Lepcha language

Lepcha
	ᰛᰩᰵᰛᰧᰵᰶ róng ríng
	Róng ríng written in Lepcha (Róng) Script
Region	Sikkim, India; parts of Nepal and Bhutan
Native speakers	66,500 (2011-2013)[1][2]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Himalayish Lepcha; ; ;
Writing system	Lepcha script; Tibetan script
Official status
Official language in	India Sikkim;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	lep
Glottolog	lepc1244
ELP	Lepcha[3]

Lepcha language, or Róng language (Lepcha: ᰛᰩᰵᰛᰧᰵᰶ; Róng ríng), is a Himalayish language spoken by the Lepcha people in Sikkim, India and parts of West Bengal, Nepal and Bhutan.

Population

Lepcha is spoken by minorities in the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal, as well as parts of Nepal and Bhutan. Where it is spoken, it is considered to be an aboriginal language, pre-dating the arrival of the Tibetan languages (Sikkimese, Dzongkha, and others) and more recent Nepali language. Lepcha speakers comprise four distinct communities: the Renjóngmú of Sikkim; the Támsángmú of Kalimpong, Kurseong, and Mirik; the ʔilámmú of Ilam District, Nepal; and the Promú of southwestern Bhutan. Lepcha-speaking groups in India are larger than those in Nepal and Bhutan.[4][5]

The Indian census reported 50,000 Lepcha speakers,[6] however the number of native Lepcha speakers in India may be closer to 30,000.[4]

Classification

Lepcha is difficult to classify, but George van Driem (2001) suggests that it may be closest to the Mahakiranti languages, a subfamily of the Himalayish languages.[7]

Lepcha is internally diverse, showing lexical influences from different majority language groups across the four main Lepcha communities. According to Plaisier (2007), these Nepali and Sikkimese Tibetan influences do not amount to a dialectical difference.[4]

Roger Blench (2013) suggests that Lepcha has an Austroasiatic substratum, which originated from a now-extinct branch of Austroasiatic that he calls "Rongic".[8]

Features

Lepcha is a non-tonal Sino-Tibetan language, although it does have phonemic stress or pitch that may be marked in the Lepcha script.[4]^:37 Much of its lexicon is composed of monosyllabic elements.[5]

Notably, words that are commonly considered obscene or taboo in other languages are not treated as such by native speakers.[5]

Script and romanization

The Lepcha script (also known as "róng") is a syllabic script featuring a variety of special marks and ligatures. Its genealogy is unclear. Early Lepcha manuscripts were written vertically, a sign of Chinese influence.[9] Prior to the development of the Lepcha script, Lepcha literary works were composed in the Tibetan script.[5]

Lepcha language is romanized according to varying schemes, the prevailing system being that of Mainwaring (1876). Most linguists, including Plaisier (2007), whose system is used in this article, have followed modified versions of Mainwaring's system. Other linguists and historians have used systems based on European languages such as English, French, and German.[4]

Phonology

Consonants

Lepcha consonants appear in the chart below, following Plaisier (2007):[4]^:21–32

		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palato-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m ⟨m⟩	n ⟨n⟩				ɲ ⟨ny⟩	ŋ ⟨ng⟩
Plosive	voiceless	p ⟨p⟩	t ⟨t⟩		ʈ ⟨tr⟩		c ⟨c⟩	k ⟨k⟩	ʔ ⟨ʔ⟩
	aspirated	pʰ ⟨ph⟩	tʰ ⟨th⟩		ʈʰ ⟨thr⟩		cʰ ⟨ch⟩	kʰ ⟨kh⟩
	voiced	b ⟨b⟩	d ⟨d⟩		ɖ ⟨dr⟩			ɡ ⟨g⟩
Affricate	voiceless			ts ⟨ts⟩
	aspirated			tsʰ ⟨tsh⟩
	voiced			z~dz ⟨z⟩
Fricative	voiced	v ⟨v⟩		z~dz ⟨z⟩		ʒ ⟨j⟩
Fricative	voiceless	f ⟨f⟩		s ⟨s⟩		ʃ ⟨sh⟩
Approximant		w ⟨w⟩	l ⟨l⟩				j ⟨y⟩		h ⟨h⟩
Trill				r ⟨r⟩

Retroflex phonemes /ʈ/, /ʈʰ/, and /ɖ/ are written in Lepcha script as ᰀᰥkr, ᰝᰥ hr, and ᰃᰥ gr, respectively. Most, though not all, instances of retroflex consonants indicate a word is of Tibetan origin. To distinguish this retroflex sound in Lepcha script, a dot may be written underneath: ᰀᰥ᰷, ᰝᰥ᰷, and ᰃᰥ᰷. Native instances of non-retroflex ᰀᰥ kr, ᰝᰥ hr, and ᰃᰥ gr may be pronounced either as written or as ⟨tr⟩, ⟨thr⟩, and ⟨dr⟩. For example, tagrikup, "boy," may be said either [ta ɡri kɯʔp̚] or [ta ɖi kɯʔp̚].[4]

Lepcha has three glide consonants that may occur after certain initial consonants: /r/, /j/, and /l/. When the phoneme /r/ operates as a glide, it can combine with /j/ as a double-glide: ᰕᰥᰤᰩᰮmryóm, "to spread over the ground, creep." Notably, syllables with the glide /l/ are given their own independent forms in the Lepcha script.[4]

Velar consonants /k/ and /ɡ/ preceding front vowels /i/ or /e/ are palatalized as [kʲ] and [ɡʲ], respectively. Fricatives /s/ and /ʃ/ are merged before /i/.[4]

Lepcha speakers tend not to distinguish between /z/ and /ʒ/, pronouncing both as [z]~[dz]~[ʒ]. Additionally, initial /ŋ/ is occasionally realized as [ɦ]. Under the influence of Nepali, some Lepcha speakers have lost the distinction between /pʰ/ and /f/, and between /v/ and /w/.[4]

Of the above phonemes, only /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /k/, /t/, /p/, /r/, and /l/ may be syllable-final. Native speakers tend to neutralize the difference between final /n/ and /ŋ/. In syllable-final position, stops are realized as an unreleased stop, usually pronounced with a simultaneous /ʔ/: for example, /k/ becomes [ʔk̚].[4]

Vowels

According to Plaisier (2007), Lepcha has eight vowels:[4]^:17–21

	Front	Central	Back
	Unrounded			Rounded
Close	i ⟨i⟩, ⟨í⟩		ɯ ⟨u⟩	u ⟨ú⟩
Close-mid	e~ɛ ⟨e⟩			o ⟨o⟩
Mid		ə ⟨a⟩, ⟨â⟩
Open-mid				ɔ ⟨ó⟩
Open		a ⟨á⟩

The phoneme denoted by ⟨í⟩ is shortened and appears in closed syllables; ⟨i⟩ is longer and appears in open syllables. The phoneme /e/ is realized as [e] in open syllables and in closed syllables before /ŋ/ or /k/. Closed syllables ending in /p/, /m/, /l/, /n/, /r/, and /t/ show free variation between [e], [ɛ], and even [ɪ]. Distinctions between /o/ and /ɔ/ are often lost among non-literate speakers, particularly those highly fluent in Nepali language, which does not contrast the sounds.[4]

Grammar

Lepcha grammar features nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs. Word order is typically subject–object–verb (SOV). Lepcha morphology is somewhat agglutinative, though most bare Lepcha lexicon is made up of one- or two-syllable words. Nouns are arranged into either head-first or head-last noun phrases. Relative clauses and genitive phrases precede nouns, whereas markers for demonstratives, definiteness, number, case, and other particles follow the noun. Lepcha is an ergative language, where the ergative case indicates transitivity and completedness of the event. There is no grammatical agreement between different parts of speech (i.e. verb conjugation). Adjectives follow nouns they modify, function as predicates, or stand independently as nominal heads. Adverbs generally directly precede verbs, and reduplication is generally productive for adverbs of time (e.g. nám, "year" → nám-nám, "yearly").[4]

Nouns

According to Plaisier (2007), Lepcha has only two true "cases" that modify the noun morphologically: the definite article -re and the dative case marker -m. All other noun markers, including for example the genitive marker, are actually invariable postpositions. A series noun markers may follow a single noun. Together, these cases and postpositions are:[4]

Postposition	Meaning
-ᰠᰴ / -ᰎᰴ -sang/-pong	plural
-ᰛᰬ -re	definite, topic
-ᰍᰪ/ᰍᰪᰰ -nu/nun	ergative, ablative
- ᰮ -m	dative
-ᰠᰦ -sá	genitive
-ᰀᰦ -ká	locative
-ᰕᰪ -mu	only
-ᰉᰬᰳ -nyet	both

Plurals are marked differently according to whether they are human (-sang) or non-human (-pong) nouns. Notably, the plural is not used when the noun is followed by a number.[4]

According to Plaisier (2007), Lepcha personal pronouns are as follows:[4]

	Singular (Oblique)	Dual	Plural
First person	ᰃᰨ go ᰀᰠᰪ kasu	ᰀᰦᰉᰧᰶ kányí	ᰀᰦᰚᰫ káyú
Second person	ᰝᰩ hó ᰣᰦᰌᰨ ʔádo	ᰣᰦᰉᰧᰶ ʔányí	ᰣᰦᰚᰫ ʔáyú
Third person	ᰝᰪ hu ᰝᰪᰌᰨ hudo	ᰝᰪᰉᰧᰶ hunyí	ᰝᰪᰚᰫ huyú

Oblique forms appear in italics above. Lepcha personal pronouns can refer only to humans; otherwise demonstratives are used. Personal pronouns may take the definite article -re.[4]

Thematic classes

Many Lepcha nouns can be grouped into one of several classes based on associated characteristics. For example, many animal names begin with the Lepcha script syllabic /sâ/: ᰠᰶᰲ sâr means "goat," ᰠᰶᰛᰤᰨᰮ sâryom means "otter," ᰠᰶᰜᰩᰭ sâlók means "rhinoceros," and ᰠᰝᰪ sâhu means "monkey." Other noun classes include /sâ/ and /ka/ for plants, and /pe/ or /pâ/ for snakes and bamboo products.[5][10]

Verbs

Lepcha verbs generally function predicates or, in relative clauses, as modifiers before a head-noun. Verbs may also be nominalized by a combination of suffixes. For example, zo, "eat," may be suffixed to produce zo-shang-re, "eating."[4]

Many intransitive verbs incorporate a causative -/y/- infix, sometimes followed by a -/t/ suffix, to take a transitive sense: ᰕᰦᰭ mák, "die" → ᰕᰤᰦᰭ myák, "kill;" ᰏᰶ plâ, "come forth" → ᰏᰤᰶ plyâ, "bring forth;" ᰄᰫ glú, "fall down" → ᰄᰤᰳ/ᰄᰤᰬᰳ glyat/glyet, "drop."[4]

Verbs are followed by grammatical suffixes and particles. Verbal particles indicating sureness, polite requests, authoritativeness, dubiousness, and other nonlexical information follow clauses. Below is a chart of such verb- and clause-final suffixes and particles largely following Plaisier (2007):[4]

Suffix or particle	Meaning
-wám/-ʔám/-bám	progressive
nón	resultant
-tho	exhaustive
-hát	perfective
-shang	infinitive
-bú	factual
-re	definite
ká	adhortative
gó	question
le	polite request
ma	assertive
ce	authoritative
te	dubiousness
pá	certainty
lyók	inference

Verbs are negated by a circumfix, ma–n(e): khut, "to be able," becomes ma-khut-ne, "to be unable."[4]

Vocabulary

According to freelang.net[11]

Caption text
English	Lepcha (Latin)	Lepcha (Róng/Lepcha script)
Lady	Ku-mo	ᰀᰪᰕᰨ
Let	Kón	ᰀᰩᰰ
Proceed	Dí	ᰌᰧᰶ
Reach a height	Thók	ᰋᰩᰭ
Riverbank	Klóp	ᰁᰩᰱ
A cut	Mó	ᰕᰩ
To pull	Krút	ᰀᰥᰫᰳ
Go	Nóng	ᰍᰩᰴ
Flabby	Thyor	ᰋᰤᰨᰲ
Reflective Light	Lóng	ᰜᰩᰴ
Palm	Lyók	ᰜᰩᰭᰤ
To be short	Tan	ᰊᰰ
Meat	Ke-rung	ᰀᰬᰛᰪᰴ
Overclouded	Muk	ᰕᰪᰭ
What comes first	Ták	ᰊᰦᰭ
Mother	A-mo	ᰣᰕᰨ
To knot	Tyep	ᰊᰤᰬᰱ
A spec of Sterculia	Ke-hlyám kun	ᰀᰬᰞᰤᰮ ᰀᰪᰰ
Be on strong legs	Krang	ᰀᰥᰴ
Dirt	Me-ri	ᰕᰬᰛᰧ
To slice	Líp	ᰜᰧᰶ
Entire	Shem	ᰡᰬᰮ
Cold	Hyáng	ᰝᰤᰴ
To be drawn together	Chom	ᰇᰨᰮ
One's Self	Te-do	ᰊᰬᰌᰨ
Wide	Veng	ᰟᰬᰴ
To arrest	Tho	ᰋᰨ
To crush	Shíp	ᰡᰧᰶ
Mouth	A-bong	ᰣᰓᰨᰴ
To twist	Kar	ᰀᰲ
Arrow	Sa-li	ᰠᰜᰧ
Egg	Tí	ᰊᰧᰶ
To sit	Ngan	ᰅᰰ
Flow round	Kyúl	ᰀᰤᰫᰯ
Overclouded	Pe-mang	ᰎᰬᰕᰴ
House	A-dóng	ᰣᰌᰩᰴ
Carry	Bú	ᰓᰫ
Dream	Mong	ᰕᰨᰴ
A corner	Tung-kyang	ᰊᰪᰴᰀᰤᰴ
Basket	Dyóng	ᰌᰤᰩᰴ
Large	Túng	ᰊᰫᰴ
Husband	Evo	ᰣᰬᰟᰨ
Grain	Gró	ᰃᰥᰩ
Rice basket	Ku-mu	ᰀᰪᰕᰪ
Placenta	A-yeng-tyol	ᰣᰚᰬᰴᰊᰤᰨᰯ
Quick	Rem	ᰛᰬᰮ
Sew	Hrap	ᰝᰥᰱ
A spec of Solanum	Ke-lim-bi	ᰀᰬᰜᰧᰮᰓᰧ

References

"Lepcha". Ethnologue. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
"Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
Endangered Languages Project data for Lepcha.
Plaisier, Heleen (2007). A grammar of Lepcha. Tibetan studies library: Languages of the greater Himalayan region. 5. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-15525-1.
"Lepchas and their Tradition". Official Portal of NIC Sikkim State Centre. National Informatics Centre, Sikkim. 25 January 2002. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
Lepcha language at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
van Driem, George (2001). Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region. Brill. ISBN 90-04-12062-9.
Blench, Roger. 2013. Rongic: a vanished branch of Austroasiatic.
Coulmas, Florian (1996). The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems. Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-21481-X.
Mainwaring, George Byres (1898). Albert Grünwedel (ed.). Dictionary of the Lepcha-language. Unger bros. (multiple entries)
https://www.freelang.net/online/lepcha.php?lg=gb