Tamang language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tamang is a term used to collectively refer to a group of languages spoken in parts of Nepal and Sikkim. It comprises Eastern Tamang, Northwestern Tamang, Southwestern Tamang, Eastern Gorkha Tamang, and Western Tamang. Lexical similarity between Eastern Tamang (which is regarded as the most prominent) and other Tamang languages varies between 81% to 63%; lexical similarity between Spanish and Portuguese, for instance, is estimated at 89%.

Contents 1 Population 2 Classification 3 Grammar 4 Writing system 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] Population

• Eastern Tamang: 759,257 in Nepal (2000 WCD). Population total all countries: 773,257;
• Western Tamang: 322,598 (2000 WCD);
• Southwestern Tamang: 109,051 (1991 census);
• Northwestern Tamang: 55,000 (1991 census);
• Eastern Gorkha Tamang: 3,977 (2000 WCD).

Tamang language is the largest Tibeto-Burman language in Nepal.

[edit] Classification

According to ethnologue.com Tamang languages are classified as follows:

• Sino-Tibetan

• Tibeto-Burman

• Himalayish

• Tibeto-Kanauri

• Tibetic

• Tamangic

• Tamang, Eastern [taj]
• Tamang, Eastern Gorkha [tge]
• Tamang, Northwestern [tmk]
• Tamang, Southwestern [tsf]
• Tamang, Western [tdg]

ISO 639-3 identifiers are given in brackets.

[edit] Grammar

Some grammatical features of Tamang languages are

• SOV
• postpositions;
• genitives after nouns;
• question word medial;
• ergative;
• CV, CVC, CCV, V, CCVC;

Phonetically Tamang languages are tonal.

[edit] Writing system

Tamang languages use Devanāgarī and Tibetan scripts.

[edit] See also

Tamang (ethnic group)

Gurung (ethnic group)

[edit] External links

• Ethnologue
• Tamangs.com