Gongduk language

Gongduk or Gongdu (Tibetan: དགོང་འདུས་, Wylie: Dgong-'dus, it is also known as Gongdubikha[2]) is an endangered Sino-Tibetan language spoken by about 1,000 people in a few inaccessible villages located near the Kuri Chhu river in the Gongdue Gewog of Mongar District in eastern Bhutan. The names of the villages are Bala, Dagsa, Damkhar, Pam, Pangthang, and Yangbari (Ethnologue).

Gongduk
Gongdukpa Ang
དགོང་འདུས་
RegionBhutan
Native speakers
2,000 (2006)[1]
Sino-Tibetan
  • Gongduk
Tibetan script
Language codes
ISO 639-3goe
Glottologgong1251
ELPGongduk

Gongduk has complex verbal morphology, which Ethnologue considers a retention from Proto-Tibeto-Burman,[1] and is lexically highly divergent.[3] On this basis, it is apparently not part of any major subgroup and will probably have to be assigned to its own branch.[3][4]

The people are said to have come from hunters that would move from place to place at times.[5]

The language is notable for only being discovered by linguists in 1991.[6] Currently, George van Driem is working towards the completion of a description of Gongduk based on his work with native speakers in the Gongduk area.[4]

Classification

George van Driem (2001:870)[7] proposes that the Greater Bumthang (East Bodish) languages, including Bumthang, Khengkha, and Kurtöp, may have a Gongduk substratum. Gongduk itself may also have a non-Tibeto-Burman substrate.

Gerber (2018)[8] notes that Gongduk has had extensive contact with Black Mountain Mönpa before the arrival of East Bodish languages in Bhutan. Gongduk also has many Tshangla loanwords. The following comparative vocabulary table from Gerber (2020) compares Gongduk, Black Mountain Mönpa, and Bjokapakha, which is a divergent Tshangla variety.[9]

GlossGongdukBlack Mountain MönpaBjokapakha
hair (on head) θɤmguluŋtsham
tongue dəlilíːlɪ
eye mikmek ~ mikmiŋ
ear nərəŋnaktaŋnabali
tooth ɤnáː ~ waːsha
bone rukɤŋɦɤtphok ~ yöphokkhaŋ
blood winiʔkɔkyi
hand/arm gurlɤk ~ lokgadaŋ
leg/foot bidɤʔdɤkpɛŋ ~ tɛ̤kɛŋbitiŋ
faeces kicokkhɨ
water dɤŋlicö, kheri
rain wɤghöŋamtsu
dog okicüla ~ khulakhu
pig donpɔkphakpa
fish kuŋwənye̤ŋa
louse dɤrθæːkshiŋ
bear bekpələwɤm ~ womomsha
son ledəbæθaːza
daughter medəbæmɛtzamin
name kətmön ~ minmɨŋ
house kiŋmhiː̤ ~ mhe̤ːphai
fire miáːmik ~ áːmitmɨ
to hear lə yu-goː-nai tha-
to see tɤŋ-tuŋ-thoŋ-
to look məl- ~ mɤt-mak-got-
to sit mi- ~ mu-buŋ- ~ bæŋ-laŋ-
to die komθ-θɛː- ~ θɛʔ-shi-
to kill tɤt-θüt- ~ θut- ~ θitshe-

Comparison of numerals:[9]

GlossGongdukBlack Mountain MönpaBjokapakha
one titɛkthur
two niktsənhüɲiktsiŋ
three towəsamsam
four piyəblöpshi
five ŋəwəlɔŋŋa
six kukpəo̤ːkkhuŋ
seven ðukpənyízum
eight yitpəjit [ʤit]yɪn
nine guwədoːgagu
ten deyəchöse

Comparison of pronouns:[9]

PronounGongdukBlack Mountain MönpaBjokapakha
1SG ðəköjaŋ
2SG giiŋnan
3SG gonhoʔma (MAS); hoʔmet (FEM)dan
1PL ðiŋɔŋdat (INCL); anak (EXCL)ai
2PL giŋiŋnaknai
3PL gonməthoʔoŋdai

Grammar

Morphology

Gongduk has productive suffixal morphology (van Driem 2014).[10]

<-məˀtⁿ> ‘plural suffix in human nouns’

Examples:

  • oloˀŋməˀtⁿ ‘children’ < oloˀk ‘child’ + -məˀtⁿ
  • ŋidɤməˀtⁿ ‘people’ < ŋidɤ ‘person’ + -məˀtⁿ
  • aroˀŋməˀtⁿ ‘friends’ < aroˀk ‘friend’ + -məˀtⁿ


However, non-human plural nouns do not take on any suffixes, and remain the same:

  • kurtə ‘horse, horses’
  • kəitɤ ‘bird, birds’
  • kiŋ ‘house, houses’
<-e ~ -ðe ~ -θe> ‘ergative and possessive suffix’

Examples:

  • bɤʔlɤpə-e ‘the people of Bɤʔlɤ [ergative]’
  • choŋnən-ðe me ‘the seed of the maize’
  • nor-θe taɦ ‘meat of the cow [beef]’
  • rek-θe rukɤŋ ‘head bone [skull]’
  • aroʔk-te-θe ‘the friend [ergative]’
  • əp drəkpə-e ‘Ap Drakpa [ergative]’
  • θok-θe əkəm ‘egg of offering (sacrificial egg)’
  • lei-ti-ðe juʔmə ‘after one month’
<-gi> ‘ablative suffix’

Examples:

  • ðiŋ goŋduʔ-gi əna ‘We are from Gongduk’
  • nikkələŋ-gi ‘by way of the stairs’
  • dəkθə-gi ‘from Daksa’
  • kidu-gi ‘as a kidu [government gift]’
  • bɤʔlɤ-gi ‘from Bɤʔlɤ’
  • deŋkəle wɤŋ-gi ‘from Dengkalé Dale’
  • doʔmoŋ-gi ‘from "Black Roof" village’
  • phəjoŋ pəm-gi ‘from Phajong Pam’
<-gu ~ -go ~ -ku ~-ko> ‘dative / locative suffix’

Examples:

  • gərəŋ-go ‘to whom’
  • ohaŋ duʔ-gu ‘in that village’
  • rek-ko ‘to [his] head’
  • ðə-go ‘to me’
  • jə-go ‘to India’
  • gaoŋ-go ‘whereto, where precisely’
  • pəkpək-ko ‘at times, sometimes’
  • thimphu-gu ‘to Thimphu’

Demonstratives

Gongduk demonstratives precede head nouns.[10]

ohaŋ ‘that (demonstrative)’

Examples:

  • ohaŋ ŋidɤ ‘that person’
  • ohaŋ koŋ ‘that tree’
  • ohaŋ duʔgu ‘in that village’

Personal pronouns

Gongduk has the following personal pronoun paradigm.[10]

singular (absolutive)singular (ergative & genitive)plural (absolutive)plural (ergative & genitive)dual (absolutive)dual (ergative & genitive)
first person ðəðeðiŋðiŋ, ðiŋ ŋəŋpoe
second person gigigiŋgiŋ, giŋ ŋəŋpoe
third person gongonðegonməgonməe, gonma ŋəŋpoe
inclusive iθi, iθirəŋ gəŋpodei, dei gəŋpoe

van Driem (2014) compares the Gongduk first person singular personal pronoun ðə 'I, me' to Kathmandu Newar dʑiː ~ dʑĩ- 'I, me' and Tshangla dʑaŋ ~ dʑi- ~ dʑiŋ- 'I, me'. He also compares the Gongduk first person plural personal pronoun ðiŋ 'we, us' to Kathmandu Newar dʑʰai ~ dʑʰĩ- 'we, us'.

Vocabulary

The Gongduk words and phrases below are from van Driem (2014).[10]

Basic vocabulary
  • rek ‘head’
  • rukɤŋ ‘bone’
  • əŋ ‘language, mouth’
  • dɤŋli ‘water’
  • wɤ ‘rain’
  • yər ‘cliff’
  • dɤ ‘salt’
  • ɤn ‘tooth’
  • koŋ ‘tree’
  • diŋ ‘wood’
  • me ‘seed’
  • dola ‘cooked Setaria or rice’
  • choŋnən ‘maize’
  • ɤwɤ ‘banana’
  • taɦ ‘meat’
  • wərə ‘highland paddy, ghaiyā’
  • khərəŋ ‘cooked Panicum or maize’
  • don ‘pig’
  • nor ‘cow’
  • kurtə ‘horse’
  • kəitɤ ‘bird’
  • əkəm ‘egg’
  • jə ‘day (24-hour period)’
  • lei ‘month’
  • oloʔk ‘child’
  • ŋidɤ ‘person’
  • aroʔk ‘friend’
  • duʔ ‘village’
  • kiŋ ‘house’
  • nikkələŋ ‘stairs’
  • θok ‘offering’
  • goŋduʔ ‘Gongduk’

Numerals
  • ti ‘1’
  • niktsə ‘2’
  • towə ‘3’
  • diyə, piyə ‘4’
  • ŋəwə ‘5’
  • qukpə ‘6’
  • ðukpə ‘7’
  • yitpə, hetpə ‘8’
  • ɢuwə ‘9’
  • deyə ‘10’
  • deθəti ‘11’
  • deθəniktsə ‘12’
  • deθətowə ‘13’
  • khəe ‘score (20)’
  • khəe ŋəwə ‘five score, i.e. one hundred’

Interrogative pronouns
  • gərəŋ ‘who’
  • gərəe ‘whose’
  • θəpo ‘what’
  • ko ‘when’
  • gaoŋ ‘where, whither’
  • qəti ‘how much, how many’
  • gainəŋ ‘which, whence’
  • qətigu ‘at what time’
  • θəu, θəudi ‘why, how come’
  • gora, gorapəm ‘how, in which way’
  • ohaŋ ‘that (demonstrative)’

References
  1. Gongduk at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. "Gongduk". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  3. Blench, R. & Post, M. W. (2013). Rethinking Sino-Tibetan phylogeny from the perspective of Northeast Indian languages
  4. Himalayan Languages Project. "Gongduk". Himalayan Languages Project. Archived from the original on 2012-03-03. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
  5. "Languages and Ethnic Groups of Bhutan". www.languagesgulper.com. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  6. "Why do languages die?", by Christopher Moseley, in The 5-Minute Linguist, ISBN 978-1-908049-49-0
  7. van Driem, George. 2001. Languages of the Himalayas. Leiden: Brill
  8. Gerber, Pascal. 2018. Areal features in Gongduk, Bjokapakha and Black Mountain Mönpa phonology Archived 2019-03-24 at the Wayback Machine. Unpublished draft.
  9. Gerber, Pascal (2020). "Areal features in Gongduk, Bjokapakha and Black Mountain Mönpa phonology". Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area. 43 (1): 55–86. doi:10.1075/ltba.18015.ger. ISSN 0731-3500. S2CID 225218734.
  10. van Driem, George. 2014. Gongduk Nominal Morphology and the phylogenetic position of Gongduk. Paper presented at the 20th Himalayan Languages Symposium, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 16 July 2014.

Bibliography
  • Dzongkha Development Authority; Dasho Sangay Dorji; Col. Wangdi Tshering; Namgay Thinley; Gyembo Dorji; Phuntsho Wangdi; Lekyi Tshering; Sangay Phuntsho (2005). དགོང་འདུས་རྫོང་ཁ་ཨིན་སྐད་ཤན་སྦྱར་ཚིག་མཛོད། (Gongduk-Dzongkha-English Dictionary). Thimphu: Dzongkha Development Authority. p. 115. ISBN 99936-663-1-9.
  • Gerber, Pascal. 2019. Gongduk agreement morphology in functional and diachronic perspective. Paper presented at the ISBS Inaugural Conference, Magdalen College, University of Oxford.
  • van Driem, George L; et al. (Karma Tshering of Gaselô) (1998). Dzongkha. Languages of the Greater Himalayan Region. Leiden: Research School CNWS, School of Asian, African, and Amerindian Studies. pp. 32–33. ISBN 90-5789-002-X.
  • van Driem, George L (2007). "Endangered languages of Bhutan and Sikkim". In Brenzinger, Matthias (ed.). Language diversity endangered. Trends in linguistics. Studies and monographs. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 314–15. ISBN 978-3-11-017050-4.
  • van Driem, George. 2014. Gongduk Nominal Morphology and the phylogenetic position of Gongduk. Paper presented at the 20th Himalayan Languages Symposium, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 16 July 2014.
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