Shared words, shared history? The case of Thangmi and late classical Newar Mark Turin

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Mark Turin. Shared words, shared history? The case of Thangmi and late classical Newar. (Newâh Vijñâna) The Journal of Newar Studies, International Bhasha Sewa Samiti, 2000, 3, pp.9-17. ￿halshs-03083397￿

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HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. (Newfih Vijiifina) The Journal Of Newar Studies

Shamkhadhar Siikhwiih (The Famb4r of Nepal Sambat )

Number-; NS 1120 Shared Words, Shared History? The Case of Thangmi and Late Classical Newar

Mark Turin Himalayan Languages Project Leiden University The Netherlands

sizeable Thangmi population. In 1970, the 1.Introduction: Thangmi French linguist Genevii.ve Stein spent upwards Ethnography and Language of a year in remote Thangmi villages in Dolakhi (particularly Alimpu), but she never published Thangmi is a Tibeto-Burman language her findings. Secondary materials on the spoken by upwards of 30,000 people inhabiting Thangmi ethnic group, such as Dor Bahadur the districts of Dolakhi and Sindhupscok in Bista's People of Nepal (1967), Gautarn and centraleastem Nepal. The Nepali name for this Thapa-Magars Tribal Ethnography of Nepal ethnic pup and their language is ThZmi, an (1994), and Marc Gaborieaus Le Nkpal et ses Aryan-inspired term which the Thangmi populations (1978) often repeat factually themselves are eager to shake off. Just as incorrect suppositions on the lines of: They Newar scholars have time and time again [Thangmi] number only a few thousand and insisted that they and their language be known practice similar social, religious and economic as Newar and not Newari, so too have customs to the Tamangs (Bista, 1967 119961: culturally-active members of the Thangmi 55). In short, then, when I started fieldwork, community requested that they be referred to by there was a scarcity of published ma_terial. the term Thangmi and not Thami. dealing with Thangmi culture. When I started working on the Thangmi While anthropologists have paid little language four years ago, there was little to go attention to the Thangmi in their ethnographic on. Few scholars had worked in the area, and accounts of Nepal, the same should not be said there was a scarcity of fieldwork-based for linguists. Since the birth of Tibeto-Burman published material on the Thangmi people and linguistics, scholars have been intrigued by the their language. The most notable contributions genetic position of the Thangmi language. A are Father Casper J. Millers Faith-Healers in brief account of the language, written by Sten the Hinzulayu (1979), which offers some solid Konow on the basis of Brain Houghton ethnographic observations on Thangmi Hodgsons fieldwork of 1901, appeared in the shamans; Sueyoshi Toba's unpublished ~in~uisticSurvey of (1909), and almost manuscript entitled Thami-English Dictionary half a century later, Robert Shafer included (lm),a word list based on a few weeks of Thangmi in his own family tree of Titeto- work with Thangmi speakers; and Creighton Burman. In both accounts the conclusion was Peets PhD dissertation from Columbia the same: Thangrni (then Thami) shared a University, Migrution, Culture and Community special and close genetic relationship with (1978), an in-depth study of a village with a Barb (then blown as BhrAmfi), a near-extinct Newrih VijErina No. 3 Rrrin/Shared Words, Shared Hklov?... 9 language spoken in the district of Gorkhi. the Thangmi and Newar of Dolakh5 Despite the scanty empirical basis for this The Thangmi and Newar populations of classification (nine lexical similarities shared by Dolakhti district have been in close cultural the two languages), it appears from more recent contact for some time. The Thangmi origin research (van Driem, forthcoming) that Shafers story (see Turin, 1999b, and Shneiderman & suspicions may indeed have been correct. While Turin, 2000a) features a Newar king who first the Bargm system of verbal agreement has all imprisons a Thangmi man and then later but decayed, the verbal morphology of Thangmi impregnates a Thangmi woman. One of the is complex and reminiscent of the Kiranti male exogamous clans within the Thangmi model. For a fuller discussion of this issue and kinship descent structure is known as roimi rati the data involved, see Turin (1998). or roimi jati, from Thangmi roimi, Newar and After Bark, Thangmis closest genetic Nepali jZt, caste, ethnic group. The story of relatives are the of eastern how the Thangmi ethnic group came to have a Nepal and most probably Newar. Whilst the Newar clan has been fully described in an link between Thangmi and Kiranti is well- earlier article, so suffice it to say that the attested and can be demonstrated through original roimi rati brothers are said to have comparison of the pronominalised verbal royal Newar blood (see Turin & Shneidennan, agreement system, the proposed inclusion of in press). Newar in the MahZkirCnt or Para-Kiranti The above examples demonstrate that the grouping is a contentious and much-debated Thangmi have incorporated the Newar into their point. Newar and foreign scholars alike have own socio-cultural world, as might be expected challenged the hypothesis, arguing that there are of a relatively small, low-status ethnic group insufficient data to prove the point. Over the faced with the dominant Newar culture of the past four years, both in conference papers and area. There are, however, also many examples publications, I have . argued that Thangmi of the more surprising reverse situatiorr in occupies a half-way house between a canonical which the Newar have incorporated the Kiranti-style verbal agreement system and that Thangmi into their social paradigm. The most of the less inflecting Tibeto-Burman languages. notable of these inclusions is the essential role Moreover, I have shown evidence that the the Thangmi play in a number of festivals Thangmi language has a numeral classifier celebrated by the Newar in the bazaar town of system (not a common feature of the Tibeto- Dolakhi. These calendrical festivals, such as Burman ) which is largely khadgajCtrC, the Sword Festival held on the cognate with the numeral classifiers used in the eleventh day of Mohani (Nep. Dasai), and Dolakhg dialect of Newar. From this, two key matsyendrunZthjCtrC are explicitly Newar and questions have arisen. First, are the Thangmi are: also celebrated in other Newar-dominant and Newar languages close genetic relatives? areas, such as the valley. In Second, and if not, how can one then explain Dolakhi, however, active participation in the degree of shared lexical items in the two specific rituals by certain members of the languages, and in which direction did this surrounding Thangmi community is required. borrowing take place? Should the Thangmi fail to perform their duties fully, or worse still, not show up at all, the 2.Cultural Interdependence between Newar festival is effectively cancelled. The Newah VijEiina No. 3 Turin/.Shared Words, Shared History? ... 10 precise details of the Thangmi-Newar ritual being approximately 879-1482 AD and Late relationship as outlined above are beyond the being the Newar of 1482-1768 AD. As Tamot scope of the present discussion and will be himself points out, the implications of this published in an article by Shneiderman later this linguistic distinction are important: Jorgensens year. In brief though, the most salient features dictionary is now seen as covering only the Late of Thangmi ritual involvement are twofold. Classical and Early Modem period of the First, ritual offerings and implements must be (from 1675 AD to 1859 AD). assembled to precise specifications by Thangmi It is likely that Jorgensen was unaware of the villagers and then brought to Dolakhii. Second, existence of an older form of the language, Thangmi shamans and ritual practitioners are namely Early Classical Newar. It is Tamots required to participate in the festivals otherwise well-reasoned assertion that Early Claqsical officiated by Newars. These duties must be Newar exhibits pre-Aryan features which were performed by Thangmi from specific villages: latex replaced by Sanskritic vocabulaq in the the dmiht and Madgajfitrfiduties are perform- Late Classical and Early Modem periods. ed exclusively by Thangmi from the village of At the 9th Seminar of the International Durnko!, while the matsyendranfith jfitrr? Association of Tibetan Studies (IATS) at Leiden involves only Thangmi from the village of University, in June, 2000, Kashinath Tamot Liiplls. This division by village suggests that presented a paper entitled Some Characteristics the imposition of ritual duties in Newar festivals of the Tibeto-Buman Stock of Early Classical may have originated as a form of taxation on the Newari. During his presentation, I was most Thangmi by the local Newar rulers. Whether or interested to find cognates between certain Early not this hypothesis is correct, the required Classical Newar words (to be replaced by presence of the Thangmi has now become Sanskritic loans in Late Classical Newar) and internalised by the Newar of Dolakhi as well, modem Thangmi as spoken in Dolakha and who view the Thangmi as essential to the SindhupUcok. A day after his lecture, Sara efficacy of these rituals. Father Miller describes Shneiderman presented a paper on Thanbi in detail the happenings that led to the Thangmi death rituals. In her handout, Shneidexman had villagers refusal to come play their part in the listed Thangmi ritual words for body parts devikotjztrfi in 1912 AD (1997: 89-93), an which are used exclusively during the death event which is remembered and narrated to this ritual. Over 80% of these words are different day. from those used in daily speech. After her presentation, Tamot approached both Shneider- 3.Classical Newar man and myself and showed us his notations on her handout: many of the ritual words for body Hans Jergensens description of Classical parts in Thangmi were cognate with Early Newar as being simply the language of the Cl&sical Newar. The significance of- this MSS. (1936: 3) has been rightly challenged. As discovery should not be underestimated. Fit the Newar scholar Dr. Kashiath Tamot has and foremost, the discovery lends further repeatedly stressed, Classical Newar is not one credence to the proposed linguistic closeness of uniform language. There are, according to Thangmi and Newar. Whether the similarities Tamot, at least two stages of are due to a great deal of early borrowing (CN), namely Early and Late (2000: 1); Early between the languages or point to a genetic Newih Vijfiina No. 3 TuridShared Words, Shared History? ... 11 relationship remains, of course, the most were then, at a later date, borrowed by Thang- important issue. Dr. Tamot and I are at present mi. Another possibility is that both Thangmi working on a longer article on Early Classical and Late Classical Newar were in contact with Newar and Thangmi cognates, which we hope the same Indic language, and perhaps at even to publish soon. In the remainder of this brief roughly the same time. At any rate, as can be paper, then, I will present the evidence of seen from the examples below, there are quite a cognates between Thangmi and Late Classical number of shared lndic loans for words where Newar, the former data coming from my own one might have expected to find a non-loaned field notes, and the latter from J@rgensensA and native Tibeto-Burman form. Dictionaiy ofthe Classical NewZri. The third and final class of lexical items shared by Thangmi and Late Classical Newar is 4.Thangmi and Late Classical Newar by far the most interesting. In this class we fid Cognates numerous cognates between the languages, few of which are widely attested in other Tibeto- Burman languages. A brief disclaimer at this Shared lexical items between Thangmi and point would be pmdent. Tibeto-Bman Late Classical Newar (the latter being what Jgrgensen refers to as Classical Newiiri) fall historical linguistics is in its infancy when into three classes. The fmt, and perhaps the compared with the wealth of comparative and least spectacular, are those words which are historical scholarship on Indo-European langua- well-attested reflexes of Proto-Tibeto-Burman ges. I have no doubt that some of the lexical roots found across the genetically-related items which I have for the present included in languages of Nepal and the higher . the list of those shared only by Thangmi and The fact that Thangmi and Late Classical Newar Late Classical Newar, may well be reflexes of share these words does nothing more than Proto-Tibeto-Burman elements also found in reconfirm their membership in the Tibeto- other extant Himalayan languages. The preFnt Burman . The second class of article is but an introductory foray into an shared items are Sanskritic loan words which otherwise unknown field, and I do hope that the have entered both Thangmi and Late Classical analysis will be further honed through feedback from scholars and by comments from readers of Newar. Whilst many of the Tibeto-Burrnan languages of Nepal are considerably influenced this journal. I will present the data according to by Indic, the Newar are the sole Tibeto-Burman the three categories I outlined above. First then, the Thangmi and Late Classical people to have adopted both a Sanskrit literary Newar words which are clear reflexes of well- tradition as well as the Indo-Aryan caste system , a result of which is a heavily Sanskritised attested Proto-Tibeto-Burman forms (the latter lexicon. The same cannot be said for the are taken from Benedict, 1972) or clearly Thangmi, however, whose culture continues to co&ate with other extant Tibeto-Burman remain largely distinct from the socially languages of the Himalayas. The reflexes of common Tibeto-Burman proto-foms range dominant ideology of Hinduism. The most likely explanation for these shared Indic loans is from body parts, animals and food stuffs to verb roots. Reflexes of Proto-Tibeto-Burman that one of the two languages (most probably *S-wa 'tooth' are Thangmi suwa 'tooth' and Newar) loaned words from Sanskrit which Late Classical Neviar wZ 'tooth'; the reflexes of NewZh Vijfiina No. 3 Turin/Shared Words, Shared Efisro~y?... 12 Proto-Tibeto-Burman *kliy 'excrement' are Classical Newar ccl 'a young one' (of animals) Thangmi kili 'excrement' and Late Classical from Proto-Tibeto-Burman *tsa 'child, grand- Newar khi 'excrements; *(g-)yak 'armpit' has child nephewlniece'; Thangmi pisa 'to give reflexes yakho? 'armpit' in Thangmi and yclko (away)' and Late Classical Newar pi-te 'to give 'armpit' in Late Classical Newar; and Proto- away' from Proto-Tibeto-Burman *h&, 'give'; Tibeto-Bman *lak 'arm, hand' has reflexes Thangmi lokw 'to pour' Late Classical Newar la? 'hand, arm' in Thangmi and lcl 'hand, arm' lu- 'to pour' from Proto-Tibeto-Burman *(m- in Late Classical Newar. Common reflexes for )lu(w) 'pour'; Thangmi lupsa 'to sink, to be animal and organic words are as follows: submerged' and Late Classical Newar lop 'to Thangmi naNa 'fish' and Late Classical Newar sink, to be submerged' from Proto-Tibeto- n5 fish from Proto-Tibeto-Burman *Nya 'fish'; Burman *lip and/or *nup-*nip 'sink'; Thangmi Thangmi pya 'pig' and Late Classical Newar saisa 'to know' and Late Classical Newar saya ph5 'hog, boar' from Proto-Tibeto-Burman 'to know, to understand, to be conversant with' *pwuk, 'pig'; Thangmi sek 'fruit', round from Proto-Tibeto-Burman *vey 'know'; and organic object and Late Classical Newar se Thangmi su 'who?' and Late Classical Newar 'fruit, corn, grain' from Proto-Tibeto-Bunnan su 'who? (of persons only)' are cognate with *sey, 'fruit'; and Thangmi chya 'salt' and Late modem written Tibetan su who? (Jaschke 1881 Classical Newar chi 'salt' from Proto-Tibeto- [1990]: 573). The fmal few examples are of Buman *tsu 'salt'. The one notable kinship those Thangmi and Late Classical Newar words term shared by Thangmi and Late Classical which are also cognate with Sampang, a Kiranti Newar, and a reflex of a clear Proto-Tibeto- language spoken in the northeastern quadrant of Burman root is nini 'husband's father, father's Khotiih district. The Sampang data have been sister' in Late Classical Newar and father's provided by RenC Baptist Huysmans. Thangmi sister in Thangmi, from Proto-Tibeto-Burman chusa 'to fasten' and Late Classical Newar *niCv) 'aunt'. Some inanimate nouns with chuyu 'to fasten, to attach' are cognate -with common reflexes are' Thangmi kharou 'door, Sampang chuyma 'to fasten'; Thangmi bok' door-frame' and Late Classical Newar kh5 door corn or rice blossom' and Late Classical Newar from Proto-Tibeto-Buman *m-ka 'door'; bo 'flower' are cognate with Sampang buN Thangmi me 'fire' and Late Classical Newar mi flower, Thangmi meia 'buffalo' and Late - me 'fire' from Proto-Tibeto-Burman *m?, Classical Newar mes 'buffalo' are cognate with fire; Thangmi me-thap 'fireplace' and Late Sampang mesi 'buffalo' and Kulung me:si Classical Newar mi-thap chimney (culli) from 'water buffalo'. Whilst the above examples the hvo Proto-Tibeto-Burman elements *me,v show only that both Thangmi and Late Classical 'fire' and *tap 'fireplace'; Thangmi kham Newar are Tibeto-Burman languages with 'word, tale, story' and Late Classical Newar reflexes of well-attested proto-forms as well as kha 'word, tale, story' from Proto-Tibeto- ckates in extant Tibeto-B-an languages of Burman *ka 'word, speech'; and Thangmi ulam the Himalayas, the reflexes in Thangmi and Late path, road and Late Classical Newar la(m) Classical Newar are often very similar indeed. 'road, way, direction' from Proto-Tibeto- The second set of data contains words Bman *lam 'road, direction'. Common verb which both Thangmi and Late Classical Newar cognates and other grammatical particles are loaned from Indo-Aryan languages and which Thangmi ca 'small, young, diminutive' and Late are strikingly similar. Thangmi aji 'mother-in- Nendh Vijn'dna No. 3 Turiri/.Shared Words, Shared History? ... 13 law' and Late Classical Newar aji grandmother literacy and extensive written tradition of the (paternal and maternal)' may have been loaned Newar civilisation, loans directly from Sanskrit from Hidi aji or iji 'paternal grandmother'; into Late Classical Newar were commonplace. Thangmi afhe 'very' and Late Classical Newar For Thangmi, however, which remains to this ati 'very', exceedingly were likely loaned from day an unwritten language spoken in the middle Maithili or Nepali ati 'very, exceedingly'; hills far from any urban centre, direct loans Thangmi tupuri 'hat, cap' and Late Classical from Sanskrit are distinctly unlikely. If this Newar tupuli 'a sort of head-gear' from Indo- scenario is correct, it would support the Aryan topi 'cap'; Thangmi dudu 'milk, womans hypothesis that the Thangmi and Newar langua- breast' and Late Classical Newar dudu 'milk, ges (and hence their speakers) were in close the breast of a woman' may well be loaned contact with one another from an early date. In from Nepali (or another neighbouring Indo- the absence of such early contact, one would Aryan language) dud or dudh 'mik female have expected Thangmi rather to borrow from breast, udder'; Thangmi pataii 'womens Nepali when the language was brought to traditional dress' and Late Classical Newar Dolakhi and Sindhupiilcok by Nepali-speaking patrisi 'the lower garment' may derive from Indo-Aryan settlers. Sanskrit patah 'cloth' or Nepali pit 'flax, The final data set, presented in the table fibre'; and finally Thangmi makar 'monkey' below, are those lexical similarities shared only and Late Classical Newar markat monkey are by Thangmi and Late Classical Newar and not loaned from Nepali rnarkaf 'monkey' which in cognate with other Tibeto-Burman languages. I turn derives from Sanskrit murkafa 'monkey'. have opted for a tabular presentation because of As I mentioned above, Newar has a highly the sheer volume of the data, and also to Sanskritised lexicon and thus it is not surprising facilitate comparison. The entries follow the that even words which would be considered ordering of J~rgensensA Dictionary of the part of its core lexicon, such as very, milk or Classical New= from which all of the Neyar breast, have been loaned from Indo-Aryan. entries are taken. I have also chosen to preserve More surprising, however, is that Thangmi too J~rgensensorthography for the sake of consis- has borrowed these terms, and furthermore that tency, including his unsystematic use of the the loans seem to have undergone a similar definite and indefinite articles, whilst the Thang- phonological shift in both languages. Examples mi entries are based on my phonological of this shift would be the reduplicative dudu understanding of the language. In the fial milk from Indo-Aryan dud or dudh, and the column I have included possible Proto-Tibeto- extra syllable added to the loan for hat or cap, Burman forms of which the modem words may Thangmi tupuri and Late Classical Newar be reflexes. Since the publication of Paul King tupuli, from Indo-Aryan fopi. Benedicts seminal Sino-Tibetan: A Conspectus, It is most likely that one of the two languag- from which the proto-forms are taken, there es borrowed words from Indic which were then have been many advances in Tibeto-Burman at a later date borrowed 'once-removed' into the historical linguistics. Although recent aJticles second language. The order was most probably and conference papers have refined and added Late Classical Newar borrowing from Indo- to Benedicts list of Tibeto-Burman reconstruc- Aryan and then Thangmi borrowing a Sanskri- tions, for reasons of space I do not include them tised form from Newar. On account of the here. Newih VijfiinaNo. 3 Turin/Skared Words, Shared Histoly? ... 14 Late Classical NwZC h Thangni GQSs athi-ithi a joint, articulation ap a joint al-pe the spleen elepe spleen wisi a plough wasa to plough karati a saw karati a sickle, kwos a bone koSa bone dark, darkness ukhifsa fl tobecomedark 'Mkk-i9c, ga" dry g$du td dry 3lL3""* na a horn naru horn, antler ha a cheek nafe cheek SZ-pu ashamed, shame afaldu I\[ ashamed c- L!& cm sweet pkadu sweet cimili = cimi the hair (of the body) cime hair (of the head) ?

lexical borrowing, then the serious issue arises as to how the speakers of these two languages The above table contains 41 entries of could have exchanged so much 250 years ago likely cognates between Thangmi and Late or more. If, on the other hand, we choose to Classical Newar, of which at least three may be conclude that the lexical similarities shown derived from attested Proto-Tibeto-Burman above are an indication of a close genetic roots. The number of reflexes of Tibeto- relationship between Thangmi and Newar, then Burman proto-fonns may actually be much we must come up with sound historical higher, but good reconstructions are hard to evidence to this effect. Either way, one come by, and I can only hope that scholars may conclusion is beyond doubt: at a linguistic level lend a hand in weeding out those lexical items Thangmi shares much with Late Classical which are found elsewhere in Tibeto-Burman. Newar and at a cultural level, the Thangmi have However, even if half of the above proposed deep socio-religious links with the Newar of lexical similarities between Thangmi and Late Dolakhg. This relationship is both an intriguing Classical Newar turn out to be reconstructable and important one, and will be the subject of to Proto-Tibeto-Burman, around 20 lexical further study. similarities remain. As mentioned above, Shafers argument for Thangmi and B&m References relatedness was based on nine lexical . similarities shared by the two languages, three Beyer, Steven V. 1992. The Classical Tibetan of which may now be discounted as they are Language. Albany: State University of New Yok Press (SUNY). in other Tibeto-Bman Benedict, Paul &g. 1972, Sino.Tibetan: A languages, leaving only six words to support a Conspectus. Cambridge: Cambridge University link. Whilst many Tibeto-Burman languages of press. Nepal have some lexical cognates with either Bista, Dor Bahadur. 1980 (1967). People of Nepal. 4th Thangmi or Late Classical Newar, there is no Edition. Kathmandu: Rama Pustak Bhandar. other language to my knowledge which shared Driem, George van. 1992. In Quest of MahMtt in Contributions to Nepulese Studies. 19 (2):pp. as many lexical similarities with Thangmi or 24.247. Late Classical Newar as these two languages do ~riek, George van. (forthcoming) The Barrim with one another. Languuge. Once again the question arises: can this Gaborieau, Mm. 1978. Le NEpul et ses populutions. similarity simply be put down to borrowing or Presses Universitaks de Fmnce: lhitions does it belie a deeper genetic relationship? At Complexe. the present, I am unsure how to answer. If we Gautam, Rajesh and Asoke K. Thapa-Magar. 1994. Tribul Ethnography of Nepal, Volume I. opt for the more cautious explanation, putting Delhi: Book Faith India. the similarities down to culture contact and NmGh Vijiianu No. 3 Turin/Shured Words. Shared History? ... 16 Genetti, Cm1 Elaine. 1994. A descriptive and ofthe School ofOrienta1 and African Studies, hictorical account of the Dolakha Newari LXI (3), Oxford University Press, pp. 476491. dialect. Monumenta Serindica no. 24. Tokyo: Turin, Mark. 1999a. Whence Thangmi? Historical Institute for the Study of Languages and ethnography and comparative morphology, in Cultures of Asia and Africa. Topics in Nepalese Linguistics, edited by Crierson, George Abraham, ed. 1909. Linguistic Survzy Yogendra hsad Yadava and Warren G. of India. Calcutta: Superintendent of Glover. Kathmandu: Royal Nepal Academy, Government Printing. pp. 451-477. Jaschke, H. A. 1990 (1881). A Tibetan-English Turin, Mark. 1999b. By Way of Incest and the Golden Dictionary with special reference to rke Deer: How the Thangmi Came To Be and the prevailing dialects. London: Routledge & Pitfalls of Oral History in Journal of Nepalese Kegan Paul. Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1, Kathmandu: Royal Jorgensen, Hans. 1936. A Dictionary of the Classical Nepal Academy, pp. 13-19. Newbrf. (Historisk-filologiske Meddelelser) 23 Turin, Mark and Sara Shneidman. in press. (1). Det Kgl. Danske Videnskabemes Selskab. Preliminary Etymological Notes on Thangmi KBbenhavn: Levin and Munksgaard. Clan Names and Indigenous Explanations of Miller, Casper J. 1997 (1979). Faith-Ifealers in the their Provenance, in Journal of Nepalese Ilimalaya. Delhi: Book Faith India. Studies, Kathmandu: Royal Nepal Academy. Peet, R.C. 1978. Migration, Culrure and Community: Turner, Ralph Liey. 1996 (1931). A Comparative and A case study from rural Nepal. unpublished Etymological Dictionary of the Nepali PhD disserration. Language. New Delhi: Allied Publishers. Shafer, Robert. 1966. Introduction to Sino-Tibetan. Wiesbaden: Ono Hanassowitz. Acknowledgements Shneiderman, Sara. 2000. Sisterly Clans: A Collection of Thoughts on Thami Women in rdivrisi Mahild -mdj (Voice of Indigenous Women), 2 The author is grateful to the Research School (3), Kathmandu, pp. 18-21. CNWS, School of Asian, African, and Shneiderman, San and Mark Turin. 2000. Thangmi. Amerindian Studies at Leiden University in the Thami, Thani? Remembering a Forgotten Netherlands for fulancial assistance, without People, in Ilimulayan Culture, Vol. V,No. 1. which this research would not have been May-August 2000, pp. 4-20. Tamot, Kashinath. 2000. Some Chardcleristics of the possible. For academic advice, thanks to Tibeto-Burman Stock of Early Classical Professor Dr. Erits Kortlandt for his careful Newar. Paper presented at the 9th Seminar of reading of an earlier draft of this paper, to Rent? the International Association of Tihetan Huysmans for his comments on this article as Studies, June, 2000, Leiden, 11 pages. well as for providing the Sampang data, and to Toba, Sueyoshi. 1990. Tharni-English Dictionary. Dr. Roland Rutgers. Many thanks, as always, unpublished manuscript, 87 pages. Tolsma, Genrd Jacobus. 1999. A (;rammar of Kulung. to Sara Shneiderman for her critical eye, her unpublished PhD dissertation. ongoing support and access to her detailed field Turin, Mark. 1998. The Thangmi vetbal agreement nptes on Thangrni ritual. system and the Kiranti connection, in Bulletin

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