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Typologisches Forschungskolloquium/ Handout Institute for Linguistics, University of Leipzig Beethovenstr. 15

21 Jan 2010, Thursday, 13:15-14:45

Kiranti-Bayung phonology focused on implosives

Lal-Shyãkarelu Rapacha kiranti.rapachalal@gmail.com

Project

Kiranti-Bayung Grammar, Texts and Lexicon ● Main goal Prepare a detailed grammar of Kiranti-Bayung with texts and lexicon

● Progress till date This grammar is in progress with 14 long and short narratives and 7 thousand native lexicon

including English and Nepali translations- 24 thousand words in its total corpus

1 Introduction 1.1 Auto-glossonym Tumlo: Nokso, Jhamcha /dzhāmcā/, Ngabucha's /ŋābucā/ texts

Kiranti-Bayung Lo-- (see Nokso photo 1 ≈ Nāɂso ~ Nhāso in Kõits कोंइच (Khintsi(hang), Sunwar)

Dapsininglo: cultural and ritual texts

● Lo means 'language, talk, speech' ≈ Lo in Kõits कोंइच

Thulung ● Luwā, Lwā, Lo Rodung (Chamling) and Rokong (Puma) ● Lā (cf. Rapacha et al 2008)

Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photos 1-3: Bayung Nokso (far left 1) Bayung female and male Jhwarijwasinung 'folk cultural dress' (mid

2 and right 3) Photo by Durga Dungmocha, London

1.2 Alternative glossonyms and ethnonyms

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● Bahing (dialect of Kiranti Hodgson 1857, Michailovsky 1975a), Baɂyung), Rumda(li), Pwai or Pai(hang) (Rinamsacha), Procha, Flei and Necha(li), Hangu(cha), Roke(cha), Pyacha (Piyacha) (Lee 2005, Rapacha 2008, 2009b)

1.3 Auto-ethnonym

● Rwadi (Michailovsky and Mazaudon 1973), Radu, Radi (Lee 2005, my data) 1.4 Ethnoclanonyms:

● -cha <-cā> (Lee 2005, Rapacha 2008, 2009b) e. g, in Rumdali: Thamrocha, Dilingbacha, Hojipacha (=>Yunbucha) and Diburcha (=> Kharadiburcha, Tharkase and Mupucha) in Pai (Rinamsacha): Tolocha (Tonimi, Susto, Munari, Hwalindi => Joilong, Muluwa, Changa), Moblocha and Ripacha (Ripocha) in Nechali: Nambersacha (~ Nambyarsacha also known as Dibu Chamling), Sechacha, Rollocha and Luticha

Unclassified: Dungmocha, Kharayulcha ● clanonym derivation under six subgroupings and <-cā> dropping or loss

1.4.1 Rumbudha->Rumjatar->Rumda(li): Docha-> Thamrocha, Hwajipacha, Dlingbacha, Dungmocha and Diburcha

1.4.2 Khaluwa->Pwai>Pai(hang)->Rinamsacha->Tolo (Taluwa) 1.4.2.1 Docha->Tolocha: Munari, Hwalindi, Tonimi, Changatolocha, Jailung, Susto 1.4.2.2 Moblocha 1.4.2.3 Ripicha 1.4.2.4 Kinmil->Muliwa 1.4.3 Docha: Yunbucha, Kharadiburcha, Tharkase, Mupacha, Piyacha

1.4.4 Necha(li): Nambyarsacha (also known as Dibu Chamling), Sechecha, Rwallecha, Luticha, Myarsacha

1.4.5 Hangu: Hangucha 1.4.6 Roke (cha) (after Yadava et al 2005, cf. also migration mythology 1. Paihang and

Khintsihang) 1.5 Exonym

● Rai (post-1990s; under severe criticism not as ethnonym by Bakulochana Movement seeking an independent ethnic identity in place of 'Rai', Matisoff's (2008: xxxii) footnote 29 states- According to K. P. Malla (p.c. 2008), “Kirãt is a loose label in Old Indo-Aryan for the cave-dweller, attested in late Vedic texts as well as in the Mahābhārata.” Rai is “a Nepali word, linked to IA raaya „lord‟, given to the Khambu chiefs by the Gorkhali rulers in the late 18th century.”

● Bahing, Rumdali (cf. Lee 2005: 18, Rapacha at el 2008) 1.6 Geographic distribution

● mainly Tsuplu (Okhaldhunga) and Solukhumbu districts (see Map 1 and 2) ● villages in Okhaldhunga

Harkapur, Deusambu (Rā ̃gadip), Sarsepu (Bigutar), Damsepu (Baruneshwor), Soburu (Okhaldhunga), Moblodyal (Narayansthan-Ãdheri), Tsuplu (Barņalu), Mamkha, Bhusune, Masepu (Bhadaure), Diyale (Aapswara), Phaku (Lekharka), Kongkodyal, Serna, Moli, Ketuke etc.

● villages in Solukhumbu Necha (Namlo) Batase, Siplung etc.

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Map 1: Google map of Nepal and Okhaldhung and Solukhumbu in eastern part as the main home of

Bayung speakers (accessed date 20 Jan 2010)

Map 2: Recently proposed administrative map of Nepal in 14 Federal States

Source: Kantipur Daily online, 7 Magh 2066 (21 Jan 2010) 1.7 Local dialects

● 6 main possible varieties, e. g. Deusambu, Moblodyal, Ponkhu (with no central series of vowel; Michailovsky 1975a), Necha(li), Rumda(li) from Mamkha-Jukepani and Tolocha from Moli (Lee 2005)

1.8 Local Ethnic Bayung folk art

● Champuri 'crown', Salama 'bag', B(ɓ)agu 'turban' (see photo 4) made by utilizing local materials like orchid, porcupine quill and peahen-peacock feather for Hwang and Segro sili 'ritual dance' and in cultural practice or performance

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Photo 4 (a) female Photo 4 (b) male also cf. photos 2-3 for female and male Jhwarijwasinung 'folk cultural

dress' Photo by Durga Dungmocha, London

1.9 Number of speakers and eco-sociolinguistic situation

● UNESCO report (Toba et al 2005: 60) based on 2001 census mentions 2765 (0.01% of Nepal's population) speakers

● Lee et al (2005) and Ethnologue online report 10,000 speakers ● thinning and seriously endangered, mainly spoken in limited home environments with no

opportunity in education and use in media ● reported to be vital with strong language loyalty (cf. Lee 2005, Rapacha 2009a)

1.10 Characters in creation and migration mythologies

● Koktisala (brother), Dzauma and Khliuma (sisters), a pan-Kiranti feature in more than 17 linguistic groups

● dialectal variations in sisters' and brothers' names as Khachelipa, Ninamrengma and Ninamkhungma etc., a pan-Kiranti feature in more than 17 linguistic groups (cf. Ebert and Gaenszle 2008, Yalungcha and Rapacha 2008)

1.11 Some linguistic materials available so far

1.11.1 Introductory and short descriptions: Hodgson (1857, 1858), Shafer (1966-74), Konow (1909), Michailovsky (1975a), Thokar (2005, 2005, 2006), Rapacha (2006) etc.

1.11.2 Classificatory works: Shafer (1955), Glover (1974), Hanβon (1991), Bickel (1996: 22), van Driem (2004, 2003, 2001, 1997) etc.

1.11.3 Comparative with considerable description : Shafer (1953), Michailovsky (1988b), van Driem (1991), Rapacha (2002c, 2006), Phuyal (2006) etc.

1.11.4 sociolinguistic survey: Lee (2005a, 2005b, 2003), Lee et al (2005), Yalungcha (2004: 32-33) etc.

2. Genetic affiliation

Sino-Tibeto-Burman, Eastern Himalayan, Kiranti, Western Kiranti, implosive area (see Fig 1)

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Figure 1: Kiranti family in three political areas drawn during PN Shah's (1723-1775) official

annexation in 1786 also known as Eastern, Central and Western in linguistic studies 2.1 Neighbouring sisterly Kiranti languages

● closely related Kõits (Khintsi(hang), Sunwar), RaDu (Wambule), Jerong Kõits-Bayung 93%, RaDu-Jerong 93% amongst four languages in average 90% (Opgenort 2005:43)

● distantly related Hayu, Thulung and Rodung

3. Orthography

● Roman-Gorkhali convention for some selective sound representation

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ch च = ts/c, chh छ = tsh/ch, j ज = dz, jh झ = dzh, y य = j 4. Phonology ● main feature: implosive area as a focus of this presentation 4.1 Consonants Table 1: Consonant inventory …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… manner labial dental alveolar palatal velar glottal -v +v -v +v -v +v -v +v -v +v

stop -asp p b t ̪ /t d ̪ /d k g (ɂ)

+asp ph bh t ̪h/th d ̪h/dh kh gh affricate -asp ts/c dz/j +asp tsh/ch dzh/jh nasal m n ŋ

implosive ƥ ɓ fricative s h glide -asp w j/y +asp liquid l trill/flap r ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Note: Glottal stop (ɂ) in dim implies no phonemic status but allophone

● voiced bilabial implosive /ɓ/ first in Bayung was first reported by Michailovsky (1975a, 1988b) in Bayung (/ɓ/) and Kõits (/ɓ/) and by Opgenort (2004) in Bayung, Kõits and Wambule (/ɓ/) and (/ɗ /) Minimal pair for Bayung- bār 'grow' vs. ɓār 'wound' and mostly in adjectiving morpheme <-ɓā> ● new discovery of this study- the voiceless implosive /ƥ/ in word initial position (see Box: § 4.4

Box 3a and b) and between C-V (see Box: § 4.4 Box 1), e.g. ƥāp-co 'to scratch, caress', ƥārse 'egoist' but have dialectal troubles

● retroflex palatal sounds (ṭ, ṭh, ḍ see Table 1) are not available in its native lexicon, however such

vocabulary from the Nepali lingua franca are available in its lexicon, e.g.

/ṭ/ in V-V position: khāiṭuluk 'kind of bird', māṭyumnā 'incomplete', phisṭā (~ plyāgplyāgmā) 'warbler, Sylviidae', māṭyumnā 'incomplete', pəṭmero 'kind of tree', pəṭəksi (~ pokoksi) 'kind of tree (esp used as fodder), bauhinia purpuria', bhiuṭi 'the inside clay pot' (esp for traditional distilling)

/t ̣h/ in V-V position: amongst loan words, e.g. pāpādzet ̣hā ~ popo ~ bādzet ̣hā 'father's elder brother' ≈ popo ~ bədzet ̣hā, kəṭhuwā 'wooden pot/vessel' ≈ kəṭhwā

/ḍ/ in intervocalic position with liquid: bolḍo (~ t ̪yũsyār >t ̪user) 'bug', bolḍosyurā (~ āposyurā) 'bee (esp male)'

/ḍh/ only one in initial position, e.g. ḍhyāŋgro 'shaman's drum'; native lexicon either replaced or defunct/fossilized as in Kõits Turung 'shaman's drum' is now revived

● in some cases the native lexicon is replaced by Nepali loans, e.g. in /t ̣h/ and /ḍ/ and in some

other examples /ṭ/ sounds as native lexicon ● syllable final consonants in root finals according to Michailovsky (1975a: 188) are /-p, -t, -k, -m,

-n, -ŋ, -r, -l/ and zero and additionally one more root final /-s/ as in pis 'fart' ≈ pis, nis 'sit' ≈ nis (my data) has been added

● most segmental consonant phonemes are distributed in the bilabial, dental and velar-stop series (also cf. § 4.1 Table 1)

● alveolar-affricates with contrastive pairs of /c/ vs. /ch/ and /dz/ vs. /dzh/ and /dzh/ as compared to its neighbouring Kiranti languages is unique

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● 3 nasals /m/, /n/ and /ŋ/ and no nasalization contrast is established (in Kõits possible, see § 4.5 Box 6) although lexemes with nasalization is possible

● word initially /y/ occurs only before non-front vowels and /w/ only before /ā/

● glottal stop /ɂ/ is allophone of the voiced bilabial phoneme (/ɓ/) only in V-V position, e.g. lāɓā

loɂā 'brother'

● velar nasal occurs both in syllable initial and final position, e.g. ŋā 'fish' kwāŋ 'one' ● glottal fricative /h/ occurs only syllable initially ● initial stops of the velar and bilabial series can be followed by /r/, /l/ and /y/ to form initial

consonant clusters (see § 4.3) ● geminates with –gg-, -kk-, -ll-, -rr-, t ̪t ̪ and –pp- are available gg e.g. sāggrā 'nerve, vein'

kk e.g. krukkru 'frog' ≈ krukun ~ kluku kwākkwāre 'red-legged black patridge, francolinus' sākkrām 'hard' yākke (~ ā ̃cā) 'small' yākkepət ̪thri 'leaf plate' (esp small in size)

ll e.g. kā ̃llā 'terrace' (nativized from Nep.) dillānit ̪i 'tomorrow' ŋāllā 'first, before'

rr e.g. morrici 'kind of tree, rhus acuminata' t ̪t ̪ e.g. bret ̪t ̪ā 's/he called him/her' ≈ blet ̪t ̪u

pit ̪t ̪ā (nativized from Nep.) 'gall' pp e.g. həppeŋ >həpeŋ >həpe 'all'

nwākuppā 'elephant' kuppi (> kupi) 'luck, forehead' ≈ kuppi

● no tone as reported in some dialects of Kõits and Khaling and stress almost always trochaic with main accent on first stem syllable

4.2 Vowels Table 2: Vowel inventory ……………………………………………………………….. front central back

high i/: (y) (ɨ) (ᵾ) (ɯ) u/:

high mid e/: (ø) o

low mid (ε)

low a ǝ ………………………………………………………………… Note: Vowels in dim and brackets imply no phonemic status and is mostly a matter of dialectal variations

● 6 basic vowels as invented in Table 2 ● syllables can begin with a vowel independently as zero consonantal initials ● diphthongs possible for āi, āu, ou, oi, iu, əi and əu āi e.g. cāiwā 'son-in-law', 'husband of younger sister'

cāimi 'daughter-in-law', 'wife of younger brother' āu e.g. dāukhəmā 'scorpion'

əi e.g. səimā 'fly' ou e.g. coudzā 'wheat' ≈ kyodz ~ codz oi e.g. moidzu 'maternal uncle's wife'

moipāco 'to make whey' iu e.g. Khliuma 'charater in origin myth'

bhiuṭi 'the inside clay pot' (esp for traditional distilling) biumā 'dragonfly'

əi e.g. səimā 'fly'

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əu mākāibucəuri 'flower of corn ' 4.3 Syllabic structure

● syllabic canon: C(G)V(C) for Kiranti (Bickel 2008) in general ● C r/l only in Western Kiranti (Bickel 2008) is valid in Bayung and Kõits as well, e.g. khrinem

'earthquake' ≈ khrino ~ khlino, krāco 'to bite ≈ klāiccā ~ krāiccā, khlicā (gen.) 'dog' etc. ● (C3) V (C4) for Bayung where three consonant clusters can occur with glides (y, r, l, w) in initial

and intervocalic position of a word maximum four consonant clusters with non-glides also

1 (V) e.g. ǝ 'my' (ǝ-khim 'my house'), i 'your' (i-piyā 'your head') ā 'his/her' (ā-rām 'his/her body')

3 (C) clusters in word initial position e.g. khryākpāco 'to cough' 3 (C) clusters in word inter-vocalic position, e.g. sekgre 'gravel, pebble' 4 (C) clusters in word inter-vocalic position, e.g. thopblyām 'kind of bird'

4.4 Dynamics of implosives Box 1: Implosive /ƥ/ in reconstructed forms (Lee et al 2005: 40-43) …………………………………………………………………………………………..

K R A M N proto-form a. 'heavy' helɓa helba hel.a hel.a helɓa

(Moli) (Rat.L) (N+Kat) hɛlɂƥa hɛlƥa hɛl.a *hɛlpƥa ≈ hɛlʃo hɛlɂa hɛl.a

b. 'long' dzhƟɂɓa dzƟ:ba dzƟɂa dzƟɂa dzƟɂa dzhƟɂa (Rat.L) (Moli) (Okh) dzƟɂƥa *dzƟpƥa ≈ gyoʃo dzƟɂƥa dzƟ.a dzƟɂa dzƟɂa dzƟ.a (B) c. 'dry' ʃƟpɓa ʃƟba ʃƟɂa ʃƟɂa ʃƟɂɓa ʃƟɂa (Rat.L) (N+Kat) (Moli) ʃƟpƥa ʃƟɂa *ʃƟpƥa ≈ ʃyoʃo ʃepƥa ʃƟɂa ʃepƥa d. 'wet' dzi:ʃɓa dzi:ʃi.a dzi:ʃi.a dzi:ʃi.a dzi:ʃi.a dzi:ʃi.a (Moli) (Rat.L) (Thul) *dzi:ʃitƥa ≈ dzisʃo dzi:ʃiƥa dzi:ʃiƥa dzi:ʃitƥa dzi:ʃiƥa dzi:ʃi.a e. 'good' rimɓa rim.a rim.a rim.a dzupɓa rim.a (Moli) (N+Kat) rimƥa dzupba *rimƥa ≈ rimʃo rimpa (Thul) dzƟpƥa f. 'potato' reɓe re:be re.e re.e reɂɓe (Moli) (N+Kat)

reƥe rɛbɛ *repƥe ≈ rɛb re.e …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Box 2: Weakening in contracted forms ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… gloss-> 'dry' 'wet' 'long' 'good' 'heavy' 'potato'

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proto-forms-> *ʃƟpƥa *dzi:ʃitƥa *dzƟpƥa *rimƥa *hɛlpƥa *repƥe I ʃƟɂƥa dzi:ʃiɂƥa dzƟɂƥa … hɛlɂƥa reɂƥe II ʃƟƥa dzi:ʃiƥa dzƟƥa … hɛlƥa reƥe III ʃƟɂa dzi:ʃiɂa dzƟɂa rimɂa hɛlɂa reɂe IV ʃƟ.a dzi:ʃi dzƟ.a rim.a hɛl.a re.e V ʃƟ.a dzi:ʃi dzƟ.a rim.a hɛl.a re.e ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

I. A labial or alveolar obstruent before another labial or alveolar obstruent becomes glottal stop II. A glottal stop before a bilabial or alveolar obstruent is deleted III. A labial or alveolar obstruent between two syllabic sounds becomes a glottal stop IV. A glottal stop between two syllabic sounds is deleted V. Most contracted or weakened forms

● often hard to pinpoint the likely source of locations for proto-forms due to synchronic migration and inter-marriage patterns among the speakers

Box 3: Voicing assimilation rule ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. -voice +voice +sonorant +syllabic +anterior > +voice / +constricted +consonantal

K R A M N proto-form

a. 'chicken' ɓa ƥa ƥa ƥa ɓa *ƥa ≈ ɓā ->ba ->bǝ b. 'egg' ɓadi ƥadi ƥadi ƥadi ɓadi *ƥadi

(N+Kat) ≈ ɓāphu ->bǝphu ƥadi

c. 'bird' cik˺ɓa cik˺ƥa cik˺ƥa cik˺ƥa cik˺ɓa (N+Kat)

cikƥa *cik˺ƥa ≈ c'ibi ->c'ib

d. 'flea' cuk˺ɓɛ cuk˺ɓɛ cuk˺ƥɛ cuk˺ƥɛ cuk˺ɓɛ *cuk˺ƥɛ ≈ cuɂɓɛ ->c'ubɛ

e. 'leech' yʌk˺ɓɛ yʌk˺ƥɛ yʌk˺ƥɛ yʌk˺ƥɛ yʌk˺ƥɛ *yʌk˺ƥɛ ≈ yāƥe ->yāphɛ ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

● the directions of change tend to be from the Rumdali to Nechali and Tolocha varieties, e.g. voiceless

implosives c. M [cik˺ƥa] and e. M yʌk˺ƥɛ to c. K [cik˺ɓa] and e. K [yʌk˺ɓɛ] ● may be due to a voicing assimilation in which the syllable initial consonant assumes the voiced quality

of a following vowel Box 4: Backing assimilation ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. -back +back +high > +back / -continuant +syllabic +consonantal

K R A M N proto-form

a. 'come up' ku kɨ kɨ ku kɨ *kɨ ≈ ku.o ->ku

b. 'bring up' ku: kɨ: kɨ: kɨ: kɨ: *kɨ:≈ kut ̪.o->kut ̪

c. 'face' kƱli kɨ:li kɨ:li kƱli kɨ:li *kɨ:li ≈ kuli ->kul

d. 'leg' khuli khɨli khʌli khƱli khɨli *khɨli ≈ khoili ->khoil ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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● a high unrounded central vowel following a word initial [k] in many Rumdali and Nechali words tend to become back and rounded in their Tolocha counterparts, e.g. b. RAMN [kɨ:] and c. RAN [kɨ:li] to b. K [ku:] and c. M [kƱli]

Box 5: Fronting assimilation ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. +back +anterior +round +front +coronal +high ---> +round / +consonantal +syllabic

K R A M N proto-form

a. 'nettle' cile cule cule cƱle cᵾle *cule ≈ culɛ b. 'put in' dzil dzil dzi:l dzul dzil *dzul ≈ wāit ̪.t ̪o ->wāit ̪ c. 'milk' nici nɯcu nᵾcɨ nƱcƱ nᵾcɨ *nƱcƱ ≈ nutsu ~ nipts

d. 'honey bee' sira sᵾra sᵾra sura sɨra *sura ≈ surbu ->surb

e. 'thorn' ci cɯ cᵾ cɨ cᵾ *cu ≈ cu (Ok+H) (S) cu cu ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

● indicate a fronting assimilation from the Rumdali and Nechali varieties to the Tolocha variety, however both Rumda(li) and Necha(li) varieties are themselves in different stages of fronting assimilation

● some vowels in d. have moved from the back position merely to the central position rather than to the

extreme front, such as [sura] to [sᵾra] or [sɨra] rather than fronting fully to [sira] ● reflection of migration and marriage patterns found in their genealogical and creation mythologies in

the tracing lineages and clanonyms 4.5 Sound changes in Western Kiranti-Bayung and Kiranti-Kõits Box 6: Voiced labial nasal deletion at word final position …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Bayung Kõits (M, J east central) (Ramechap, far west) a. 'path' lam la ≈ la* lā ̃ (nasalized my data) b. 'sun' nam na ≈ na* nā ̃ (nasalized my data) c. 'hair' cam ca ≈ ca* cā ̃ (nasalized my data)

d. 'house' khim khĩ (cf. also Rapacha 2005, 2006) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

● Lee et al (2005) note that bilabial nasal at word final position is deleted in Kõits ● my observation with fresh data from Kõits suggests that the deletion results in nasalization and

further phonologization yielding contrastive meaning, e.g. lam -> lā ̃ vs. lā 'from', nam -> nā ̃ vs. nā 'before', cam -> cā ̃ vs. <-cā> 'infinitive marker'

Box 7: Low central vowel deletion in disyllabic words …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Bayung Kõits a. 'belly' kodza kodz

b. 'son' tawa taw (~tǝu, in brackets my data) c. 'friend' warca warc d. 'snake' buʃa buʃ

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………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Box 8: High front vowel deletion in disyllabic words …………………………………………………………………. Bayung Kõits a. 'face' kƱli kƱl b. 'blood' huʃi huʃ c. 'smoke' kƱni kƱn d. ' rice' ʃeri ʃer ………………………………………………………………..

● direction of change from Bayung to Kõits ● dropped quite often in spoken form, however retained in writing

4.6 Diachronic sound changes in Kiranti Box 9: Four Kiranti languages represented in Proto-Kiranti (PK) sounds ……………………………………………………………………………………………

Bayung Kõits sf]FOr Wambule Jerong PK *p p p p p *ɂp ph (ƥ) ph (ƥ) p(h) p *ph ph ph ph ph *b b b b b *t t t t t *ɂt t t t t *th th th th th *d d d d d *c c c c c *ɂc c c c c *ch s (ch) … s s

*j j j j j *k k k k k *ɂk k kk k k *kh kh kh kh kh *g g g g g *kw ɂb (ɓ) b/g (ɓ) ɓ/kw m *m m m m m *ɂm m m m m *n n n n n

*ɂn n n ɗ n *ŋ ŋ/n ŋ ŋ/n ŋ/n *l l l l l *ɂl l l l l *r r/y r/y r/y y *R r r r r/y *y y y y y *w w w w w *s s/ʃ s (ʃ) s s *h h h h h …………………………………………………………………………………………………

Note: The separately bracketed phonemes on the right are my own (after Michailovsky 1988b, 1994, Opgenort 2004, Bickel 2008) ● direction of *ɂp change and reconstructed for Bayung ƥ ->ph and Kõits ƥ ->ph

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5. Concluding remarks

● Opgenort (2004: 21) claims, "Proto-Western Kiranti /*ɂb-/ or /*ɂw-/ can be reconstructed in Wambule (~ RaD(h)u; my information added), Sunwar (~ Kõits; my information added) and Bahing (~ Bayung; my information added). Comparative evidence and internal reconstruction shows that Wambule occupies a special place among its closest relatives because the bilabial implosive stop /ɓ-/ can be traced back not only to Proto-Western Kiranti /*ɂb-/ or /*ɂw-/, but also to Proto-Wambule /*ɂm-/, and because the main source of the post-alveolar implosive stop /ɗ-/ is Proto-Wambule /*ɂn-/."

● preglottalized /*ɂb-/ (Michailovsky 1988b, 1994) or /*ɂw-/ (Opgenort 2004) -> implosive /ɓ-/

/*ɂm-/ or /*ɂn-/ -> /ɗ-/ (Opgenort 2004) ● finally *ɂp is also reconstructed for Bayung ph (*ƥ) and Kõits ph (*ƥ) References Bahing-Sunuwar, Prapti “Chitra”. 1994 [VS 2051]. „Sunuwar tatha Bahing-Raiharuko bhasha tatha

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