Dura language
Template:Short description {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other
Dura is an extinct language of Nepal. It has been classified in the West Bodish branch of Tibetan languages, though more recent work separates it out as an independent branch of Sino-Tibetan.<ref>Kraayenbrink et al., "Language and Genes of the Greater Himalayan Region", preprint, http://www.le.ac.uk/genetics/maj4/Himalayan_OMLLreport.pdf Template:Webarchive, retrieved September 12, 2007</ref> Many of the Dura have switched to speaking Nepali, and the Dura language has sometimes been thought to be extinct. Some of the people who have switched to Nepali for their daily speech still use Dura for prayer.<ref>Van Driem, George. Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region, Brill Academic Publishers 2002 (Template:ISBN)</ref>
The Himalayan Languages Project is working on recording additional knowledge of Dura.<ref>Programme Description | Himalayan Languages Project Template:Webarchive</ref> Around 1,500 words and 250 sentences in Dura have been recorded. The last known speaker of the language was the 82-year-old Soma Devi Dura.<ref name=BBC>Template:Cite news</ref>
ClassificationEdit
Schorer (2016:293)<ref name="Schorer">Schorer, Nicolas. 2016. The Dura Language: Grammar and Phylogeny. Leiden: Brill.</ref> classifies Dura as part of his newly proposed Greater Magaric branch.
DistributionEdit
The ethnic Dura people mostly live in Lamjung District, with some in neighboring Tanahu District of Gandaki Province in central Nepal.<ref name="nefin">Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN) - Dura Template:Webarchive</ref> They mostly live on farms in the hilly countryside.<ref name="nefin"/> Different recent census counts have reported the number of Dura people anywhere from 3,397 to 5,676.<ref name="nefin"/>
Dura villages include:<ref name="Schorer"/> Template:Div col
- बाँग्रे Bāṅgre
- बेसी बाँग्रे Besī Bāṅgre
- बेसी फाँट Besī Phā̃ṫ
- सिन्दुरे Sindure
- धुसेनी Dhusenī
- नस्के Naske (Dura majority)
- नेटा Neṭā
- चन्दि गाउँ Candigāũ
- भाँगु Bhāṅgu
- मालिङ Māliṅ
- आरीकोसे Ārīkose
- ठूलो स्वाँरा Ṭhūlo Svā̃rā (Dura majority)
- खजे गाउँ Khaje Gāũ
- तुर्लुङ Turluṅ (Dura majority)
- तान्द्राङ्कोट Tāndrāṅkoṫ
- Kunchha
- Bhorletar
Other ethnic groups in the Dura region include the Gurung, Brahmins, Chetrīs, Kāmī, and Damāi.<ref name="Schorer"/>
TandrangeEdit
A closely related language variety called Tandrange (Nepali: Tāndrāṅe; IPA: tandraŋe) is spoken in a few Gurung villages.<ref name="Schorer"/> Tandrange is spoken in the villages of Tāndrāṅ तान्द्राङ, Pokharī Thok पोखरी थोक, and Jītā जीता. However, Tandrange speakers adamantly consider themselves as not related to the stigmatized Dura people.<ref name="Schorer"/>
VocabularyEdit
Schorer (2016:126-127) provides the following 125-word Swadesh list of Dura.
| No. | Gloss | Dura |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | I (Template:Gcl) | ŋi ~ ŋe |
| 2. | you (Template:Gcl) | no |
| 3. | we (inclusive) | ŋyāro |
| 4. | this | ī |
| 5. | that | huī |
| 6. | Who? | su |
| 7. | What? | hāde |
| 8. | not | ma-, ta- (prohibitive) |
| 9. | all (of a number) | dhāī |
| 10. | many | bhāī |
| 11. | one | kyau, nām, di- |
| 12. | two | jʰim, ŋe- |
| 13. | big | kātʰe |
| 14. | long | kānu, remo ~ hreŋo |
| 15. | small | ācʰirī |
| 16. | woman (adult) | misā |
| 17. | man (adult) | kalārā, bro |
| 18. | person | bro |
| 19. | fish (n) | ɖisyā, nāh ~ nāhõ ~ nāhũ ~ nāi |
| 20. | bird; chicken | o |
| 21. | dog | nākyu ~ nakyu ~ nakī, koka |
| 22. | louse | syā |
| 23. | tree | kepo ~ kemo |
| 24. | seed (n) | ʈisro, hulu |
| 25. | leaf | lyoī, lho |
| 26. | root | - |
| 27. | bark (of tree) | - |
| 28. | skin | ke |
| 29. | flesh | syo |
| 30. | blood | hāyu |
| 31. | bone | - |
| 32. | grease, fat | duccʰu |
| 33. | egg | odī, onī |
| 34. | horn (of bull etc.) | soglo, sono |
| 35. | tail | - |
| 36. | feather | phya |
| 37. | hair (human) | kra |
| 38. | head | padʰe |
| 39. | ear | naya, muni, rānu |
| 40. | eye | mi |
| 41. | nose | nu |
| 42. | mouth | māsi, sũ |
| 43. | tooth | sa ~ se |
| 44. | tongue | li |
| 45. | nail | se |
| 46. | foot | sepe |
| 47. | knee | - |
| 48. | hand | kuru |
| 49. | belly | kyu |
| 50. | neck | kʰalī, po ~ põ |
| 51. | breasts | nāmlo |
| 52. | heart | māu |
| 53. | liver | ciŋ |
| 54. | to drink | kiu- |
| 55. | to eat | co- |
| 56. | to bite | - |
| 57. | to see | do- ~ dõ-, mātā- |
| 58. | to hear | tās-, tāu-, tānu- |
| 59. | to know | syo- |
| 60. | to sleep | tānu- |
| 61. | to die | si- |
| 62. | to kill | sā-, kāne-, kāde |
| 63. | to swim | - |
| 64. | to fly | ŋyau, hāsu- |
| 65. | to walk | so- |
| 66. | to come | hro |
| 67. | to lie | - |
| 68. | to sit | huni- |
| 69. | to stand | decʰe- |
| 70. | to give | hyo- |
| 71. | to say | cʰi- |
| 72. | sun | mamī |
| 73. | moon | tālā |
| 74. | star | -so (in compound) |
| 75. | water | ti ~ ʈi |
| 76. | rain (n) | ti ~ ʈi |
| 77. | stone | thũ ~ tũ, kāno ~ kānu |
| 78. | sand | - |
| 79. | earth, soil | kācʰo, cʰuu |
| 80. | cloud | - |
| 81. | smoke (n) | ma-kʰu |
| 82. | fire | mi |
| 83. | ash(es) | ma-pʰu |
| 84. | to burn (vi) | bani- |
| 85. | path | lāutʰyo |
| 86. | mountain | lgẽwarapʰa [sic] |
| 87. | red | cʰāblī |
| 88. | green | - |
| 89. | yellow | kẽlo |
| 90. | white | bintʰā |
| 91. | black | keplo |
| 92. | night | yāku |
| 93. | hot | - |
| 94. | cold | cʰiũ |
| 95. | full | ʈʰyāmmay |
| 96. | new | kācʰā |
| 97. | good | cʰyāu- (v), cʰāblī (also ‘red’) |
| 98. | round | burluŋ |
| 99. | dry | - |
| 100. | name | rāmī |
| 101. | he (Template:Gcl) | hui |
| 102. | he₂ (Template:Gcl) | ŋo ~ no |
| 103. | you (Template:Gcl) | nāro(-nī) |
| 104. | they (Template:Gcl) | hyāro |
| 105. | three | sām |
| 106. | four | pim |
| 107. | five | kum (<‘hand’) |
| 108. | where? | kālā |
| 109. | when? | komo |
| 110. | how? | kudinī |
| 111. | other | agyu, rijā |
| 112. | few | ācitī |
| 113. | fruit | pokimuni |
| 114. | flower | ŋepʰu ~ nepʰu |
| 115. | grass | cʰĩ |
| 116. | snake | kāuī |
| 117. | worm | kʰātalī |
| 118. | rope | rasarī |
| 119. | river | kloi ~ klou |
| 120. | to warm (vt) | tāle-u |
| 121. | old | ʈe |
| 122. | straight (not curved) | hopay |
| 123. | sharp | mhyā- (v) |
| 124. | wet | tʰo- (v) |
| 125. | happy | kru- (v) |
NumeralsEdit
Dura numerals are (Schorer 2016:146-147):
- 0. liŋa
- 1. nām, kyau, di-
- 2. jʰim
- 3. sām
- 4. pim
- 5. kum
- 6. cyām (Indo-Aryan loanword)
- 7. syām (Indo-Aryan loanword)
- 8. him
- 9. tum
- 10. tʰim
- 20. jʰim-tʰī
- 30. sām-tʰī
- 100. tʰiŋganā, kātʰerāgo
- 1,000. jena
Reconstruction of Proto-DuraEdit
Schorer (2016:286-287) reconstructs the following Proto-Dura words.
- *hāyu ‘blood’
- *cʰiũŋ ‘cold’
- *kim ‘house’
- *ti ‘water’
- *krut ‘hand’
- *kyu ‘stomach’
- *yāku ‘night’
- *mamī ‘sun’
- *lām- ‘path’
- *luŋ ‘stone’
- *daŋ- ‘to see’
- *rā- ‘to come’
- *khāC- ‘to go’
- *yʱā ‘to give’
- *cʰi- ‘to say’
See alsoEdit
- Dura word list (Wiktionary)
- Schorer, Nicolas. 2016. The Dura Language: Grammar and Phylogeny. Leiden: Brill. https://brill.com/view/title/33670
- Pons, Marie-Caroline. 2021. Review: The Dura language: Grammar and phylogeny. Himalayan Linguistics, 20(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.5070/H920155279
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- The last of Nepal's Dura speakers BBC news story
Template:Magaric languages Template:Languages of Nepal Template:Sino-Tibetan branches