| Kagate | |
|---|---|
| Syuba | |
| स्युबा | |
 The word "Syuba" written in Devanagari script | |
| Region | Nepal |
Native speakers | 1,500 (2012)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | syw |
| Glottolog | kaga1252 |
| ELP | Kagate |
 | |
Kagate orSyuba is a language from the subgroup ofTibetic languages[2] spoken by the Kagate people primarily in theRamechhap district ofNepal.
Kagate is anexonym. It is the Nepali word for the occupation of 'papermaker', reflecting an earlier occupation of the community. This is the name under which the language was documented in Grierson's 1909 linguistic survey of India,[3] and by which it is classified in theISO 639-3 code. Speakers now prefer theendonymSyuba, which also refers to the occupation of papermaker. This name is mentioned in documentation literature from the 1970s,[4][5] and speakers are now using this form more actively,[6] see as an example the Syuba-Nepali-English dictionary.[7]
Kagate speakers migrated from theYolmo area ofHelambu around 100–200 years ago. This was likely the result ofpopulation pressure in the Yolmo area. Kagate speakers settled in Ramecchap. There are now at least 8 Kagate villages in Ramechhap, and Kagate speakers also live in Kathmandu and other urban areas.[8] Kagate was first documented in Grierson's 1909 linguistic survey of India, because Kagate speakers were working in Darjeeling.[3] The Syuba language is currently still spoken across all generations, including children.[8]
An orthography for the language was developed for the publication of the Syuba-Nepali-English dictionary.[7] This orthography is Devanagari-based with modifications to represent the sounds of the Syuba language. The modifications toDevanagari are minor, and are intended to ensure that all sounds in the language can be represented. The 'inherent schwa vowel' of Devanagari is not used, meaning that a consonant without an overt vowel is not treated as having an implied vowel. Consonants remain the same as in the existing Devanagari tradition, with the use of joineddigraphs to represent additional sounds in the language, such as the combination of क (k) and य (y) for the palatal stop क्य ([c] 'kh'), स (s) and य (y) for the palatal fricative स्य ([ʃ] 'sh'), र and ह for the voiceless liquid र्ह ([r̥] 'rh'), and ल and ह for the voiceless lateral ल्ह ([l̥] 'lh'). Vowel length is not distinguished. Tone is distinguished using an additional diacritic after the vowel, sotó 'rice' (high tone) is तो whiletò 'stone' (low tone) is तोः.
The Syuba-Nepali-English dictionary also uses a Roman orthography. This orthography is represented in thePhonology section below. In the Roman orthography tone is marked using a superscriptL at the start of the syllable to mark low tone (e.g.Lto 'stone') with high tone unmarked.[7]
There is a varying degree of mutual intelligibility between Syuba and otherKyirong-Yolmo varieties. It is most closely related to theYolmo language,[9] and more distantly related to other languages in the family.[10] The lexical similarity between Syuba and Melamchi Valley Yolmo is at least 79%, with the similarity between Syuba and Lamjung Yolmo even higher (88%).
While the languages are similar, Syuba speakers see their language as distinct from Yolmo.[10][8] Syuba also has a separateISO 639-3 code (swy instead of scp).
There are 36 consonants in Syuba, which are summarized in the table below. The form is given in IPA and then to the right in brackets is given the form more frequently used in Roman orthography if different.
| Labial | Apico-Dental | Lamino- post-alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||||
| Plosive/ Affricate | voiceless | p | t | ts | tɕ | ʈ | c⟨ky⟩ | k | ||
| aspirated | pʰ⟨ph⟩ | tʰ⟨th⟩ | tsʰ⟨tsh⟩ | tɕʰ⟨tɕh⟩ | ʈʰ⟨ʈh⟩ | cʰ⟨khy⟩ | kʰ⟨kh⟩ | |||
| voiced | b | d | dz | dʑ | ɖ | ɟ⟨gy⟩ | ɡ | |||
| Fricative | voiceless | s | ɕ | h | ||||||
| voiced | z | ʑ | ||||||||
| Liquid | rhotic | voiceless | r̥⟨rh⟩ | |||||||
| voiced | r | |||||||||
| lateral | voiceless | l̥⟨lh⟩ | ||||||||
| voiced | l | |||||||||
| Semivowel | w | j⟨y⟩ | ||||||||
There are five places of articulation for vowels. While there is a length distinction in closely related varieties such asYolmo andKyirong, the current Syuba orthography does not mark vowel length, and the status of vowel length is therefore unclear.[7] In Roman orthographies the [ɔ] is usually written⟨o⟩.
| Front | Mid | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid | e | ɔ | |
| Low | a |
Syuba has atwo-tone language system, with tone located on the first syllable of a word.[11]
| pú | 'body hair' |
| pù | 'son' |
| tó | 'rice (cooked)' |
| tò | 'stone' |
Tone is predictable in some environments. It is always high followingaspiratedstops, aspiratedaffricates andvoicelessliquids (which speakers treat as equivalent to aspirated). Tone is always low followingvoiced stops, voiced fricatives and voiced affricates. Tone can be high or low in all other environments.
The grammar of Syuba shares many features with other varieties of Yolmo. A more extensive grammatical overview is available on theYolmo language page. This section provides an overview of those features that are distinct in the Syuba variety.
Theplural form in other varieties of Yolmo is=ya. In Syuba the plural is =kya.[5] This is more similar to the Kyirong form,[12] suggesting the Yolmo=ya is an innovation.
Verb stems in the Melamchi Valley variety of Yolmo alternate depending on the grammatical context, which is a process also seen inStandard Tibetan and otherTibetic languages. This does not happen in Syuba,[13]
nor does it happen in Lamjung Yolmo.[14]
Syuba does not usehonorific word forms as frequently as they are used inMelamchi Valley Yolmo.
Sino-Tibetan branches | |||||
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| WesternHimalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand,Nepal,Sikkim) |
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| EasternHimalayas (Tibet,Bhutan,Arunachal) | |||||
| Myanmar and Indo- Burmese border |
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| East andSoutheast Asia |
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| Dubious (possible isolates,Arunachal) |
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| Proposed groupings | |||||
| Proto-languages | |||||
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches. | |||||
| Official language | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Indigenous languages |
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