Sartang language explained

Sartang
Nativename:	But(pa)
States:	India
Region:	Arunachal Pradesh
Speakers:	1,000
Date:	2005
Ref:	e18
Familycolor:	Sino-Tibetan
Fam1:	Possibly Tibeto-Burman
Fam2:	Kho-Bwa
Fam3:	Mey–Sartang
Iso3:	onp
Glotto:	sart1249
Glottorefname:	Sartang

Sartang is a small language of India. It is one of the Kho-Bwa languages,^[1] closest to Sherdukpen (50–60% lexical similarity). Varieties include Sartang ofJergaon and Sartang of Rahung (Blench 2015).^[2]

Distribution

Sartang (Boot Monpa) is spoken in the villages of Khoitam, Rahung, Namku-thangka (Salari), and Boot (Jerigaon) Khoina, West Kameng District (Dondrup 2004:1).^[3] There were 2,986 Sartang people as of 1996.

The Ethnologue lists Jerigaon, Sellary, Khoitam, Rahung, Darbu and Khoina villages in Nafra and Dirang circles, West Kameng district.

Varieties

According to Roger Blench (2015),^[2] Sartang is a cover term referring to various languages spoken in 11 villages southeast of Dirang in Nafra and Dirang circles in West Kameng District. There are 4 varieties total, and only Sartang of Rahung and Sartang of Jergaon have been documented.

Lieberherr & Bodt (2017)^[4] list the following varieties.

• Rahung: spoken in Rahung village and nearby hamlets. Approximately 600 speakers.
• Khoitam: spoken in two main villages and nearby hamlets. Approximately 500 speakers.
• Jerigaon: spoken in Jerigaon village. Approximately 400 speakers.
• Khoina: spoken in Khoina village and nearby hamlets. Approximately 500 speakers.

Notes and References

1. Post, Mark W. and Roger Blench (2011). "Siangic: A new language phylum in North East India", 6th International Conference of the North East India Linguistics Society, Tezpur University, Assam, India, Jan 31 – Feb 2
2. Blench, Roger. 2015. The Mey languages and their classification. Presentation given at the University of Sydney.
3. Dondrup, Rinchin. 2004. An introduction to the Boot Monpa language. Itanagar: Directorate of Research, Government of Arunachal Pradesh.
4. Lieberherr, Ismael; Bodt, Timotheus Adrianus. 2017. Sub-grouping Kho-Bwa based on shared core vocabulary. In Himalayan Linguistics, 16(2).