| Dura | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Nepal |
| Ethnicity | 2,160 (2011 census)[1] |
| Extinct | between 2008[2] and 2012[1] with the death of Soma Devi Dura |
Sino-Tibetan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | drq |
| Glottolog | dura1244 |
 Tolcha is classified as Extinct by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Dura is an extinct language ofNepal. It has been classified in theWest Bodish branch ofTibetan languages, though more recent work separates it out as an independent branch ofSino-Tibetan.[3] Many of the Dura have switched to speakingNepali, and the Dura language has sometimes been thought to be extinct. Some of the people who have switched to Nepali for their daily speech still use Dura for prayer.[4]
TheHimalayan Languages Project is working on recording additional knowledge of Dura.[5] Around 1,500 words and 250 sentences in Dura have been recorded. The last known speaker of the language was the 82-year-old Soma Devi Dura.[2]
Schorer (2016:293)[6] classifies Dura as part of his newly proposedGreater Magaric branch.
The ethnic Dura people mostly live inLamjung District, with some in neighboringTanahu District ofGandaki Province in central Nepal.[7] They mostly live on farms in the hilly countryside.[7] Different recent census counts have reported the number of Dura people anywhere from 3,397 to 5,676.[7]
Dura villages include:[6]
Other ethnic groups in the Dura region include the Gurung, Brahmins, Chetrīs, Kāmī, and Damāi.[6]
A closely related language variety calledTandrange (Nepali: Tāndrāṅe; IPA: tandraŋe) is spoken in a fewGurung villages.[6] Tandrange is spoken in the villages ofTāndrāṅ तान्द्राङ, Pokharī Thok पोखरी थोक, and Jītā जीता. However, Tandrange speakers adamantly consider themselves as not related to the stigmatized Dura people.[6]
Schorer (2016:126-127) provides the following 125-wordSwadesh list of Dura.
| No. | Gloss | Dura |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | I (1SG) | ŋi ~ ŋe |
| 2. | you (2SG) | no |
| 3. | we (inclusive) | ŋyāro |
| 4. | this | ī |
| 5. | that | huī |
| 6. | Who? | su |
| 7. | What? | hāde |
| 8. | not | ma-, ta- (prohibitive) |
| 9. | all (of a number) | dhāī |
| 10. | many | bhāī |
| 11. | one | kyau, nām, di- |
| 12. | two | jʰim, ŋe- |
| 13. | big | kātʰe |
| 14. | long | kānu, remo ~ hreŋo |
| 15. | small | ācʰirī |
| 16. | woman (adult) | misā |
| 17. | man (adult) | kalārā, bro |
| 18. | person | bro |
| 19. | fish (n) | ɖisyā, nāh ~ nāhõ ~ nāhũ ~ nāi |
| 20. | bird; chicken | o |
| 21. | dog | nākyu ~ nakyu ~ nakī, koka |
| 22. | louse | syā |
| 23. | tree | kepo ~ kemo |
| 24. | seed (n) | ʈisro, hulu |
| 25. | leaf | lyoī, lho |
| 26. | root | - |
| 27. | bark (of tree) | - |
| 28. | skin | ke |
| 29. | flesh | syo |
| 30. | blood | hāyu |
| 31. | bone | - |
| 32. | grease, fat | duccʰu |
| 33. | egg | odī, onī |
| 34. | horn (of bull etc.) | soglo, sono |
| 35. | tail | - |
| 36. | feather | phya |
| 37. | hair (human) | kra |
| 38. | head | padʰe |
| 39. | ear | naya, muni, rānu |
| 40. | eye | mi |
| 41. | nose | nu |
| 42. | mouth | māsi, sũ |
| 43. | tooth | sa ~ se |
| 44. | tongue | li |
| 45. | nail | se |
| 46. | foot | sepe |
| 47. | knee | - |
| 48. | hand | kuru |
| 49. | belly | kyu |
| 50. | neck | kʰalī, po ~ põ |
| 51. | breasts | nāmlo |
| 52. | heart | māu |
| 53. | liver | ciŋ |
| 54. | to drink | kiu- |
| 55. | to eat | co- |
| 56. | to bite | - |
| 57. | to see | do- ~ dõ-, mātā- |
| 58. | to hear | tās-, tāu-, tānu- |
| 59. | to know | syo- |
| 60. | to sleep | tānu- |
| 61. | to die | si- |
| 62. | to kill | sā-, kāne-, kāde |
| 63. | to swim | - |
| 64. | to fly | ŋyau, hāsu- |
| 65. | to walk | so- |
| 66. | to come | hro |
| 67. | to lie | - |
| 68. | to sit | huni- |
| 69. | to stand | decʰe- |
| 70. | to give | hyo- |
| 71. | to say | cʰi- |
| 72. | sun | mamī |
| 73. | moon | tālā |
| 74. | star | -so (in compound) |
| 75. | water | ti ~ ʈi |
| 76. | rain (n) | ti ~ ʈi |
| 77. | stone | thũ ~ tũ, kāno ~ kānu |
| 78. | sand | - |
| 79. | earth, soil | kācʰo, cʰuu |
| 80. | cloud | - |
| 81. | smoke (n) | ma-kʰu |
| 82. | fire | mi |
| 83. | ash(es) | ma-pʰu |
| 84. | to burn (vi) | bani- |
| 85. | path | lāutʰyo |
| 86. | mountain | lgẽwarapʰa [sic] |
| 87. | red | cʰāblī |
| 88. | green | - |
| 89. | yellow | kẽlo |
| 90. | white | bintʰā |
| 91. | black | keplo |
| 92. | night | yāku |
| 93. | hot | - |
| 94. | cold | cʰiũ |
| 95. | full | ʈʰyāmmay |
| 96. | new | kācʰā |
| 97. | good | cʰyāu- (v), cʰāblī (also ‘red’) |
| 98. | round | burluŋ |
| 99. | dry | - |
| 100. | name | rāmī |
| 101. | he (3SG) | hui |
| 102. | he₂ (3SG) | ŋo ~ no |
| 103. | you (2PL) | nāro(-nī) |
| 104. | they (3PL) | hyāro |
| 105. | three | sām |
| 106. | four | pim |
| 107. | five | kum (<‘hand’) |
| 108. | where? | kālā |
| 109. | when? | komo |
| 110. | how? | kudinī |
| 111. | other | agyu, rijā |
| 112. | few | ācitī |
| 113. | fruit | pokimuni |
| 114. | flower | ŋepʰu ~ nepʰu |
| 115. | grass | cʰĩ |
| 116. | snake | kāuī |
| 117. | worm | kʰātalī |
| 118. | rope | rasarī |
| 119. | river | kloi ~ klou |
| 120. | to warm (vt) | tāle-u |
| 121. | old | ʈe |
| 122. | straight (not curved) | hopay |
| 123. | sharp | mhyā- (v) |
| 124. | wet | tʰo- (v) |
| 125. | happy | kru- (v) |
Dura numerals are (Schorer 2016:146-147):
Schorer (2016:286-287) reconstructs the following Proto-Dura words.
| Official language | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indigenous languages |
| ||||||||||||||||||
Sino-Tibetan branches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WesternHimalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand,Nepal,Sikkim) |
|  | |||
| EasternHimalayas (Tibet,Bhutan,Arunachal) | |||||
| Myanmar and Indo- Burmese border |
| ||||
| East andSoutheast Asia |
| ||||
| Dubious (possible isolates,Arunachal) |
| ||||
| Proposed groupings | |||||
| Proto-languages | |||||
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches. | |||||
