Belhare language

Belhare (Nepali: Belhāreor), also known as Athpariya II (not to be confused with Athpariya I), is a Kiranti language spoken by some 2,000 people living on Belhara Hill, at the southern foothills of the Himalayas situated in the Dhankuta District, Province No. 1 in eastern Nepal. All speakers of Belhare are bilingual in Nepali, which results in frequent code mixing and a large amount of Nepali loan-words. Nevertheless, the grammar of Belhare has maintained its distinct Kiranti characteristics.

Belhare
RegionDhankuta district, Nepal
EthnicityAthpare of Belhara
Native speakers
600 (2011 census)[1]
Sino-Tibetan
Language codes
ISO 639-3byw
Glottologbelh1239
ELPBelhariya[2]

Like other Kiranti languages, Belhare is characterized by an elaborate morphology in both the nominal and verbal domain. Syntactically, Belhare has partly an accusative, partly an ergative pivot, but accusative syntax is more prominent in terms of frequency.

Phonology

Consonants
Bilabial Apical Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosives p pʰ b (bʱ)
p ph b (bh)		 t tʰ d (dʱ)
t th d (dh)		 k kʰ ɡ (ɡʱ)
k kh g (gh)		 ʔ
ʔ
Fricatives s
s		 h
h
Affricates ts tsʰ (dz) (dzʱ)
c ch (j) (jh)
Nasals m
m		 n
n		 ŋ
ŋ
Laterals l
l
Trills r (rʱ)
r (rh)
Approximants w
w		 j
y

Vowels
front central back
close i ĩ
i ĩ		 u ũ
u ũ
mid e
e		 (ʌ)
(ʌ)		 o
o
open a
a

The phonemes in parentheses only occur in loanwords from Nepali.

References
  1. Belhare at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Endangered Languages Project data for Belhariya.
  • Bickel, Balthasar. 1993. “Belhare subordination and the theory of topic.” In: Karen H. Ebert (ed.): Studies in clause linkage. Papers from the First Köln-Zürich Workshop. Zürich: ASAS
  • Bickel, Balthasar. 1996. Aspect, Mood, and Time in Belhare. Studies in the Semantics-Pragmatics Interface of a Himalayan Language. Zürich: Universität Zürich (ASAS - Arbeiten des Seminars für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, 15)
  • Bickel, Balthasar. 1999. “Cultural formalism and spatial language in Belhara.” In: Balthasar Bickel & Martin Gaenszle (eds.): Himalayan Space: cultural horizons and practices. Zürich: Museum of Ethnography. 73-101
  • Bickel, Balthasar. 2000. “Grammar and social practice: on the role of ‘culture’ in linguistic relativity.” In: Susanne Niemeier & René Dirven (eds.): Evidence for Linguistic Relativity. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 161-92
  • Bickel, Balthasar. 2003. “Belhare.” Graham Thurgood & Randy J. LaPolla (eds.). The Sino-Tibetan Languages. London: Curzon Press. 546-70


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