Jump to content

Nar Phu language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Nar-Phu language)
Nar Phu
Native toNepal
RegionManang district
Native speakers
600 (2011)[1]
Dialects
  • Nar (Lower Nar)
  • Phu (Upper Nar)
Language codes
ISO 639-3npa
Glottolognarp1239
ELPNar Phu
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Nar Phu, or ’Narpa, is a Sino-Tibetan variety spoken in the two villages of Nar and Phu, in the Valley of the Nar Khola in the Manang district of Nepal. It forms a dialect continuum with Manang and may be intelligible with it; however, the Nar and Phu share a secret language to confound Gyasumdo and Manang who would otherwise understand them.[1]


Phonology

[edit]

Vowels

[edit]
Front Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ
Low a ɑ

The language lacks all middle vowels and the open mid vowel /ɔ/.

Consonants

[edit]
Bilabial Dental Retroflex Alveolo-palatal Velar
Plosive unaspirated p t ʈ k
aspirated ʈʰ
Affricate unaspirated ts
aspirated tsʰ tɕʰ
Fricative s ɕ
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Lateral voiced l
voiceless
Rhotic voiced r
voiceless
Approximant w j ɰ

Comparatively to the English language, the /g/ is not in the language.

Tones

[edit]

Nar Phu distinguishes four tones: high falling, high level, low rising murmured, and mid/low falling murmured.

Language Patterns

[edit]

Nar-Phu has a different vowel system than other Tamangic languages, due to the amount of front vowels. Nar-Phu is a four-tone language. Tones 1 and 4 are falling; tones 3 and 4 are murmured. Tone 2 is distinguished by its clear, high quality. Nar-Phu has no formal gendered language system, but some suffixes are used to describe animals, even castrated male animals. Honorific Noun phrases are used when there is not a noun in place for said words. [1]

Swadesh List

[edit]
  • čhipruŋ - Nar
  • ŋêe min - my name is
  • cɦecuke - children
  • tɦosor - happy/happier/happiness
  • læ̂se/yarcʌkômpʌ - Yarsagompa
  • šiŋ - wood
  • kɦêpɛ - eighth month
  • ɦyâŋi - yaks
  • momori - momo
  • kɦeskʌ - gas
  • læ̂pa - cup
  • bɦaʈʈi - hotel
  • eki - again
  • mɦi - dies
  • molompapɛ - religious books
  • molom - worship

[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Nar Phu at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Noonan, Michael (2003). "Nar-Phu" Sino-Tibetan Languages, edited by Randy LaPolla and Graham Thurgood, 336-352. London: Routledge.
  • Kristine A. Hildebrandt (2013). “Converb and aspect marking polysemy in Nar” Responses to Language Endangerment: In Honor of Mickey Noonan, edited by Elena Mihas, Bernard Perley, Gabriel Rei-Doval, and Kathleen Wheatley, 97-117. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
  • Kristine A. Hildebrandt, D.N. Dhakal, Oliver Bond, Matt Vallejo and Andrea Fyffe. (2015). “A sociolinguistic survey of the languages of Manang, Nepal: Co-existence and endangerment.” NFDIN Journal, 14.6: 104-122.
  • Mandala collections. Nar-Phu | Mandala Collections - Audio-Video. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2021, from https://av.mandala.library.virginia.edu/collection/nar-phu.
[edit]