Lish language explained

Lish
Also Known As:Lishpa, Khispi
Region:Arunachal Pradesh
Ethnicity:Lishipa
Speakers:1,500
Date:2017
Familycolor:Sino-Tibetan
Fam1:Sino-Tibetan?
Fam2:Kho-Bwa
Iso3:lsh
Glotto:lish1235
Glottorefname:Khispi

Lish (also called Lishpa or Khispi) is a Kho-Bwa language of West Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh in India. It is closely related to Chug.

The Lish (population 1,567 in 1981) live in Dirang village, a few miles from Chug village, and in Gompatse. The Gompatse variety is not Lish proper, but is rather a lect closely related to Lish.[1]

Lish is also spoken in Khispi village.[1] Despite speaking languages closely related to Mey (Sherdukpen), the people identify as Monpa, not Mey.

According to Lieberherr & Bodt (2017),[2] Lish is spoken by 1,500 people in 3 main villages.

Notes and References

  1. Blench, Roger. 2015. The Mey languages and their classification. Presentation given at the University of Sydney.
  2. Lieberherr, Ismael; Bodt, Timotheus Adrianus. 2017. Sub-grouping Kho-Bwa based on shared core vocabulary. In Himalayan Linguistics, 16(2).