 villages. The variety spoken in Rukha village, south-central Wangdi is known as ʼOlekha.[4] Out of a population of 100-150 people (about 15 households) in Rukha village, there is only one elderly female fluent speaker and two semi-fluent speakers of ʼOlekha.[4]

George van Driem (1992)[5] reports a Western dialect (spoken in Rukha and Reti villages) and Eastern dialect (spoken in Cungseng village).

History

ʼOle was unknown beyond its immediate area until 1990, and is now highly endangered, and was originally assumed to be East Bodish.[6] George van Driem described ʼOle as a remnant of the primordial population of the Black Mountains before the southward expansion of the ancient East Bodish tribes.[7]

More recently, Gwendolyn Hyslop (2016),[4] agreeing with van Driem, has suggested that ʼOle is an isolate branch of the Sino-Tibetan family that has been heavily influenced by East Bodish languages.[8] Because of the small number of cognates with East Bodish languages once loans are identified, Blench and Post provisionally treat ʼOle as a language isolate, not just an isolate within Sino-Tibetan.[6]

External relationships

ʼOle forms a distinct branch of Sino-Tibetan/Tibeto-Burman. it is not closely related to Tshangla language of eastern Bhutan, also called "Monpa" and predating Dzongkha in the region, which belongs to a different branch of the family.[8]

Gerber (2018)[9] notes that Black Mountain Mönpa has had extensive contact with Gongduk before the arrival of East Bodish languages in Bhutan. The following comparative vocabulary table from Gerber (2018: 13–16) compares Gongduk, Black Mountain Mönpa, and Bjokapakha, which is a divergent Tshangla variety.

GlossGongdukBlack Mountain MönpaBjokapakha
hair (on head) θɤmguluŋtsham
tongue dəliʼliːlɪ
eye mikmek ~ mikmiŋ
ear nərəŋnaktaŋnabali
tooth ɤnʼaː ~ waːsha
bone rukɤŋɦɤtphok ~ yöphokkhaŋ-
blood winiʔkɔkyi
hand/arm gurlɤk ~ lokgadaŋ
leg/foot bidɤʔdɤkpɛŋ ~ tɛ̤kɛŋbitiŋ
faeces kicokkhɨ
water dɤŋlicö, kheri
rain wɤghöŋamtsu
dog okicüla ~ khulakhu
pig donpɔkphakpa
fish kuŋwənye̤ŋa
louse dɤrθæːkshiŋ
bear bekpələwɤm ~ womomsha
son ledəbæθaːza
house kiŋmhiː̤ ~ mhe̤ːphai
fire mi'aːmik ~ 'aːmitmɨ
to hear lə yu-goː-nai tha
to see tɤŋ-tuŋ-thoŋ-
to look məl- ~ mɤt-mak-gotto
to sit mi- ~ mu-buŋ- ~ bæŋ-laŋ-
to die komθ-θɛː- ~ θɛʔ-shi-
to kill tɤt-θüt- ~ θut- ~ θit-she-
1sg pronoun ðəköjaŋ
2sg pronoun giiŋnan
3sg pronoun gonhoʔma (mas.); hoʔmet (fem.)dan
1pl pronoun ðiŋɔŋdat (incl.); anak (excl.)ai
2pl pronoun giŋiŋnaknai
3pl pronoun gonməhoʔoŋdai

Vocabulary

Hyslop (2016)[4] notes that ʼOlekha has borrowed heavily from East Bodish and Tibetic languages, but also has a layer of native vocabulary items. Numerals are mostly borrowed from East Bodish languages, while body parts and nature words are borrowed from both Tibetic and East Bodish languages. Hyslop (2016) lists the following ʼOlekha words of clearly indigenous (non-borrowed) origin.

  • six: wok
  • head: peː
  • face: ék
  • rain: gø
  • earth: tʰabak
  • ash: tʰækʰu
  • stone: loŋ
  • fire: ámik
  • grandfather: tana
  • grandmother: ʔɐˈpeŋ
  • chicken: ˈkɤgɤ
  • mustard: pekoŋ
  • cotton: ʔɐˈpʰɪt
  • eggplant: ˈpandala
  • foxtail millet: ʔamet

The pronouns and lexical items for all foraged plants are also of indigenous origin. Additionally, the central vowel /ɤ/ and voiced uvular fricative /ʁ/ are only found in non-borrowed words.[4]

Words whose origin is not certain (i.e., may or may not be borrowed) are:[4]

  • nose: ná (perhaps borrowed from East Bodish?)
  • arm: lok (perhaps borrowed from Tibetic?)
  • wind: lǿ
  • water: cø
  • mother: ʔɔmɔ
  • father: ʔɔpɔ
  • dog: tʃylɔ
  • sheep: lu
  • barley: nápʰa
  • bitter buckwheat: máma

References
  1. ʼOle at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Endangered Languages Project data for Olekha.
  3. van Driem, George (July 1992). "In Quest of Mahākirānti" (PDF). Center of Nepal and Asian Studies Journal. 19 (2): 241–247. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  4. Gwendolyn Hyslop. 2016. Worlds of knowledge in Central Bhutan: Documentation of ʼOlekha. Language Documentation & Conservation 10. 77-106.
  5. van Driem, George. 1992. The Monpa language of the Black Mountains. Presented at ICSTLL 25.
  6. Blench, R. & Post, M. W. (2013). Rethinking Sino-Tibetan phylogeny from the perspective of Northeast Indian languages
  7. van Driem, George L. (1993). "Language Policy in Bhutan". London: SOAS, University of London. Archived from the original on 1 November 2010. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  8. van Driem, George L. (2011). "Tibeto-Burman subgroups and historical grammar". Himalayan Linguistics Journal. 10 (1): 31–39. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012.
  9. Gerber, Pascal. 2018. Areal features in Gongduk, Bjokapakha and Black Mountain Mönpa phonology. Unpublished draft.

Further reading
  • Namgyel, Singye. The Language Web of Bhutan. Thimphu: KMT.
  • van Driem, George L; Karma Tshering of Gaselô (collab) (1998). Dzongkha. Languages of the Greater Himalayan Region. Leiden: Research School CNWS, School of Asian, African, and Amerindian Studies. ISBN 905789002X.
  • van Driem, George (2001). Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region: Containing an Introduction to the Symbiotic Theory of Language. Brill. ISBN 9004120629.
  • van Driem, George (2007). "Endangered Languages of Bhutan and Sikkim: East Bodish Languages". In Moseley, Christopher (ed.). Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages. Routledge. p. 295. ISBN 070071197X.
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