Sunwar language explained

Sunuwar
Nativename:सुनुवार, कोँइच, किराँती-कोँइच, मुखिया
Region:Nepal

India (Sikkim and West Bengal)
Ethnicity:Sunuwar
Speakers:37,898
Imagecaption:'Kõica' in Jenticha script; 'Sunuwar' in Tikamuli and Devanagari script
Date:2011
Ref:[1]
Familycolor:Sino-Tibetan
Fam2:Tibeto-Burman
Fam3:Mahakiranti (?)
Fam4:Kiranti
Fam5:Western
Fam6:Northwestern
Script:Devanagari
Sunuwar (Sikkim, India)
Tikamuli (2005)
Nation: India
Iso3:suz
Glotto:sunw1242
Glottorefname:Sunwar
Dia1:Surel

Sunuwar, Sunuwar, or Kõinch (; ; other spellings are Koinch and Koincha), is a Kiranti language of the Sino-Tibetan language family spoken in Nepal and India by the Sunuwar people. It was first comprehensively attested by the Himalayan Languages Project. It is also known as Kõits Lo (;), Kiranti-Kõits (;), Mukhiya (;).[2] [3]

The Sunwar language is one of the smaller members of the Tibeto-Burman language family. About 40,000 speakers are residing in eastern Nepal.

Names

The language is commonly known as Koic, for many ethnic Sunwar and Sunwar speakers also refer to the language as “Sunuwar, Kõinch[4] , Koinch or Koincha (कोँइच); Kõits Lo (कोँइच लो), Kiranti-Kõits (किराँती-कोँइच) or Mukhiya (मुखिया).”

Moreover, most Sunwar speakers have the surname (सुनुवार), Sunuvār in Latin script.[5]

Geographic distribution

The Sunuwar language is commonly spoken in a cluster of Sunuwar villages, located around the region of the core spoken language. These villages are scattered alongside the river banks of Likhu Khola, in two bordering central-eastern districts of Nepal, distant from the main Nepalese road system:[5] in the Okhaldhū۠ngā District (part of Koshi Province), around the village of Vacul; and in the Rāmechāp District (part of Bagmati Province), around the villages of Pahare and of Kũbhu Kãsthālī for a smaller group of Sunwar speakers. The majority of the Sunwar speakers live on the southern border area of this region, between the villages of Pahare and Vacul.

Located 1,800 meters above sea level, their fields aren’t all fallow from year round cultivation[5] (Borchers, 2008). Therefore, many Sunwar households are farmers, own a small lot of land and livestock. Moreover, each village often visits their neighboring village markets to purchase inaccessible goods such as spices, sugar, tea, and salt. In the winter, they experience no snow but freezing temperatures. In warmer weather, they experience a lot of rainfall, in the summer, monsoon rainfall. Especially between June and August, it is when they experience the most rain, more so monsoon rainfall.

According to Borchers, there are other villages located outside of the core region. The Surel are claimed to be Sunwar speakers however there are no certainties that it is true.

Written language

Sunuwar (or Jenticha, Koĩts, Mukhiya) native alphabet in Sikkim, India

Sunuwar speakers from Sikkim, northeastern India, use the Sunuwar alphabet (ISO 15924 script code: Sunu) for printed materials such as newspapers and literature. The alphabet, also known as Jenticha alphabet, Sunuwar Lipi, Koĩts Lipi or Mukhiya script, or जेँःतिच ब्रेःसे (jẽtica brese), was developed in 1942 by Karna Bahadur Sunuwar (1926-1991), and got official recognition in Sikkim and Eastern Nepal where it is taught in schools. The Sunuwar or Jenticha script, is unrelated to any other scripts (even if some letter shapes have some resemblance to Latin and Limbu letter forms with similar phonetic value), and behaves like an alphabet with 35 base letters, written left-to-right, with syllabic features, extended with combining diacritics. The script also features its own set of decimal digits.

Unlike other Indic scripts derived from Brahmic, the Sunuwar alphabet includes no combining vowel signs: the script was initially a pure alphabet and the base consonants initially did not have any inherent vowel. But a second version of the script modified the orthographic rules to imply its presence, where the inherent vowel would be altered when appending any independent vowel letters, or suppressed by using a virama (or halant) sign in some consonant clusters or for consonants in final position of syllables. The independent letter form for the inherent vowel is now removed in most cases from the normal orthography in the middle of words, only used in isolation (i.e. no longer written when following a leading consonant, unless it is at end of words). A number of glyphic forms (conjuncts using consonants in half forms) were added to the script after this orthographic change for more easily writing consonant clusters, instead of writing multiple consonants with virama signs.[2] [6]

Devanagari-based abugida for the Sunwar language in Nepal

Although Sunwar has no traditional written language in Nepal, most literate speakers use the Devanagari abugida,[5] [4] also used for writing Nepali.

Independent vowels and diphthongs
aāiueo
[ə][aː][i][u][e][o]
एउउइओइ
aiaueuuioi
[ai][au][eu][ui][oi]
Consonants with inherent vowel
अ्
kakhagangacajaṭaṭha
[kə][kʰə][ɡə][ŋə][ʔ][t͡ʃə][d͡ʒə][ʈə][ʈʰə]
द/डन/ण
tathadanapaphabamaya
[tə][tʰə][də][nə][pə][pʰə][bə][mə][jə]
/व्ही/ह्व
ralavashasahahha
[rə][lə][və][ʃə][sə][hə][ɦə]
Combining diacritics
  • The sign , known in Sunwar as sangmilu, represents a virama or halant; it is used to silent the inherent vowel after the consonant.[7]
  • The sign , known in Sunwar as taslathenk, corresponds to the candrabindu in Devanagari; it is used to nasalize the vowel.
    sangmilu (virama or halant)taslathenk (cadrabindu)
    mutes the inherent vowelindicates nasalization of the vowel

    Tikamuli native abugida (since 2005)

    In 2005, another syllabic alphabet or abugida was developed for Sunuwar; it is known as Tikamuli.[8]

    Phonology

    Sunwar phonology is significantly influenced by the language of Nepali.

    Consonants

    The Sunwar language has a mid-sized arrangement of thirty-two consonantal phonemes:

    LabialDentalAlveolarRetroflexPalatalVelarGlottal
    Nasalpronounced as /ink/ (m)pronounced as /ink/ (n)pronounced as /ink/ (ṅ)
    Plosivepronounced as /ink/ (p)pronounced as /ink/ (t)pronounced as /ink/ (ṭ)pronounced as /ink/ (c)pronounced as /ink/ (k)pronounced as /link/ (ʔ)
    pronounced as /ink/~pronounced as /link/ (ph)pronounced as /ink/ (th)pronounced as /ink/ (ṭh)(pronounced as /link/ (ch))pronounced as /ink/ (kh)
    pronounced as /ink/ (b)pronounced as /ink/ (d)(pronounced as /link/ (ḍ))pronounced as /ink/ (j)pronounced as /ink/ (g)
    (pronounced as /link/ (bh))(pronounced as /link/ (dh))(pronounced as /link/ (ḍh))(pronounced as /link/ (jh))(pronounced as /link/ (gh))
    pronounced as /ink/~pronounced as /ink/ (ɓ)
    Fricativepronounced as /ink/ (s)pronounced as /ink/ (ʃ)
    [{{IPA link|ç}}][{{IPA link|x}}]pronounced as /ink/ (h)
    Approximantpronounced as /ink/~pronounced as /wʱ/ (w)pronounced as /ink/ (l)[{{IPA link|ɭ}}]pronounced as /ink/ (y)
    Tappronounced as /ink/ (r)

    Vowels

    According to Borchers,[5] there are eleven vowel phonemes in Sunwar:

    (a) [a~ɑ], /ā / [aː], /e/ [e~ɛ], /i/ [i], /o/ [o], /u/ [u], / ū/ [uː~y], /ã/ [ã~ɑ̃], /ã̄/ [ãː], /ẽ/ [ẽ~ɛ̃], /ĩ/ [ĩ]

    FrontCentralBack
    High/i/ [i], /ū/ [y]
    /ĩ/ [ĩ]
    /ū/ [uː~y], /u/ [u]
    (ũ)
    Mid/e/ [e~ɛ]
    /ẽ/ [ẽ~ɛ̃]
    /o/ [o]
    (õ)
    Low/a/ [a~ɑ], /ā / [aː]
    /ã/ [ã~ɑ̃], /ã̄/ [ãː]

    Diphthongs

    There are a total of eight diphthongs in Sunwar: /ai/ [aɪ], /aĩ/ [aɪ̃], /au/ [au], /eu/ [eu], /oi/ [oi], /oĩ/ [oĩ], /ui/ [ui], /uĩ/ [uĩ]

    According to Borchers,[5] a principled way to distinguish diphthongs from a sequence of two monophthongs does not exist in the Sunwar language.

    As exemplified by Borchers,[5] this table consists of examples of contrasts between diphthongs:

    /joi/[ɟoi]‘tiger’
    /joĩ/[ɟoĩ]‘younger sister’s husband’
    /muicā/[muicaː]‘wear shoes’
    /puĩcā/[puĩcaː]‘ask for, beg’
    /goi/[ɡoi]‘you’
    /gui/[ɡui]‘hand’
    /reu/[ɾeu]‘rain’
    /roi/[ɾoi]‘ill’

    Syllable structure

    Syllable Structure of Sunwar: C(C)V(V)(C)(C)

    Morphology

    Markers

    Case-marking suffixes

    According to Borchers,[5] “all case markers in the Sunwar language are suffixes.”

    As exemplified by Borchers,[5] this table consists of the noun case markers.

    MorphemeGloss:Marks:Occurs suffixed to denotions of:
    -mī ~  

    -amī ~-ī

    m ~ -m

    INS/L  

    OC

    agents, instruments, locationspersons,

    things,

    locations

    -kali ~  

    -kal

    OBJpatientspersons,

    animals

    -ke|POSS|possessions of animate beings|persons,

    animals|-|-ṅā

    GENbelongings of inanimate items       things,

    locations

    -lā/-le|FROM|place of departure of persons or items that changed places (ABL); time of begin of action|locations,

    time|-|-re|FROM|place of departure of persons or items that changed places (ABL); time of begin of action|locations,

    time|-|-au|VOC|name of person called|persons|}

    Dual marker

    A dual marker can be associated with dual/pair or the cardinal number ‘two’.

    Morpheme(-niʃi)
    Gloss:Dual (DU)

    Example of dual marker by Borchers:

    Plural marker

    In the Sunwar language, both nouns and pronouns can be marked as dual or plural.

    In addition items in a group can be marked plural.

    Morpheme(-paki ~ -puki ~ -piki)
    Gloss:Plural (PL)

    Examples of the plural marker used to point at items in a group by Borchers:

    Absent marker

    According to Borchers, the Sunwar language does not have a zero morpheme, but it can still indicate the number amount of something through verbal agreement markers or numerals.

    Example of the absent marker by Borchers:

    Suffixes

    Possessive suffix: (-ke) (Animate Agent)

    According to Borchers, the possessive suffix (-ke) is attached to a human or animate agent to indicate a possessive relationship.

    Morpheme(-ke)
    Gloss:Possessive (POSS)

    Examples of the possessive (-ke) by Borchers:

    Possessive suffix: (-ke) (inanimate subject)

    According to Borchers, inanimate subjects are marked with the possessive suffix (-ke) to indicate what it is "made of".Example of possessive (-ke) indicating what it is "made of" by Borchers:

    Quantifiers

    Quantifiers in the Sunwar language are loaned from Nepali. Quantifiers are used for amounts or masses.As exemplified by Borchers, this table consists of quantifiers; including some that are loaned from Nepali.

    From:Translation:
    acsmall
    besā very much[<Nep. besarī ‘very   much’]
    dhereimany, very, much[<Nep. dherai]
    ekdamvery[<Nep. ekdam]
    icia little
    imcisome, a bit
    matra, matreionly[<Nep. mātra]
    ʃūʃ ʃūsmuch, very, expensive
    thorei, toreisome, little[<Nep. thorai]
    thupro, tupromuch, a lot[<Nep. thupro]
    umcilismall

    Examples of quantifiers that indicate amounts or masses by Borchers:

    Syntax

    Adjectives: (-ʃo)

    According to Borchers, adjectives can belong to the verbal noun form, with an attached (ʃo). In the Sunwar language, some adjectives are borrowed from Nepali.

    Adjectives: Color forms

    Borchers also notes that adjectives can belong to the form/term color.As exemplified by Borchers, this table consists of the color form/terms.

    Form:Translation:
    jirjircolorful
    giิklight green, light blue
    nilodark blue [<Nep. nilo]
    buʃwhite
    kherblack
    lalred
    ojelabrilliant

    Adjectives: Non-verbal nouns without (-ʃo) attached

    The Sunwar language has a category for adjectives under the form ‘others’, that are not verbal nouns. In addition, some adjectives may be interchangeable as an adverb.As exemplified by Borchers, this table consists of the adjectives that are not verbal nouns ending in (-ʃo) form/terms.

    Form:Translation:
    umcili/icismall, little
    ʃūʃmuch, many, very, expensive
    thebbig, great (idea, thing)
    wanfar
    nethanear

    Examples of adjectives that are not verbal nouns ending in (-ʃo) by Borchers:

    Particles

    As exemplified by Borchers, this table consists of particles in correlation to various relationships.

    Conjunction:Translation:
    deor
    hanaif
    ṅanaif
    dopā that
    meklāpāṅāmin  and then
    pāṅāmin  and then
    minu (-nu)and then
    mapatkebecause of

    Postpositional particles

    According to Borchers, the Sunwar language borrows particles from Nepali that indicate the relationship between clauses.Examples of postpositional particles by Borchers:

    Postpotion:Gloss:
    ‘only’
    (-bhandā)

    A comparison.

    ‘than’
    : Singling out or can be seen as “exactly this one”.SNG
    : Inclusive focus.‘also’
    : A tag on questions asking for affirmation or negation of a statement.OR
    : Sunwar focus markerIFOC

    My stomach v.s. your stomach

    Example by Borchers:

    Order: Subject-object-verb

    Examples of order: Subject/Object/Verb by Borchers.

    Vocabulary

    Seu+wa+la (Sewala)

    Sunwar English
    Hello / Good Bye
    (Respect) / (Greeting) / I bow to you
    What
    How to
    How much
    How big
    I
    We are
    You (informal)
    You are (informal)
    we (formal)
    we are (formal)
    Beautiful
    Good
    Ugly

    Language structure

    In linguistic typology, a subject+object+verb (SOV) language is one in which the subject, object, and verb of a sentence always or usually appear in that order. If English were SOV, "Sam oranges ate" would be an ordinary sentence, as opposed to the actual Standard English "Sam ate oranges". (A Grammar of Sunwar)[9]

    Sunwar people called "Khangsa" sign language with voice and direct action, for foreign people who don't understand a sunuwar language.

    [10]

    External links

    REIN: reinforcement markerNPT: non-preteriteSNG: postposition of singularityPF: perfective gerund markerP: patient (of transitive verb)SVI: singular intransitive verb23D: second and third person, dual

    Notes and References

    1. https://cbs.gov.np/wp-content/upLoads/2018/12/Volume05Part02.pdf 2011 Nepal Census, Social Characteristics Tables
    2. Web site: Ager. Simon. Sunuwar alphabet. Omniglot. 8 December 2021.
    3. Book: Borchers. Dörte. A grammar of Sunwar: descriptive grammar, paradigms, texts and glossary. 2008. Brill. Leiden. 978-90-04-16709-4. 1–2. [Online-Ausg.]..
    4. Web site: Ager. Simon. Sunwar Language and Alphabet. Omniglot. 8 December 2021.
    5. Book: Borchers, Dörte. A Grammar of Sunwar: Descriptive Grammar, Paradigms, Texts and Glossary. 2008. BRILL. 978-90-04-16709-4. en.
    6. Web site: Jenticha. ScriptSource.org. 8 December 2021.
    7. Web site: Proposal to Encode the Jenticha Script in ISO/IEC 10646 . 11 March 2024 . Unicode . 31 May 2011 . Anshuman . Pandey.
    8. Web site: Ager. Simon. Tikamuli alphabet. Omniglot. 8 December 2021.
    9. Book: A Grammar of Sunwar . 2008 . Dörte Borchers . 978-9004167094 . 27 August 2018.
    10. Web site: Pandey . Anshuman . Proposal to Encode the Jenticha Script in ISO/IEC 10646 . 18 December 2019 . 31 May 2011.