Nar Phu language

Nar Phu, or ’Narpa, is a Sino-Tibetan variety spoken in the two villages of Nar and Phu, in the Valley of the Nar Khola in the Manang district of Nepal. It forms a dialect continuum with Manang and may be intelligible with it; however, the Nar and Phu share a secret language to confound Gyasumdo and Manang who would otherwise understand them.[1]

Nar Phu
Native toNepal
RegionManang district
Native speakers
600 (2011)[1]
Dialects
  • Nar (Lower Nar)
  • Phu (Upper Nar)
Language codes
ISO 639-3npa
Glottolognarp1239
ELPNar Phu


Phonology

Vowels
Front Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ
Low a ɑ

The language lacks all middle vowels and the open mid vowel /ɔ/.

Consonants
Bilabial Dental Retroflex Alveolo-palatal Velar
Plosive unaspirated p t ʈ k
aspirated pʰ tʰ ʈʰ kʰ
Affricate unaspirated ts tɕ
aspirated tsʰ tɕʰ
Fricative s ɕ
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Lateral voiced l
voiceless l̥
Rhotic voiced r
voiceless r̥
Approximant w j ɰ

Comparatively to the English language, the /g/ is not in the language.

Tones

Nar Phu distinguishes four tones: high falling, high level, low rising murmured, and mid/low falling murmured.

Language Patterns

Nar-Phu has a different vowel system than other Tamangic languages, due to the amount of front vowels. Nar-Phu is a four-tone language. Tones 1 and 4 are falling; tones 3 and 4 are murmured. Tone 2 is distinguished by its clear, high quality. Nar-Phu has no formal gendered language system, but some suffixes are used to describe animals, even castrated male animals. Honorific Noun phrases are used when there is not a noun in place for said words. [1]

Swadesh List
  • čhipruŋ - Nar
  • ŋêe min - my name is
  • cɦecuke - children
  • tɦosor - happy/happier/happiness
  • læ̂se/yarcʌkômpʌ - Yarsagompa
  • šiŋ - wood
  • kɦêpɛ - eighth month
  • ɦyâŋi - yaks
  • momori - momo
  • kɦeskʌ - gas
  • læ̂pa - cup
  • bɦaʈʈi - hotel
  • eki - again
  • mɦi - dies
  • molompapɛ - religious books
  • molom - worship

[1]

References
  1. Nar Phu at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

Bibliography
  • Noonan, Michael (2003). "Nar-Phu" Sino-Tibetan Languages, edited by Randy LaPolla and Graham Thurgood, 336-352. London: Routledge.
  • Kristine A. Hildebrandt (2013). “Converb and aspect marking polysemy in Nar” Responses to Language Endangerment: In Honor of Mickey Noonan, edited by Elena Mihas, Bernard Perley, Gabriel Rei-Doval, and Kathleen Wheatley, 97-117. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
  • Kristine A. Hildebrandt, D.N. Dhakal, Oliver Bond, Matt Vallejo and Andrea Fyffe. (2015). “A sociolinguistic survey of the languages of Manang, Nepal: Co-existence and endangerment.” NFDIN Journal, 14.6: 104-122.
  • Mandala collections. Nar-Phu | Mandala Collections - Audio-Video. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2021, from https://av.mandala.library.virginia.edu/collection/nar-phu.
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