| West Himalayish | |
|---|---|
| Kanauric, Almora | |
| Geographic distribution | Himachal Pradesh,Uttarakhand (India),Nepal |
| Linguistic classification | Sino-Tibetan
|
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | tibe1275 |
TheWest Himalayish languages, also known asAlmora andKanauric, are a family ofSino-Tibetan languages centered inHimachal Pradesh,Uttarakhand and across the border intoNepal. LaPolla (2003) proposes that the West Himalayish languages may be part of a larger "Rung" group.
The languages include:[citation needed]
Zhangzhung, the sacred language of theBon religion, was spoken north of the Himalayas across westernTibet before being replaced by Tibetan.James Matisoff (2001)[1] provides lexical and phonological evidence for the classification of Zhangzhung within West Himalayish.
Widmer (2014:47)[2] classifies the West Himalayish languages as follows. The recently discoveredDhuleli language has been added from Regmi & Prasain (2017).[3]
Widmer (2014:53–56)[2] classifiesZhangzhung within the Eastern branch of West Himalayish, and notes that it appears particularly close to languages of the Central subgroup (Bunan,Sunnami, andRongpo).
Widmer (2017)[4] notes that manyTibetan varieties in the westernTibetan Plateau have been influenced by West Himalayish languages.
Widmer (2017)[4] lists the following lexical items that differ in the Eastern and Western branches of West Himalayish.
| Language | ‘one’ | ‘hand’ | ‘cry’ | ‘black’ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proto-Eastern West Himalayish | *it | *gut | *krap- | *rok- |
| Manchad | itsa | gùṛa | krap- | roki |
| Kanashi | idh | guḍ | kərop- | roko |
| Kinnauri (Southern) | id | gŭd' | krap- | rŏkh |
| Proto-Western West Himalayish | *tik | *lak | *tjo- | *kʰaj/*wom |
| Bunan | tiki | lak | tjo- | kʰaj |
| Rongpo | tig | lag | tyõ- | kʰasyũ |
| Byangsi | tigɛ | là | tye- | wamdɛ |
Widmer (2014:53-56)[2] classifiesZhangzhung within the eastern branch of West Himalayish, and lists the following cognates between Zhangzhung and Proto-West Himalayish.
| 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 |
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. | |||||