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2025-05-10T03:32:19Z

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{{Short description|Sino-Tibetan language group}}
{{Infobox language family
|name=West Himalayish
|altname=Kanauric, Almora
|region=[[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Uttarakhand]] (India), [[Nepal]]
|familycolor=Sino-Tibetan
|fam2=[[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman]]
|fam3=[[Tibeto-Kanauri languages|Tibeto-Kanauri]] (?)
|glotto=tibe1275
|glottorefname=West Himalayish
}}

The '''West Himalayish languages''', also known as '''Almora''' and '''Kanauric''', are a family of [[Sino-Tibetan languages]] centered in [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Uttarakhand]] and across the border into [[Nepal]]. LaPolla (2003) proposes that the West Himalayish languages may be part of a larger "[[Rung languages|Rung]]" group.

==Languages==
The languages include:{{cn|date=February 2023}}

{{tree list}}
*'''West Himalayish'''
**Kinnauri
***[[Chitkuli Kinnauri language|Chitkuli Kinnauri]]
***[[Kinnauri language|Kinnauri]]
***Thebor
****[[Sunam language|Sunam]]
****[[Jangshung language|Jangshung]]
****[[Shumcho language|Shumcho]]
**Lahaulic
***[[Pattani language|Pattani]] (Manchad)
***[[Tinan language|Tinan]]
**[[Gahri language|Gahri]] (Bunan)
**[[Kanashi language|Kanashi]]
**Rongpo–Almora
***[[Rongpo language|Rongpo]]
****[[Rongpo language#Marcha|Marcha]]
****[[Rongpo language#Tolcha|Tolcha]] (extinct since the 1950s)
***Almora (Ranglo)
****[[Darmiya language|Darmiya]]
****[[Byangsi language|Byangsi]]
****[[Dhuleli language|Dhuleli]]
****[[Chaudangsi language|Chaudangsi]]
****[[Rangas language|Rangas]] (extinct early 20th century)
****[[Zhangzhung language|Zhangzhung]]
{{tree list/end}}

[[Zhangzhung language|Zhangzhung]], the sacred language of the [[Bon religion]], was spoken north of the Himalayas across western [[Tibet]] before being replaced by Tibetan. [[James Matisoff]] (2001)<ref>Matisoff, James. 2001. "The interest of Zhangzhung for comparative Tibeto-Burman." In ''New Research on Zhangzhung and Related Himalayan Languages'' (Bon Studies 3). Senri Ethnological Studies no. 19, p.155-180. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology 国立民族学博物館. {{doi|10.15021/00002145}}</ref> provides lexical and phonological evidence for the classification of Zhangzhung within West Himalayish.

==Classification==
Widmer (2014:47)<ref name="Widmer2014">Widmer, Manuel. 2014. "A tentative classification of West Himalayish." In ''A descriptive grammar of Bunan'', 33-56. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Bern.</ref> classifies the West Himalayish languages as follows. The recently discovered [[Dhuleli language|Dhuleli]] language has been added from Regmi & Prasain (2017).<ref name="Regmi">Regmi, Dan Raj; Prasain, Balaram. 2017. ''A sociolinguistic survey of Dhuleli''. Linguistic Survey of Nepal (LinSuN), Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.</ref>

{{tree list}}
*'''West Himalayish'''
**Western
***Lahaul: ''[[Pattani language|Manchad]], [[Tinan language|Tinan]]''
***Kinnaur: ''[[Kanashi language|Kanashi]], Lower Kinnauri, Standard [[Kinnauri language|Kinnauri]], Chitkhuli, Jangrami, [[Shumcho language|Shumcho]]''
**Eastern
***Central: ''[[Bunan language|Bunan]], [[Sunam language|Sunnami]], [[Rongpo language|Rongpo]]''; possibly ''[[Zhangzhung language|Zhangzhung]]''
***Almora: ''[[Rangas language|Rangas]], [[Darmiya language|Darmiya]], [[Byangsi language|Byangsi]], [[Dhuleli language|Dhuleli]], [[Chaudangsi language|Chaudangsi]]''
{{tree list/end}}

Widmer (2014:53–56)<ref name="Widmer2014"/> classifies [[Zhangzhung language|Zhangzhung]] within the Eastern branch of West Himalayish, and notes that it appears particularly close to languages of the Central subgroup ([[Gahri language|Bunan]], [[Sunam language|Sunnami]], and [[Rongpo language|Rongpo]]).

Widmer (2017)<ref name="Widmer2017">Widmer, Manuel. 2017. ''[https://www.academia.edu/34126236/The_linguistic_prehistory_of_the_western_Himalayas_endangered_minority_languages_as_a_window_to_the_past The linguistic prehistory of the western Himalayas: endangered minority languages as a window to the past]''. Presented at Panel on Endangered Languages and Historical Linguistics, 23rd International Conference on Historical Linguistics (ICHL 23), San Antonio, Texas.</ref> notes that many [[Tibetic languages|Tibetan varieties]] in the western [[Tibetan Plateau]] have been influenced by West Himalayish languages.

==Vocabulary==
Widmer (2017)<ref name="Widmer2017"/> lists the following lexical items that differ in the Eastern and Western branches of West Himalayish.
{| class="wikitable"
! Language !! ‘one’ !! ‘hand’ !! ‘cry’ !! ‘black’
|-
| ''Proto-Eastern <br>West Himalayish'' || *it || *gut || *krap- || *rok-
|-
| [[Pattani language|Manchad]] || itsa || gùṛa || krap- || roki
|-
| [[Kanashi language|Kanashi]] || idh || guḍ || kərop- || roko
|-
| [[Kinnauri language|Kinnauri]] <br>(Southern) || id || gŭd' || krap- || rŏkh
|-
| ''Proto-Western <br>West Himalayish'' || *tik || *lak || *tjo- || *kʰaj/*wom
|-
| [[Bunan language|Bunan]] || tiki || lak || tjo- || kʰaj
|-
| [[Rangpo language|Rongpo]] || tig || lag || tyõ- || kʰasyũ
|-
| [[Byangsi language|Byangsi]]|| tigɛ || là || tye- || wamdɛ
|}

Widmer (2014:53-56)<ref name="Widmer2014"/> classifies [[Zhangzhung language|Zhangzhung]] within the eastern branch of West Himalayish, and lists the following cognates between Zhangzhung and Proto-West Himalayish.

{| class="wikitable"
! Gloss !! Zhangzhung !! Proto-West Himalayish
|-
| barley || zad || *zat
|-
| blue || ting || *tiŋ-
|-
| diminutive suffix || -tse || *-tse ~ *-tsi
|-
| ear || ra tse || *re
|-
| fat || tsʰas || *tsʰos
|-
| girl || tsa med || *tsamet
|-
| god || sad || *sat
|-
| gold ? || zang || *zaŋ
|-
| heart || she || *ɕe
|-
| old (person) || shang ze || *ɕ(j)aŋ
|-
| red || mang || *maŋ
|-
| white || shi nom || *ɕi
|}

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* George van Driem (2001) ''Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region.'' Brill.
*LaPolla, Randy. 2001. ''[http://www.ntu.edu.sg/home/randylapolla/papers/LaPolla_2001_The_Tibeto-Burman_Languages_of_Uttar_Pradesh.pdf The Tibeto-Burman Languages of Uttar Pradesh]''.
*Widmer, Manuel. 2017. ''[https://www.academia.edu/34126236/The_linguistic_prehistory_of_the_western_Himalayas_endangered_minority_languages_as_a_window_to_the_past The linguistic prehistory of the western Himalayas: endangered minority languages as a window to the past]''. Presented at Panel on Endangered Languages and Historical Linguistics, 23rd International Conference on Historical Linguistics (ICHL 23), San Antonio, Texas.
*Widmer, Manuel. 2018. [http://hdl.handle.net/2433/235313 The linguistic prehistory of the western Himalayas]. ''Proceedings of the 51st International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics (2018)''. Kyoto: Kyoto University.

{{Sino-Tibetan languages}}
{{Bodic languages}}

[[Category:West Himalayish languages| ]]
[[Category:Bodish languages|*]]

West Himalayish languages - Revision history

imported>Spino-Soar-Us: /* Languages */