Byangsi language

Byangsi
Native to	India, Nepal
Region	Byans valley (Uttarakhand) Byans (Sudurpashchim Province)
Native speakers	(3,300 cited 2000 – 2011 census)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Kanauri ? West Himalayish Almora Byangsi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bee
Glottolog	byan1241
ELP	Byangsi

Byangsi (also called Byansi, Byãsi, Byangkho Lwo, Byanshi, Bhotia, and Byangkhopa) is a West Himalayish language of India and Nepal. Estimates of numbers of speakers vary, but some sources say that the language is spoken by about 1,000-1,500 people, while others estimate as many as 3,300. Byangsi is from a region of high language density, that is to say that there are many languages among few people. It is the most dominant language in this region, although it is not widely known outside of its small hill district and those who speak it have difficulty classifying themselves for central government dealings.

The term Byangsi may also refer to the people that speak the language. There are also three variants of it: Pangjungkho Boli, Kuti, and Yerjungkho Boli. It is considered an endangered language, and it is most likely to be replaced by Hindi if it disappears.

Geographic distribution

The name of the Byans region itself may derive from the language's cultural associations. Lieutenant Henry Strachey, who visited in 1846, recorded that the mountain known on maps as Byans Rikhi was properly the name not of the mountain but of the personage believed to dwell on its summit — the sage Vyasa (Vyas-deva), and concluded that "Byans seems to be nothing else than the modern form of the old Sanskrit name Vyasa."

Byangsi is spoken in the Byans region, historically a patti (sub-division) of the old parganah Darma in Kumaon. The region occupies the valley of the Kuthi Yankti river and the upper Kali River valley in the extreme north-eastern corner of Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand.

In Uttarakhand, the Byangsi-speaking area extends from Budhi (30.1021°N 80.8279°E / 30.1021; 80.8279; elevation 9,070 feet (2,760 m)), the sole sub-alpine village of Byans, in the south, to Kuti (30.3078°N 80.7599°E / 30.3078; 80.7599; elevation 12,330 feet (3,760 m)), the highest village, in the north. The area is located in Dharchula and Munsiyari tehsils of Pithoragarh district, near the Tibet and Nepal borders. Other villages include Garbyang (the largest village in parganah Darma), Gunji, Nabi, Napalchyu, and Rongkong. The 1911 Almora Gazetteer recorded 1,585 speakers of Byansi in the patti.

In Nepal, Byangsi is traditionally spoken in Chhangru (30.1296°N 80.8835°E / 30.1296; 80.8835) and Tinkar (30.1354°N 80.9848°E / 30.1354; 80.9848) in the Tinkar Valley, east of the Kali River. These villages are in the Byans municipality in Darchula District, Sudurpashchim Province. They are bounded to the east and south-east by the snowy range of Tinkar, Nampa and Api, beyond which lies the district of Marma of the old Doti, whose inhabitants speak Doteli, not Byangsi. Two newer villages, Rapla and Sitaula, were later founded by Byangsi speakers to the south of the original area.

Dialects

The variations of Pangjungkho Boli, Kuti, and Yerjungkho Boli are mutually intelligible, with minute differences. Even the languages of Chaudangsi and Darmiya that share a small geographic region are mutually intelligible with Byangsi, as these languages are very closely related and developed in an area where speakers have communicated with each other's villages for years. In fact, all the Tibeto-Burman languages of this region collectively call themselves "Ranglo" and the speakers are called "Rang," and they may be called by outsiders "Shauka" and "Jaba."

Sociolinguistic Patterns

There is a high degree of bilingualism in Uttarakhand. Hindi is the official language of the state, so all written communication in addition to mainstream media and formal discussions are in Hindi, while Tibeto-Burman languages like Byangsi are now only spoken at home, between close friends and family. Byangsi is not written, although there has been a recent movement among its speakers to create a script for a uniform written language, which may greatly help preserve the language for years to come if successful.

Many Tibeto-Burman languages borrow frequently from more widely-known languages, Byangsi borrows to a lesser degree than its relatives.

The clan names associated with Byangsi villages are as follows - Gunjiyal (Gunji), Garbiyal (Garbyang), Budiyal (Budi), Nabiyal (Nabi), Napalchyal (Napalchu), Rongkali (Rongkong), and Kutiyal (Kuti).

Grammar

Phonology

There are 12 distinct vowel sounds in Byangsii, which are represented: i, i:, ł, ɯ, u, u:, e, o, ε, ɔ, a (ə), and a:. For consonants, there are 36 phonemes, represented as: k, kh, g, ŋ, t5, t5h, d5, n5, t, th, d, dh, n, hn, p, ph, b, bh, m, hm, ts, tsh, dz, c, ch, j, l, hl, r, hr, s, ʃ, h, y, w, r. The consonants bh, dh, and r are borrowed. Syllables in Byangsi may begin with any consonant except for r. Consonant clusters in Byangsi will only occur if the second sound is y or w, which act as semi-vowels.

Morphology

One can typically sort words in Tibeto-Burman languages into the four categories of verb-adjectives, nouns, pronouns, and numerals, though nouns are often derived from verbs (but hardly ever vice versa). Numerals and pronouns are of the noun-type in terms of syntax and affixation patterns. Byangsi has separate verbs from adjectives and also has adverbs.

Nouns

Noun stems may be simple or complex. Compound nouns can be formed by putting together multiple morphemes. A prefix or suffix may be added to a word to denote gender of the person or animal in question. To denote plurality, the suffix -maŋ may be used, or to specifically show the quantity of two, the suffix -khan or the prefix nis (from nəʃɛ) may be used.

Nouns may take one of four cases, those being nominative, agentive/instrumental, dative, or genitive. Those which are not the nominative take suffixes to indicate case.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns differentiate between first, second, and third person in addition to singularity, duality, or plurality, with the dual being shown by adding the suffix -ʃi to the plural pronoun.

	Singular	Dual	Plural
First person	je	inʃi	in
Second person	gan	ganiʃi	gani
Third person	uo	uniʃi	unʃi

Demonstrative pronouns in Byangsi will differentiate based on number, distance, elevation relative to speaker, and whether an object is visible.

There is also a set of interrogative pronouns:

Byangsi	English
khà	what
una	who
ulaŋ	when
wà	where
ham	how
hoŋ	why

The emphatic pronoun "api" may have been borrowed from Hindi or Kumaoni. It only has one form. There is also only one relative pronoun, "dzai," which is always used with "api."

Adjectives

Adjectives precede the nouns they modify and do not change form. They can also be used as substantives.

Adverbs

Adverbs may specify the time, place, or manner of an action and precede the verb which they modify.

Verbs

There are both simple and compound verbs in Byangsi, with the simple verbs having monosyllabic roots. Verbs may be treated as typically transitive or intransitive, and in order to change the meaning, they may take on a suffix based on what the typical role of the verb is.

Byangsi, like many Tibeto-Burman languages, amply uses aspectivizers, which are auxiliaries added to a verb directly to its stem to slightly change its meaning to something closely related. The change between a transitive and intransitive verb may be considered an aspectivizer. The aspectivizer itself cannot stand alone, although a verb without one may; in fact, some verbs will not take an aspectivizer.

A verb will change form based on tense, aspect, mood, person, and number. Moods include imperative/prohibitive, indicative, infinitive, and subjunctive. Infinitives are shown by adding the suffix -mo (sometimes pronounced -mɔ) to the verb stem.

Syntax

Byangsi places the object before the verb. The verb comes at the end of a sentence, and typically, the subject comes before the object.

Relationships of words in Tibeto-Burman languages are determined both by positioning in a sentence and morphemes, which may be either prefixes or suffixes. Morphemes may be used to reinforce the roles of words or to indicate their roles if they are not in the "standard" order and seem to be a relatively recent addition to Tibeto-Burman languages.

Kinship Terminology

Byangsi's kinship terminology is a symmetrical prescriptive type, meaning that the same terms may be used for relatives on both sides of the family tree.

Symmetrical terminology used in Byangsi

The family tree is not exactly symmetrical in terminology, but some terms mean types of relatives that are thought of as similar in the culture. An example of a perfectly symmetrical relationship is that the terms titi and lala each refer to the father's parents and mother's parents. However, many complex relationships have specific names in Byangsi that may be shared. The term chînî is used for one's spouse's mother as well as one's father's sister and mother's brother's wife. This relationship could be thought of as being similar to an aunt, although chînî is not used for one's mother's sisters. Likewise, the term thângmi is used for one's spouse's father, one's mother's brother, and one's father's sister's husband, but not one's father's brothers.

Numeral System

Byangsi uses a non-base 10 decimal numeral system. It uses prefixes as multipliers.

Arabic Numeral	Byangsi Word	Arabic Numeral	Byangsi Word
1	tiɡɛ	13	cɛsɯm
2	naʃɛ	20	nasa: [nassa:]
3	sɯm	21	nasa: tiɡɛ
4	pi	30	nasa: cì
5	nai	40	pisà
6	tugu	50	pisa: cì
7	niʃɛ	60	tuksa:
8	jɛdɛ	70	tuksa: cì
9	ɡui	80	jatsha
10	cì	90	jatsha cì
11	cɛthe	100	rà / sai
12	cɛnye	1000	haja:r

Table modified from Chan.

Note that sai and haja:r are borrowed from Indo-Aryan.

Multiplicative words are formed by reduplicating the main word, for example, using pipi to mean four times (from pi), or the suffix -tsu, such as pitsu to achieve the same meaning.

Fractions are expressed by local measurements except for one word, "phyε," which means "half" and is never modified.

Vocabulary

Select assorted vocabulary (not comprehensive):

Byangsi word	English translation
ɔ	yes
lairi	all
yin	be
ŋɔ	face
taŋde	alive
yaddε	bad
semo	bear
wa nayaŋ	bee
le	fruit
hnimmo	smell
labu	butter
khu	family
sàg	breath
dza:mo	eat
tuŋmo	drink
sapaŋ	earth
sa:tso	empty
hicimo	die
khat	cold
rɔ	hungry
itta	just now
bhak	sound
chò	spoon
gal	yak

See also

• Chaudans
• Byans
• Chaudangsi
• Darma Valley
• Darmiya language
• Bhotiyas of Uttarakhand
• Rung

Bibliography

• Benedict, Paul K. (1972), Matisoff, James A. (ed.), Sino-Tibetan: A Conspectus, CUP Archive

Further reading

• Śarmā, Devīdatta (1989), Tibeto-Himalayan Languages of Uttarakhand, Mittal Publications, pp. 1–, ISBN 978-81-7099-171-7