In today's world, Chepang language has become a topic of great relevance and interest to a wide range of people. Whether it is a debate about the importance of Chepang language in modern society, the impact of Chepang language on the economy, or simply the fascination with the history of Chepang language, this topic has captured the attention of many. Furthermore, Chepang language has generated endless research, debates and discussions that have led to a greater understanding and appreciation of its importance. In this article we will thoroughly explore the impact of Chepang language, analyzing different perspectives and providing a comprehensive view on this topic that is so relevant today.
Chepang | |
---|---|
च्योःबाङ् | |
Region | Nepal |
Ethnicity | Chepang |
Native speakers | 59,000 (2021 census) |
Sino-Tibetan
| |
Devanagari | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | cdm |
Glottolog | chep1245 |
ELP | Chepang |
Chepang is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |
Chepang is a language spoken by approximately 59,000 people in South-Central Nepal. The people are known as Chepang. Randy LaPolla (2003) proposes that Chepang may be part of a larger "Rung" group. Another group who speaks Chepang, living across the Narayani river, call themselves Bujheli.
Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n̪ | ŋ | ||||
Stop | Voiceless | p | t̪ | t͡s | k | ||
Voiced | b | d̪ | d͡z | g | |||
Fricative | s | h | |||||
Approximant | l | j | w |
The glottal stop is realized in some contexts, though usually not as a full closure and is instead presented as falling pitch, laryngealization, re-articulation, or by lengthening of the segment before. Some example of possible occurrences are listed below:
The glottal fricative /h/ is realized in many ways and it is much more predictable in the environments that realizations occur. For example:
The voiceless alveolar sibilant /s/ is also realized as /ʃ/ before front vowels.
/w/ when directly next to front vowels is realized as the labio-dental approximant
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Mid | e | ə | o |
Open | a |
Research suggests that Chepang may have had a three vowel system at one point in time. Those vowels being /i/ /u/ and /ə/, this is uncommon for a three vowel system as commonly they consist of /a/ /i/ and /u/ as seen in Classical Arabic, Greenlandic and Quechua.
Chepang can be described as having a basic word order of Subject Object Verb (SOV) with some alterations due to context. The text below provides an example:
ʔuyhle
Formerly
kəsyaʔ-ʔl
deer-AG
manta-kay
person-DO
mayʔ
meat
jeʔ-ʔo
eat-NMZ
kheʔ-to
be
Formerly, deer used to eat people
But it is difficult to define a subject and object for the language in Chepang and may be more accurately described as a verb-final language. The verb does, for the most part, follow its related noun phrases and other constituents. Though it is not uncommon to see the NP follow the verb used as an afterthought.
budhl-kay
wife-DO
jan-ʔaka-n
scold-PST-AG
budha-ʔl
husband-AG
He scolded his wife, the husband (did)
Chepang is spoken in the following districts of Nepal (Ethnologue).
Dialects are Western Chepang and Eastern Chepang.