Rajbanshi language (Nepal)

Rajbanshi (also called Tajpuria[2]) is a Bengali-Assamese language spoken in Nepal. It is related to, but distinct from Rangpuri/Kamta in Bangladesh and India, which is also known by the alternative name "Rajbanshi", with which it forms the KRNB cluster.[3]

Rajbanshi
Tajpuria
Native toNepal
RegionJhapa District, Morang District
EthnicityRajbanshi
Native speakers
170,000 (2011)[1]
Devanagari
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
rjs  Rajbanshi
kyv  Kayort
Glottolograjb1243  Rajbanshi
kayo1247  Kayort

Phonology

This section is based on Wilde 2008.

Consonants

Labial Dental/
Alveolar
Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop voiceless p ʈ k
aspirated t̪ʰ ʈʰ
voiced b ɖ ɡ
breathy d̪ʱ ɖʱ ɡʱ
Affricate voiceless ts
aspirated tsʰ
voiced dz
breathy dzʱ
Fricative s (ʃ) h
Nasal plain m ŋ
breathy n̪ʱ ŋʱ
Trill plain r
breathy
Approximant lateral l
lateral br.
central (w) (j)
  • /ts, tsʰ, dz, dzʱ/ can often be heard as post-alveolar [tʃ, tʃʰ, dʒ, dʒʱ], when following back vowels.
  • /r/ and /rʱ/ can have allophones of ɾ] and [ɽʱ ɾʱ].
  • /b/ can have allophones of w].
  • /pʰ/ can also be realised as [f].
  • /s/ can also have an allophone of [ʃ].
  • /h/ can be realised as voiceless or voiced [ɦ] in word-initial positions.
  • /n̪/ can be heard as alveolar [n] before an alveolar consonant, and as a retroflex [ɳ] when preceding a retroflex consonant.
  • A word-final /r/ may tend to be voiceless [r̥].
  • Central approximants [w j] occur, but are deemed allophones of /u i/.

Vowels

Front Central Back
High i u
Mid e ʌ o
Low æ (ɐ)

In addition to these vowels, Rangpuri has the following diphthongs: /ie, iæ, iu, iʌ, ui, uæ, uʌ, ei, eu, æi, æu, ʌi, ʌu/.

  • Vowels /i, e/ can have shortened allophones of [ɪ, ɛ].
  • /æ/ can also be articulated more central as [ɐ, ä].
  • /ʌ/ may also be heard as two sounds [ɜ, ə] in free variation.[4]

Notes

  1. Rajbanshi at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019) closed access
    Kayort at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019) closed access
  2. Toulmin 2009, p. 16.
  3. Toulmin 2009, p. 3.
  4. Wilde 2008, p. .

References

  • Toulmin, Mathew W. S. (2009). From linguistic to sociolinguistic reconstruction: the Kamta historical subgroup of Indo-Aryan (PDF). Pacific Linguistics 604. Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University. doi:10.15144/PL-604 (inactive 1 August 2023). hdl:1885/146752. ISBN 978-0-85883-604-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of August 2023 (link)
  • Wilde, Christopher P. (2008). A Sketch of the Phonology and Grammar of Rājbanshi (Ph.D. thesis). University of Helsinki. hdl:10138/19290.


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