Kulung language (Nepal)
Kulung (autonym: Kulu riŋ, [kulu rɪŋ]) is a Kiranti language spoken by an estimated 33,000 people.
| Kulung | |
|---|---|
| kulu riŋ | |
| Native to | Nepal |
Native speakers | 33,000 (2011 census)[1] |
Sino-Tibetan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kle |
| Glottolog | kulu1253 Kulung |
| ELP | Kulung (Nepal)[2] |
Locations
Kulung in some ten villages along the upper reaches of the Huṅga or Hoṅgu river (a tributary of the Dūdhkosī), in Solukhumbu District of Sagarmāthā Zone, Nepal. The main Kulung-speaking villages are Chhemsi and Chheskam. The particular dialect of the language spoken in these two villages is considered by the Kulung to be the most original form of their language. Downstream, on both sides of the Huṅga river, in villages that are now called Luchcham, Gudel, Chocholung, Nāmluṅg, Pilmo, Bung, Chhekmā, and Sātdi, less prestigious varieties of Kulung are spoken.
Ethnologue lists the following Kulung villages.
- Hongu River valley, Solukhumbu District, Sagarmatha Zone: Bung, Pelmang, Chhemsing, Chheskam, Lucham, Chachalung, Satdi, Gudel, Namlung, Sotang, and Chekma villages
- Sankhuwasabha district, Kosi Zone: Mangtewa, Yaphu, and Seduwa VDC's
- Bhojpur District, Kosi Zone: Phedi, Limkhim, Khartanga, and Wasepla VDC's
Phonology
Vowels
Kulung has six short vowels and six long vowels:
| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| Close | i | iː | u | uː | ||
| Mid | e | eː | ə | əː | ɔ | ɔː |
| Open | a | aː | ||||
- Front and central vowels are unrounded, whereas back vowels are rounded.
Consonants
| IPA | Example | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| /k/ | /koŋ/ | [kɔŋ] | 'I' |
| /kʰ/ | /kʰoŋ/ | [kʰɔŋ] | 'brass bowl' |
| /g/ | /goŋ/ | [gɔŋ] | 'division of a clan' |
| /p/ | /mampai/ | [mampai] | 'It didn't leak.' |
| /pʰ/ | /mampʰai/ | [mampʰai] | 'He didn't reverse it.' |
| /b/ | /mambai/ | [mambai] | 'He didn't come.' |
| /t/ | /tite/ | [tite] | 'It burns.' |
| /tʰ/ | /tʰite/ | [tʰite] | 'He is awake.' |
| /d/ | /dite/ | [dite] | 'It lays an egg.' |
| /tɕ/ | /tɕi/ | [tɕi] | 'poison' |
| /tɕʰ/ | /tɕʰi/ | [tɕʰi] | 'marrow' |
| /dʑ/ | /dʑi/ | [dʑi] | 'happiness' |
| /s/ | /si/ | [si] | 'louse' |
| /m/ | /ma/ | [ma] | 'mother' |
| /n/ | /na/ | [na] | 'elder sister' |
| /ŋ/ | /ŋa/ | [ŋa] | 'fish' |
| /ɾ/ | /ɾiŋ/ | [ɾiŋ] | 'language, word' |
| /l/ | /liŋ/ | [liŋ] | 'yeast' |
| /j/ | /ja/ | [ja] | 'edge of a blade' |
| /w/ | /wa/ | [wa] | 'rain' |
| /ɦ/ | /ɦu/ | [ɦu] | 'arm' |
| /Ɂ/ | /Ɂa/ | [Ɂa] | '(ergative case marker)' |
| Bilabial | Dental | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasals | m | n | ŋ | |||
| Plosives and Affricates |
voiceless unaspirated | p | t | tɕ | k | |
| voiced | b | d | dʑ | g | Ɂ | |
| voiceless aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | tɕʰ | kʰ | ||
| Fricatives | voiceless | s | ||||
| voiced | ɦ | |||||
| Flaps | ɾ | |||||
| Approximants | w | l | j | |||
Dialects of the Kulung language include Sotang (Sotaring, Sottaring), Mahakulung, Tamachhang, Pidisoi, Chhapkoa, Pelmung, Namlung, and Khambu. Kulung distinguishes among eight vowels and 11 diphthongs. There are three series of stops: dorso-velar, dental, and labial, each series having an unaspirated voiceless, aspirated voiceless, and unaspirated voiced variant. There are three voiced nasals, four approximants, one vibrant, one fricative, and three affricates.[3]
Nominal morphology
To the nominal categories belong the following parts of speech: nouns, adjectives, pronouns and numerals. There are unambiguous morphological criteria for distinguishing between nouns and verbs. Whereas nouns can be marked for case and number, finite verbs are marked for person, number, and tense. There is no grammatical gender in Kulung.
Personal pronouns
The ten Kulung personal pronouns have three number distinctions (singular, dual, and plural) and three person distinctions (first person, second person and third person) as well as an inclusive/exclusive distinction. There are no gender distinctions.
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
| 1st exclusive | koŋ 'I' | kaska 'we (he/she and I)' | keika 'we (all of them, and I)' |
| 1st inclusive | - | kas 'we (you and I)' | kei 'we (all of you, and I)' |
| 2nd | an 'you' | anci 'you (two)' | anni 'you (guys)' |
| 3rd | ŋkə 'he/she' | - | ŋkəs 'they' |
Cases
Kulung has thirteen cases. Case endings are attached to nouns with or without the non-singular suffix. Allomorphy of case endings depends on whether the noun ends in a vowel or consonant. Below the case endings of the noun lam 'road' are presented.
| Case | Suffix | English prep. | Example | Translation |
| absolutive | - | - | lam | road |
| genitive | -mi | of / 's | lam-mi | of (a) road/ road's |
| ergative | -ʔa | - | lam-ʔa | road |
| instrumental | -ʔa | by | lam-ʔa | by the road |
| vocative | -ʔa | - | lam-ʔa | o road |
| locative 1 | -pi | at, on, in | lam-pi | on the road |
| locative 2 | -to | at, on, in | lam-to | on the road (at a higher level) |
| locative 3 | -pu | at, on, in | lam-pu | on the road (at a lower level) |
| locative 4 | -pa | at, on, in | lam-pa | on the road (at same level) |
| comitative | -lo | with | lam-lo | with the road |
| ablative | -ka | from | lam-ka | from the road |
| elative | -pika | from out of | lam-pika | from out of the road |
| mediative | -la | via, by way of | lam-la | by the road |
Verbal morphology
The Kulung verb is characterised by a system of complex pronominalisation, in which paradigmatic stem alternation is found. Personal endings consist of morphemes expressing notions like tense, agent, patient, number, and exclusivity. Depending on the number of verbal stems and their position in the verbal paradigm, every verb in Kulung belongs to a certain conjugation type.[3] Complete conjugations of verbs belonging to the different conjugation types are presented in the second appendix. Like in other Kiranti languages, compound verbs are found in Kulung. These compound verbs consist of a verb stem and an auxiliary that adds semantic notions to the main verb. Other verbal constructions found in Kulung are a gerund, imperative, supine and an infinitive.[3]
| Non-preterite | Preterite | Negated preterite | |
| 1s | per-o: | pero | mam-per-ŋa |
| 1di | per-ci | per-a-ci | mam-per-ci |
| 1de | per-ci-ka | per-a-ci-ka | mam-per-s-ka |
| 1pi | per-ya | per-i | mam-per-i |
| 1pe | per-ya-ka | per-i-ka | mam-per-i-ka |
| 2s | per-e | per-a | mam-per-na |
| 2d | per-ci | per-a-ci | mam-per-nci |
| 2p | per-ni | per-a-ni | mam-per-ni |
| 3 | per-e | per-a | mam-per |
References
- Kulung at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- Endangered Languages Project data for Kulung (Nepal).
- Himalayan Languages Project Archived October 6, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
Bibliography
Tolsma, Gerard Jacobus (2006). A Grammar of Kulung. Languages of the Greater Himalayan Region. 5/4. Leiden, Boston. ISBN 9789004153301.