Digital Resources Journal of Language Survey Report 2021-032
Preliminary Sociolinguistic Survey of Thakali
Jef Webster Preliminary Sociolinguistic Survey of Thakali
Jeff Webster
SIL International® 2021
Journal of Language Survey Report 2021-032
2021 SIL International®
ISSN: 2766-9327
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Abstract
This report presents the results of sociolinguistic inquiry into the Thakali language of Nepal conducted by Jeff Webster in August 1993. The purpose of the study is to measure linguistic distance between the three Thakali varieties and to measure oral Nepali language proficiency in the Thakali homeland. Results indicate only slight variation among Thakali dialects. The Thakali variety spoken in the village of Tukche is most widely accepted and most vigorously transmitted to children. Uneducated and elderly participants in the study had difficulty in understanding all but simple spoken Nepali. However, many Thakali young people reported that Nepali was their first language, and Webster observes that language shift is evident.
(This survey report written some time ago deserves to be made available even at this late date and without the usual anonymous peer-review. Conditions were such that it was not published when originally written. The reader is cautioned that more recent research may be available elsewhere. Historical data is quite valuable as they provide a basis for a longitudinal analysis and helps us understand both the trajectory and pace of change as compared with more recent studies. —Editor)
Contents
Preface 1 Introduction 1.1 Geography 1.2 People 1.3 Language 2 Goals 2.1 Differences among Thakali varieties 2.1.1 Lexical similarity between Thakali varieties 2.1.2 Intelligibility between Thakali varieties 2.2 Bilingualism in Nepali 3 Summary of findings 3.1 Thakali speech varieties 3.2 Bilingualism in Nepali 3.3 Language use and language attitudes 4 Dialects of Thakali 4.1 Lexical similarity 4.2 Dialect intelligibility 5 Bilingualism 5.1 Sentence Repetition Testing 5.1.1 Demographic profile 5.1.2 SRT Results 5.2 Evaluation of factors affecting proficiency 5.2.1 Literacy 5.2.2 Living outside Thak Khola 5.2.3 Frequency of travel 5.2.4 Radio in the household 5.2.5 Age 5.2.6 Educated children 6 Language use and attitudes and language vitality 6.1 Regarding standard dialect 6.2 Observations regarding language vitality 7 Conclusions and recommendations 7.1 Regarding language development 7.2 Regarding further sociolinguistic research Appendix A: Wordlists Appendix B: Recorded Text Tests Appendix C: Sentence Repetition Test References
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Preface
This sociolinguistic survey of Thakali was conducted primarily during a two-week period in early August 1993. This research in the Thak Khola region south of Mustang District was carried out under the auspices of the Center for Nepal and Asian Studies (CNAS) of Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu. Broadly speaking, the purpose of this survey was to investigate both the extent of second language proficiency in Nepali and the degree of difference among the different dialects of Thakali. To my knowledge, no sociolinguistic study has been done to investigate the understanding between dialects, to determine the most central dialect for literature development, and to determine community-wide proficiency in Nepali. It is our hope that this study will provide insights into these issues.
Jeff Webster August 1998 Kathmandu, Nepal
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1 Introduction
A brief overview of the Thakali people and language is presented here. Aside from Sherpas and Newars the Thakali have probably been studied more intensively than any other ethnic group in Nepal (see the footnote in References for some of the more important studies). Thus, no attempt will be made here to give an in-depth introduction to the Thakali.
1.1 Geography
The Thakali inhabit an area called the Thak Khola, the middle reaches of the Kali Gandaki valley flanked on one side by Annapurna Himal and on the other side by Dhaulagiri Himal. Thakali settlements stretch from Tatopani village in the south to Jomsom, also known as Jomsom, in the north, all part of Mustang District, Dhaulagiri Zone to the northwest of Pokhara. Today many Thakalis have settled permanently outside the Thak Khola and are well known as excellent businessmen, especially in their operation of wayside inns called bhattis. There are two main geographic divisions among the Thakali, and three dialect divisions. Economically, politically, and socially dominant are the inhabitants of the southern region, called the Thaasaang, or alternatively, Thaaksaatsaye (Nepali: the 700 Thakali houses) or Thak Khola (Nepali: river of Thakali houses). To the north of this area is the region locally known as Yhulnghaa (Thakali) and by outsiders as Paanchgaaun (Nepali), both meaning “five villages” (Gauchan and Vinding 1979:99). This survey included Thini, Marpha, Chhairo, and Chimang villages which are part of Panchgaun, and Tukche village from the Thaasaang region. Thakalis are the most numerous ethnic group in the Thak Khola, although there are also people from various Hindu occupational castes, as well as a few from the more Tibetan Baragaun region north of Jomsom, in Thakali villages. The total population of Thakali speakers according to the 1991 census is 7,113. Only 2,229 were listed for the Thak Khola area, the rest being widely scattered over dozens of districts, no other district with more than 550 Thakalis (Government of Nepal 1993:27). Tukche is the undisputed cultural center of the Thakalis, as it was the undisputed trading center of the Thak Khola in years past.
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Detailed map of Thakali survey area
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1.2 People
Thakalis comprise three ideally endogamous subgroups. The Tamang inhabit the Thaasaang area, which comprises all Thakali villages south of Marpha. There are four clans of Tamang, Gauchan, Tulachan, Sherchan, and Bhattachan (Nepali names). Thakalis in Marpha form a separate endogamous group, referred to as Puntan by other Thakalis, comprised of the clans Juharchand, Hirachand, Lalchand, and Panachand. The third subgroup is less well defined, but comprises Thini, Syang, and Chimang villages. There is no common term for this third subgroup. The Tamang claim to be the only true Thakali, though this claim to exclusivity is not unique, but is claimed to a lesser degree by the other groups as well (Gauchan and Vinding 1979:97–99). A large number of Thakalis spend the colder months outside of the Thak Khola, returning in the Spring. Many have settled outside permanently, though the proportion of permanent settlers is perhaps greatest among those from Marpha village (Gauchan and Vinding 1979:101). In Marpha, locals estimated that only half of the population of 700 still live in Marpha, the others living relatively permanently outside the Thak Khola. Increasing numbers of young people are attending boarding schools in Pokhara and Kathmandu. Large numbers have also gotten jobs in Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong. The Thakalis are traditionally traders, occupying a crucial link between Tibet and the lower hills and plains. For many years, they had a government sanctioned monopoly on the salt trade in the Thak Khola. Over the years, the Thakalis have developed into an extremely successful long-distance trading group (Bista 1987:86). The resulting wealth is now fueling their success in current business ventures, namely the tourist trade. Although today, with large numbers of Thakalis living outside of their area, there is a shortage of labor, requiring an increasing influx of Nepali-speaking people to meet the need. This increasing influence of Nepali culture is perhaps speeding up the trend of culture change in the area. At least as self-reported, the religion of the Thakalis is Buddhist. In reality, this is Buddhism with a mixture of Jhankrism, Bonpo, and more recently, Hinduism. They claim that Jhankrism, “a kind of Shamanistic cult,” is their original religion (Bista 1987:93).
1.3 Language
To my knowledge, no sociolinguistic study of Thakali dialects has ever been conducted. Hari and Maibaum (1970) have written on tone in Thakali and published an extensive wordlist of Tukche Thakali (in Hale, ed. 1973). Glover’s lexicostatistic comparison of Thakali and other Tibeto-Burman languages in Nepal, using a 100-item wordlist, shows Thakali as being most closely related to Gurung and Tamang. It is 72 percent cognate with Gurung and 66 percent with Tamang (Glover 1974:13). Local opinion is essentially unanimous in distinguishing three dialects of Thakali, paralleling the three cultural subgroups discussed in section 1.2. Tukche is the center of the most prestigious and dominant dialect, generally just called Thakali. Marpha stands alone as the second dialect which is more distinct than the other two dialects. Thini, Syang, Chimang, and Chhairo are the villages where the third dialect is spoken (this includes present-day Jomsom as well). These last two dialects are sometimes called Panchgaonle (the language of the five villages), but this term both obscures the differences between Marpha and the others and is not really acceptable to those in the Thak Khola. Everyone seems to agree that Tukche is the most easily understood of the three, and Marpha is generally seen as the most difficult. Speakers from non-Tukche varieties tend to learn the Tukche variety or at least accommodate their speech in that direction. One reason for this is that the population of Marpha is much less than that of the Tukche variety, thus there is much more opportunity to be exposed to and learn the Tukche variety. Mazaudon (1978:160) summarizes the dialects of Thakali nicely: Thakali is split into three endogamous subgroups corresponding to three forms of speech. The Tukche dialect covers all Southern Thak khola and Jomosom. The Syang dialect covers Syang, Thini, and Chimang. Marpha is an endogamous village with its own dialect. 4
None of the neighboring languages (Gurung, Tamang, Magar, or the Baragaunle to the north) are seen as at all close to Thakali. Any communication with these groups is done in Nepali. Word lists and minimal intelligibility testing supports their view.
2 Goals
The purpose of this sociolinguistic survey of Thakali was to provide an initial assessment of the viability of vernacular literature development with regard to dialect intelligibility and bilingualism in Nepali. In particular, this survey sought to provide a preliminary assessment of the most appropriate Thakali variety for use as the standard variety. Two primary goals were formulated for this survey: • To investigate the differences among the different Thakali varieties. • To investigate the extent of bilingualism in Nepali.
2.1 Differences among Thakali varieties
2.1.1 Lexical similarity between Thakali varieties
The first part of investigating the differences among Thakali varieties involves studying the differences in vocabulary, or lexical similarity. In this study, lexical similarity is investigated by means of comparing equivalent words using 220-item wordlists. Results are expressed as a percentage of similar items.
2.1.2 Intelligibility between Thakali varieties
Another aspect of investigating the differences among Thakali varieties involves intelligibility testing using recorded text tests. Intelligibility testing, used in tandem with lexical similarity, helps determine the most meaningful grouping of speech varieties and which variety may be understood the best. Inherent intelligibility is inferred from a sample’s average understanding of a recorded text. The results are expressed as a percentage, based on the average of scores on a recorded-text test. Sample size and standard deviation are also given.
2.2 Bilingualism in Nepali
The second goal, concerning bilingualism in Nepali, was formulated because of the important role that Nepali plays in education, commerce, media, and religion. Extensive and high-level bilingualism in Nepali would suggest that local communities can effectively use media in Nepali. In this study, bilingualism is measured using a sentence repetition test. The results for sentence repetition testing are expressed as the percentage of the population, or of subgroups of the population, at a particular level of fluency.
3 Summary of findings
3.1 Thakali speech varieties
Results of wordlist comparison and recorded text testing show a great uniformity among the three main varieties of Thakali studied in this survey. Roughly 10 to 20 percent of the basic vocabulary is dissimilar among the different varieties, but this difference does not seem to be a significant hindrance to understanding. Simple narrative stories representing the different Thakali varieties were all at least 90 percent understood in the other localities. The Marpha story was slightly better understood in each location than the other stories, but the difference was generally not statistically significant. Because differences among the dialects are not 5 great, local opinion about which variety is best or most liked is crucial. Most people claim to have little difficulty understanding any of the other Thakali varieties, though the dialect boundaries are clearly demarcated. Local opinion supports the view that Tukche is the most prestigious Thakali variety, is most easily understood by other varieties, and that the younger generation is maintaining Thakali most strongly in the Tukche area.
3.2 Bilingualism in Nepali
Results of testing Nepali bilingualism among the Thakali show a typical pattern of second-language acquisition: those who are educated score significantly better than those who are uneducated. Among those who have received formal education beyond fifth class, there is “very good, general proficiency” in Nepali. This educated group comprises approximately 39 percent of the adult population (45% of the men and 33% of the women). Among the 43 percent who are uneducated, proficiency in Nepali is only at a basic Reported Proficiency Evaluation level (RPE level 2). Such results indicate that these people would have great difficulty understanding or communicating philosophical, religious, or technical topics in Nepali. Similarly, 44 percent of the total sample of 84 subjects scored at levels equivalent to RPE levels below 3 (this sample was slightly more educated than is truly representative).
3.3 Language use and language attitudes
There appears to be a widespread shift away from speaking Thakali. Those who are educated and under age 30 often do not have mother-tongue ability in Thakali but can only understand it, not speak it. This trend was already noticed by other researchers working in the area twenty-five years prior to when this survey was conducted, and yet those young people from twenty-five years ago seem to have maintained their language to a surprising degree; Thakalis over age 40 appear to have full mother-tongue ability in Thakali. Possibly young people today who claim not to have speaking ability in Thakali will actually more fully develop that ability later in life, or already have the ability but are ashamed to admit it. On one occasion in this survey, one young lady was unable to help us because she “didn’t speak Thakali,” she only “understood a little.” Later, however, when she listened to two recorded text tests, she was able to answer the questions effortlessly. This points out the difficulty of ascertaining language vitality in a brief visit. In general, there is not widespread interest in maintaining or promoting Thakali. Thakalis are very pragmatic and business oriented and recognize that there is little economic value in promoting their language. The percentage of children who are actively using Thakali in the home and at play seems to be higher in Tukche than in other places.
4 Dialects of Thakali
4.1 Lexical similarity
One measure of the similarity between any two speech varieties is lexical similarity. Lexical similarity is the percentage of words between speech varieties that resemble each other in sound and meaning (see detailed procedures for measuring lexical similarity in Appendix A.1). Speech communities that have more words in common (higher lexical similarity) generally understand each other better than those communities that have fewer words in common. Lexical similarity between two speech varieties that is below 60 percent is reflective of distinct languages. Lexical similarity above 90 percent is reflective of very closely related dialects. Dialect intelligibility testing (discussed in section 4.2) is not typically required for either situation. Lexical similarity that falls between these two extremes, warrants fuller investigation by means of dialect 6 intelligibility testing to determine the nature of the relationship between the two speech varieties (Blair 1990:23). Seven wordlists are compared in this study. The complete lists are given in Appendix A.3, and the key to phonetic transcription in Appendix A.2. Table 1 presents the matrix of lexical similarity percentages among the wordlists compared. Each list is identified first by a 3-letter code that is repeated in the appendices, then either by the name of the village or the name of the language. Some words from the wordlist were not compared because the reliability of their elicitation was questionable. The three lists MAR, TUK, and TIN were elicited on this survey and checked against other lists collected previously. The SYA list was collected by another researcher in 1990 and was not double- checked. The WTa list represents standard Tamang spoken in Dhading District, and the GGu list represents Eastern Gurung as spoken in Gorkha District.
Table 1. Lexical similarity percentages among Thakali varieties MAR (Marpha) 86 TUK (Tukche) 84 84 TIN (Tini) 76 75 93 SYA (Syang) 50 51 50 46 WTa (Tamang) 44 46 44 41 51 GGu (Gurung) 5 7 3 2 11 24 NEP (Nepali)
The four Thakali wordlists compared all fall in the middle range of similarity which suggests neither “mutual intelligibility” nor separate languages. For each site, another means of testing is needed to get a better picture of dialect relatedness. The first three lists in table 1 are well checked and are at 84 percent similarity or higher. In other languages in Nepal where similar lexical similarity percentages were found, intelligibility test scores are quite high (Webster 1994), representative of closely related dialects. By most local reports, Syang and Tini are very similar, though our wordlists show them to be no closer than they are to the other Thakali varieties. The low percentages between Syang and Tukche and Marpha can probably be explained by the fact that the Syang wordlist was not double-checked and was collected by a different researcher. The Tamang, Gurung, and Nepali lists compared for reference show quite clearly that Thakali is a different language from these and little intelligibility is to be expected among them.
4.2 Dialect intelligibility
Procedures for using short, recorded narrative texts in the study of dialect intelligibility are given in Appendix B.1. This procedure, called recorded text testing, was conducted in three test sites. These sites were chosen based on library research and local opinion, to be as representative as possible of the main varieties of Thakali. Wordlists and recorded text testing were done in the same places. Mean, standard deviation and sample size are given in table 2 for recorded text testing among the Thakali varieties. The numbers in bold on the diagonal from top left to bottom right represent the hometown scores, the understanding of a text in the place where it was recorded. Detailed results are given in Appendix B.2, with the recorded texts themselves in Appendix B.3. No RTT was developed in Thini; instead, the Tukche RTT was used as the hometown test, followed by the Marpha test. There was no time to develop a separate RTT for Thini, as would be suggested by its 84 percent lexical similarity to Marpha and Tukche. This proved to be an acceptable procedure in this case because the resulting average score on this “hometown” test was quite high (91.5%) and is not statistically different from Tukche’s average score on the same test. 7
Table 2. Recorded text test scores among Thakali varieties
Reference points Test points Tukche Marpha Mean 95.5 97.0 Tukche SD 6.85 4.83 Sample size 10 10 Mean 91 95.5 Marpha SD 8.76 7.62 Sample size 10 10 Mean 91.5 97.2 Thini SD 7.47 5.65 Sample size 10 9
All of the scores in the three test sites are consistently high—all 91 percent or higher. Furthermore, all standard deviations are below 9 which shows that there is not a great deal of variation among subjects in ability to understand the stories. There is no indication from these scores that any one dialect has difficulty in understanding any other Thakali dialect. The Marpha RTT was slightly better understood than was the Tukche RTT, but this slight difference is minimal and is not statistically significant (<.05) except in Thini (this difference might be explained by the fact that Thini subjects had no experience on a true “hometown” test). In addition to the above testing, a Gurung RTT from Gorkha district was tested in Marpha. Given the reluctance of subjects there to help, it was impossible to test the Gurung text completely. The first subject scored 30 percent; the second subject stopped after missing the first five questions. It was clear from their performance, and the opinion of others, that Thakali people have very limited understanding of Gurung (and Tamang).
5 Bilingualism
In this survey, the sentence repetition test (SRT) was used to evaluate bilingual ability in Nepali. This test was used in Marpha and in Chimang/Chhairo of Mustang District.
5.1 Sentence Repetition Testing
5.1.1 Demographic profile
The results of bilingualism testing need to be interpreted in light of a demographic profile of the local communities. Sentence repetition testing results are given either as a range of proficiencies (on the RPE), or as an average score (on the SRT), for groups within a community, for example uneducated women age 15 to 25. A demographic profile shows the percentage of the population represented by each of the smaller subgroups. A profile is also needed to see how representative a test sample is compared with the larger community. The first percentage in table 4 represents the percentage of adult population in each demographic category. Those under age 15 are not included in these figures. Generally, about 40 percent of the total population is under age 15. Demographic information was obtained from each subject who took the SRT. In addition, information about the family members of most of these subjects was obtained. As is often the case, it was more difficult to convince uneducated subjects, particularly women, to take the test; subsequently, those who refused to take the test (and also their family members) are not adequately represented in this demographic profile. 8
5.1.2 SRT Results
Detailed SRT results are presented in table 4, after presenting the predicted RPE levels in table 3. SRT scores need to be interpreted in light of their predicted RPE levels. These predicted levels, with a brief description of each level, are presented in table 3.
Table 3. Nepali SRT scores and predicted RPE levels (Varenkamp 1991:9)
Nepali SRT Score Predicted RPE Level 0 – 4 0+ Very minimal proficiency 5 – 8 1 Minimal, limited proficiency 9 – 14 1+ Limited, basic proficiency 15 – 20 2 Adequate, basic proficiency 21 – 27 2+ Good, basic proficiency 28 – 33 3 Good, general proficiency 34 – 39 3+ Very good, general proficiency 40 – 45 4 and above Excellent proficiency
Table 4 presents the SRT results across gender and age groups. The first percentage number is the approximate percentage of the adult population represented by that box; the second percentage (bold and in parentheses) is the percentage of the test sample with those demographic characteristics. Below the two percentage figures in each box are three numbers, for SRT average, standard deviation, and sample size respectively.
Table 4. Demographic profile and SRT results for Thakali villages
Sex Age group Education level Total Uneducated Primary Higher 0 years 1–5 years 6+ years Male Youth (15–25) 0% (0%) 3% (2%) 10% (11%) 13% (13%) -- 32.0 / 1.4 / 2 35.0 / 5.9 / 9 34.5 / 5.5 / 11 Middle (26–40) 3% (4%) 2% (4%) 6% (7%) 12% (14%) 18.0 / 2.0 / 3 32.3 / 5.1 / 3 39.2 / 5.0 / 6 32.2 / 9.9 / 12 Older (41+) 14% (17%) 6% (4%) 6% (10%) 25% (30%) 16.9 / 6.7 / 14 21.3 / 12.0/ 3 31.0 / 6.4 / 8 22.0 / 9.5 / 25 Male total 17% (20%) 10% (10 %) 22% (27%) 50% (57%) 17.1 / 6.1 / 17 28.1 / 9.0 / 8 34.7 / 6.5 / 23 27.4 / 10.4 / 48 Female Youth (15–25) 2% (1%) 2% (2%) 12% (12%) 16% (13%) 15 / -- / 1 21.5 /10.7 / 2 34.0 / 5.7 / 10 30.4 / 8.5 / 14 Middle (26–40) 6% (6%) 5% (5%) 4% (1%) 14% (12%) 21.4 / 4.9 / 5 28.8 / 7.3 / 4 34.0 / -- / 1 25.6 / 7.1 / 10 Older (41+) 19% (12%) 0% (0%) 1% (0%) 20% (12%) 18.3 / 6.9 / 10 -- -- 18.3 / 6.9 / 10 Female total 26% (19%) 7% (7%) 17% (13%) 50% (40%) 19.1 / 6.2 / 16 26.3 / 8.3 / 6 34.0 / 5.4 / 11 25.4 / 9.0 / 34 Overall sample total 43% (40%) 18% (13%) 39% (42%) N=125 26.8 / 18.4 / 6.4 / 34 27.4 / 8.4 /14 34.7 / 6.1 / 35 9.9 / 84 9
In general, as education increases proficiency in Nepali increases, and as age increases, proficiency decreases. This same pattern of Nepali proficiency has also been found among Magars, Gurungs, and Bhote Ghales in Central Nepal (Webster 1993b). Uneducated women performed better than their male counterparts; for those who were educated, men and women’s scores were very similar, with men’s being slightly higher. Education is clearly the most significant independent variable affecting SRT scores. For those subjects with no education at all, SRT scores are equivalent to RPE level 2. This amounts to 43 percent of the adult population according to the demographic profile. This significant segment of the population scoring below RPE level 3 is likely to have difficulty using all but the simplest Nepali and they are sure to have some difficulty understanding complex messages or literature in Nepali. The following figure combines results from all three test points and shows the spread of proficiency levels among the subjects. For educated subjects, the largest number are at RPE level 3 or above; for uneducated subjects, the largest number are RPE level 2+ or below.
RPE levels for uneducated and educated subjects from the three villages.
5.2 Evaluation of factors affecting proficiency
Though education is the most important independent variable affecting proficiency in Nepali, other variables are also potentially important. This section presents a brief examination of six factors with a potential effect on Nepali proficiency. These six variables are literacy, having lived outside the local area for a period of time, frequency of travel to a Nepali-speaking area, the presence of a radio in the household, age, and the presence of an educated child in the house. Because education is the most significant variable, only samples of uneducated subjects are compared here.
5.2.1 Literacy
Those who claim to be literate, though with no formal education, score virtually the same in Nepali as those who do not claim to be literate. 10
Table 5. SRT score as a function of literacy, for the uneducated sample
Literate? SRT average Standard Deviation Sample size Yes 18.8 5.2 11 No 18.3 7.0 23
5.2.2 Living outside Thak Khola
Whether or not a subject has lived outside the local area for more than 6 months, also does not have a significant effect on proficiency in Nepali. Those who have lived outside the Thakali area, whether or not in a predominately Nepali speaking environment, scored slightly worse on the Nepali SRT than those who had not lived outside. This is quite unusual, since this factor usually has a significant effect on elevating second language proficiency (Webster 1993a:47).
Table 6. SRT score as a function of having lived outside the local area, for the uneducated sample
Lived outside? SRT average Standard Deviation Sample size Yes 18.1 7.0 19 No 18.4 6.2 12
5.2.3 Frequency of travel
Very closely related to having lived outside the area is the frequency of travel outside the area. Frequency of travel to areas where Nepali is needed is often directly correlated with Nepali proficiency. However, in the three Thakali test points studied here, frequency of travel was not a significant independent variable affecting Nepali acquisition (p>.05). Traveling to Nepali-speaking areas and living there for extended periods of time is so common among the Thakali that any increase in Nepali proficiency seems to be equalized among the community. That is one possible reason for the insignificant effect; another possible reason is that the Thakali are such a close-knit community that people continue to use their own language most of the time while living outside the Thak Khola; if only a few people traveled outside, this would not be a possibility.
Table 7. SRT score as a function of frequency of travel, for the uneducated sample
Frequency of travel? SRT average Standard Deviation Sample size Zero 18.4 6.2 12 Low 22.0 -- 1 Medium 17.3 6.2 4 High 19.7 6.6 12
5.2.4 Radio in the household
Subjects living in homes with a radio, and thus with regular access to Nepali programs, performed slightly better on the SRT compared to those without a radio in the home. This difference, however, is not statistically significant (p=0.232).
Table 8. SRT score as a function of having a radio in the home, for the uneducated sample
Radio? SRT average Standard Deviation Sample size Yes 19.2 6.6 25 No 16.2 5.8 9 11
5.2.5 Age
Subject’s age is often correlated with second language proficiency. Any differences in this sample, however, is conpounded by the subject’s gender. What appears to be a significant Nepali proficiency peak for the middle age group is largely a function of gender: middle-aged women perform much better than middle-aged men. I suspect that this is a result of sampling bias. Many women refused to take the test; those who consented are likely to be more outgoing and bolder than those who refused, or they may be justifiably more confident in their Nepali ability. Results in Table 9 show “average / standard deviation / sample size” for the overall sample in each age group, and for male and female in each age group.
Table 9. SRT score as a function of the subject’s age, for the uneducated sample
Age group All subjects Male Female 15–30 16.0 / 2.6 / 3 -- 16.0 / 2.6 / 3 24.1 / 5.3 / 9 31–45 18.0 / 2.0 / 3 26.4 / 3.0 / 5 46+ 16.5 / 5.9 / 22 16.9 / 6.7 / 14 15.6 / 4.4 / 8
5.2.6 Educated children
The final variable examined here is whether or not adults had a child who had attained fifth class or higher in school. The acquisition of a second language while passively listening to a child recite lessons has been shown to have an effect in some places. In this data, however, there is no statistically significant difference in SRT score between the two groups (p>.05).
Table 10. SRT score as a function of having an educated child, for the uneducated sample
Educated child? SRT average Standard Deviation Sample size Yes 18.1 7.2 16 No 16.5 3.6 2
6 Language use and attitudes and language vitality
6.1 Regarding standard dialect
In light of uniformly good understanding among the different dialects according to recorded text testing, attitudes towards the varieties are especially important. No extensive questionnaire was administered, but a few post-RTT questions were asked, and people were asked informally about what variety was understood best. Most revealing were responses to the question, “Which story did you understand best?” asked to subjects in Thini who had just listened to the Marpha and the Tukche RTTs. Half the subjects said they understood both equally; the other half of the subjects said that Tukche was understood better and that Marpha was a bit more difficult (even though the average for the Marpha test was higher than that for the Tukche test). Even more revealing with regard to attitudes was the fact that one subject refused to listen to more than about 30 seconds of the Marpha text, saying it was too difficult and she could not understand anything. 12
The attitude in Thini, then, seems to be that Tukche is much easier to understand than Marpha, though RTT results did not show that. Whether or not more RTT testing would show this attitude is based on actual intelligibility is not known, but the attitude does tell us something useful about what is considered the Thakali standard and attitudes towards another variety. In Tukche, subjects were asked how much they understood of the Marpha text immediately following that RTT. Subjects averaged 97 percent on that text, but with only a few exceptions, they all said that it was a little difficult, that they did not understand it all, that Tukche is really the dialect understood by everyone. During informal interviews, almost without exception, people mentioned Tukche as being the place where Thakali is spoken most purely, where Thakali is being maintained among the younger generation the most, where the Thakali dialect spoken is understand by all the other varieties. Most people consistently identified three main dialects and insisted that the three varieties were clearly different; at the same time they insisted that, while Marpha especially was a bit hard to understand for some, the Tukche variety was uniformly well understood.
6.2 Observations regarding language vitality
Perhaps the most significant sociolinguistic issue in Thakali is that of language vitality—the general “health” of the language and the prospect of its continued use in generations to come. Probably the majority of those under 20 do not have mother-tongue speaking ability in Thakali, though it would seem that their understanding of the language is fluent. Many parents speak Thakali to their children, and the children reply in Nepali. Local opinion about the future prospects for the language are quite negative, with the majority thinking that Thakali will no longer be spoken fifty years from now. A significant percentage of Thakali youth are being educated outside the Thak Khola, almost ensuring their full fluency in Nepali and their inability to fully speak and understand Thakali. The outward flow of the Thakali population from the Thak Khola is also increasing the need for workers, usually mother tongue Nepali speakers, to move into the Thak Khola. Thus the everyday exposure to Nepali is increasing. Among those sampled for SRT testing, 65 of 83 subjects said they only speak Thakali in the home; 12 of 83 said only Nepali; and 6 of 83 said both or some other language. This is strong evidence for the current vitality of the language. It was reported that the majority of the youth in Tukche speak Thakali in the home. South of Tukche, it is reported that few of the young people can speak the language (though the understanding may well be quite fluent). At least for Tukche, then, the vitality of Thakali for the next fifty years is nearly assured.
7 Conclusions and recommendations
7.1 Regarding language development
This preliminary sociolinguistic survey of Thakali has shown several things: • Those who are uneducated, about 40 percent of the population, are not adequately bilingual in Nepali and will have difficulty in understanding all but simple Nepali. • The differences among the varieties of Thakali appear to be small and not of a nature that is detrimental to mutual intelligibility. • The Tukche variety of Thakali appears to be the most widely accepted variety. • Thakali is being maintained most vigorously in Tukche. In light of all these findings, I conclude that further language development, standardization, and translation into Thakali would be most effective if carried out in the Tukche dialect. Media developed in this dialect will most likely be understood by the most people, with the least difficulty, and be accepted 13 with the least resistance by speakers of other Thakali dialects. Those who are uneducated will not be well served by media in any other language; those who are educated appear to be able to adequately use media in Nepali but, along with their uneducated peers, will also be able to fully use media in Thakali. Thakali is certainly a language in decline. Many among the younger generation are fully functional bilinguals in Nepali and Thakali, and quite a few are not able to speak or understand Thakali at all; however, among those over age 30 the language is still in vigorous use. Any program of language development for the Thakali should be preliminary and highly sensitive to the felt needs and desires of the people. Once a program of language development is started, regular evaluation should be carried out to ascertain the need for its continuation.
7.2 Regarding further sociolinguistic research
A thorough study of language-use patterns and of language attitudes was not done. This would be very useful, especially to probe community interest and motivation for language development. Finally, given recent advances in computer technology as well as the relatedness of Thakali to Gurung and Tamang, an investigation of the potential fruitfulness of “computer-assisted related language adaptation” (CARLA) between Thakali and related languages is needed.
Appendix A: Wordlists
A.1 Lexical similarity procedures1
A standard list of 220 vocabulary items was collected from speakers at key locations for each of the speech varieties studied in this survey. These lists and the Nepali words used in their elicitation, along with a phonetic chart presenting the transcription conventions used, are given in this appendix. In standard procedure, the 220 words are elicited from a person who has grown up in the target locality. This list is checked with a second speaker in order to identify (1) incorrect responses due to misunderstanding of the elicitation cue, (2) loan words offered in response to the language of elicitation when indigenous terms are actually still in use, and (3) terms which are simply at different places along the generic-specific scale. Normally, a single term is recorded for each item of the wordlist. However, more than one term is recorded for a single item when synonymous terms are apparently in general use or when more than one specific term occupies the semantic area of a more generic item on the wordlist. An evaluation of the reliability of each wordlist is given according to three levels, from A to C (“A” is most reliable). The reliability codes are assigned based on the following criteria: whether the wordlist was adequately checked through a second independent elicitation and/or through comparison with published data; whether the original elicitation was clearly tape-recorded for further checking where necessary; whether the wordlist informant demonstrated full bilingual proficiency in the language of elicitation and clearly understood the procedure; and whether the list was collected on location from a speaker who unquestionably represented the regional variety. The wordlists are compared to determine the extent to which the vocabulary of each pair of speech forms is similar. No attempt is made to identify genuine cognates based on a network of sound correspondences. Rather, two items are judged to be phonetically similar if at least half of the segments compared are the same (category 1) and at least half of the remaining segments are fairly similar (category 2). For example, if two items of eight segments in length are compared, these words are judged to be similar if at least four segments are virtually the same and at least two more are rather similar. The criteria applied are presented below. Category 1 • Contoid (consonant-like) segments which match exactly • Vowels (vowel-like) segments which match exactly or differ by only one articulatory feature • Phonetically similar segments (of the sort which frequently are found as allophones) which are seen to correspond in at least three pairs of words Category 2 • All other phonetically similar pairs of segments which are not, however, supported by at least three pairs of words Category 3 • Pairs of segments which are not phonetically similar • A segment which is matched by no segment in the corresponding item After pairs of items on two wordlists had been determined to be phonetically similar or not, according to the criteria stated above, the percentage of times judged similar was calculated. The procedure was repeated for each pair of wordlists. Occasionally, one or more of the lexical items in the wordlist was found to be too problematic for reliable elicitation. These items were not compared and appear preceded by a “0” in the presentation of wordlists in Appendix A.3. Other numbers preceding lexical items in the wordlists are similarity groupings, with all words preceded by the same number counted as similar according to the above criteria.
1 This description of lexical similarity counting procedures is partially adapted from that found in Appendix A of O’Leary (1992).
14 15
The pair by pair counting procedure was greatly facilitated by the use of a computer program designed for this purpose (Wimbish 1989). It should be noted that the wordlist data and the transcribed texts as included in subsequent appendices are field transcriptions and have not undergone thorough phonological and grammatical analysis. 16
A.2 International Phonetic Alphabet Chart2
2 IPA Chart, http://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/content/ipa-chart, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License. Copyright © 2015 International Phonetic Association. 17
A.3 Wordlist biodata
Language Tukuche Marpha Thini Syang W Tamang Gorkha Gurung Nepali Code used TUK MAR TIN SYA WTa GGu NEP Village Tukche Marpha Thini Syang Sahugaon Chapabari, Kathmandu Banspur VDC Tukche Marpha Jomsom Jomsom ? Gangkhu Kathmandu District Mustang Mustang Mustang Mustang Nuwakot Gorkha Kathmandu Name B.T., male, 40 B.B.L., male, 51 L.P.T., male, 55 ? K.B.T., male, 25 P.B.G. B.R.J., male 53 Place elicited Tukche Marpha Thini Jomsom Kathmandu Banspur Kathmandu Date elicited 5 Aug. 1993 30 Jul. 1993 7 Aug. 1993 10 Aug. 1990 1970 26 Oct. 1991 20 July 1993 Elicited by J. Webster J. Webster J. Webster E.B. D.T. W.G. J. Webster Checking Checked Checked Group not checked 1992 by L.B. yes, with P.G., with against list in against list elicitation with Webster, with male 43 dictionaries Hale (1973). collected in 3 or 4 N.T. and others Aug. 1990 by J. Webster Reliability code A B C C A A A
18
A.4 Wordlist data
1. body 2. head 3. hair
TUK 1 ɔŋ TUK 2 tɔ TUK 1 tʃʰɔm 3 sukʰpʌ 3 trɔ MAR 1 tsʌm
MAR 2 tsʰju MAR 1 kjʌ TIN 1 tsʌm
TIN 3 subɐ TIN 1 kjɐ SYA 3 gɛsəm
SYA 3 suwa SYA 1 kʲa WTa 1 sam
WTa 2 dʒiu WTa 5 GGu 0
GGu 2 dʒiu GGu 5 NEP 2 kʌpal
NEP 2 dʒiu NEP 4 ʈauko
4. face 5. eye 6. ear TUK 1 li TUK 1 mi TUK 1 nah MAR 1 li MAR 1 mi MAR 1 nah TIN 1 hli TIN 1 mi TIN 1 na̤ SYA 0 SYA 1 mi SYA 1 na̤ WTa 1 li WTa 1 mi WTa 4 GGu 1 li GGu 1 mi GGu 3 NEP 2 ʌnuwaɾ NEP 2 ãkʰa NEP 2 kan
7. nose 8. mouth 9. teeth TUK 1 nɔ TUK 1 suŋ TUK 1 sɔ MAR 1 nɔ MAR 1 suŋ MAR 1 sɐ TIN 1 nɐ TIN 1 suŋ TIN 1 so SYA 1 nɐ SYA 1 suŋ SYA 1 so WTa 1 nɐ WTa 1 suŋ WTa 1 sɐ GGu 3 GGu 1 suŋ GGu 1 sɐ NEP 2 nak NEP 2 mukʰ NEP 2 dãt
10. tongue 11. breast 12. belly TUK 1 le TUK 1 ŋje̤ TUK 1 pʰo MAR 1 le MAR 3 Nju MAR 1 pʰo TIN 1 hle TIN 1 ŋe̤ TIN 1 pʰo̤ 19
SYA 1 Le SYA 0 SYA 1 pʰo̤ WTa 1 le WTa 1 ŋje̤ WTa 1 pʰo GGu 3 GGu 1 GGu 1 pʰo NEP 2 dʒɪbɾo NEP 2 stʌn NEP 2 peʈ
13. arm 14. elbow 15. palm TUK 1 jɔ TUK 1 jɔʈu TUK 1 jɔtʰin MAR 1 jɐ MAR 2 japuki MAR 0 TIN 1 jɐkɐŋ TIN 3 jɐkum TIN 1 jɐtʰin SYA 1 jã SYA 3 jãkum SYA 1 jɐtʰin WTa 1 jɐ WTa 5 WTa 1 GGu 1 GGu 0 GGu 3 NEP 2 pakʰura NEP 4 kuhino NEP 2 hʌkela
16. finger 17. nail 18. leg TUK 1 jɔhre TUK 1 jɔʃin TUK 1 pʌhle MAR 0 MAR 1 jɐʃin MAR 1 pa̤le TIN 1 jɐhre TIN 1 jɐtʃin TIN 1 pa̤le SYA 5 jatʰiŋŋã SYA 1 jatʃʰɪn SYA 1 pʰale WTa 4 WTa 1 jɐtʃin WTa 3 GGu 3 GGu 1 jɔʃin GGu 1 pʌhle NEP 2 ̃ɔla NEP 2 nʌŋ NEP 2 kʰuʈʈa
19. skin 20. bone 21. heart TUK 1 ʈi̤ TUK 1 naʈi TUK 1 tin MAR 1 ʈʰi̤ MAR 1 nʌkʰi 2 sam TIN 1 dʰi̤ TIN 1 nʌki MAR 1 tin SYA 1 tʰi SYA 1 nəki TIN 1 tin WTa 1 WTa 4 SYA 1 tin GGu 3 GGu 3 WTa 1 NEP 2 tʃʰala NEP 2 haɖ GGu 3 muʈu NEP 3 muʈu
20
22. blood 23. urine 24. feces TUK 2 kɔ TUK 2 kum TUK 2 ki MAR 1 tʰa MAR 1 si̤ MAR 1 æí: TIN 2 kɐ 2 kom TIN 1 ɐ SYA 1 ta TIN 3 po̤lo SYA 0 WTa 2 kɐ SYA 0 WTa 4 GGu 2 WTa 5 GGu 4 NEP 3 ɾʌgʌt GGu 0 NEP 3 dɪsa NEP 4 pɪsab
25. village 26. house 27. roof TUK 1 jṳl TUK 1 ti̤m TUK 1 pʰe̤pʰi MAR 1 jṳl MAR 1 tin MAR 1 pʰʲepʰa TIN 2 hi̤l TIN 1 di̤m TIN 2 pʰjo SYA 1,2 jɪl SYA 1 tɪm SYA 2 pʰjo WTa 4 WTa 1 ti̤m WTa 4 GGu 4 GGu 1 GGu 3 tʃʰana NEP 3 gaũ NEP 2 gʰʌɾ NEP 3 tʃʰana
28. door 29. firewood 30. broom TUK 2 mrakʰa TUK 1 ʃin TUK 1 pʰja MAR 1 mro MAR 1 ʃiŋ MAR 1 pʰja TIN 1 mro TIN 1 ʃɪn TIN 1 pʰja SYA 1 mro SYA 1 ʃɪn WTa 1 pʰja WTa 4 WTa 1 ʃiŋ GGu 2 GGu 1 GGu 1 ʃiŋ NEP 2 kuttʃo NEP 3 doka NEP 2 dauɾa
31. mortar 32. pestle 33. hammer TUK 1 la̤ŋ TUK 2 musʌl TUK 1 gʰʌn MAR 1 la̤ŋ MAR 1 toto MAR 1 gʰʌn TIN 1 la̤ŋ TIN 3 dɐʃɪn TIN 1 gʰʌn SYA 0 SYA 0 2 pʰwe WTa 3 WTa 5 SYA 3 nebiaɹ 21
GGu 3 GGu 4 WTa 1 gʰʌn NEP 2 kʰʌl NEP 4 lohoɾo GGu 0 NEP 1 gʰʌn
34. knife 35. axe 36. rope TUK 0 TUK 1 tʌ TUK 2 ʃinʈa MAR 0 MAR 1 tɐ MAR 1 tsʰɔ TIN 0 TIN 1 tɐ TIN 1 tsʰɔ SYA 4 gaɹtsa SYA 1 tɔ SYA 1 tsʰo WTa 2 WTa 3 WTa 4 GGu 3 GGu 1 tɐ GGu 0 NEP 1 kukuɾi NEP 2 bʌntʃʌɾo NEP 3 ɖoɾi
37. thread 38. needle 39. cloth TUK 1 hrup TUK 1 ɖo̤ TUK 1 kʌm MAR 1 ʃru MAR 1 ʈo MAR 1 kʌm TIN 1 hru TIN 2 gjogo TIN 1 kʌm SYA 1 ᶘu SYA 2 dzogo SYA 5 kʷən WTa 4 WTa 4 WTa 4 GGu 3 GGu 0 GGu 3 NEP 2 dʰago NEP 3 sɪjo NEP 2 kʌpʌra
40. ring 41. sun 42. moon TUK 1 tʃʰjɔw TUK 1 di̤ŋŋi TUK 1 ɬɔti̤ŋi MAR 1 tʃʰo MAR 1 tʰi̤ni MAR 1 ɬʌti̤ni TIN 1 tʃʰʲo TIN 1 di̤ni TIN 1 ɬɐdi̤ni SYA 1 dzʰo SYA 1 tɪni 2 ɐkolɐ WTa 3 WTa 1 di̤ni SYA 1 hlatɪni GGu 2 aũʈʰi GGu 1 tʰi̤ni WTa 4 NEP 2 aũʈʰi NEP 2 gʰam GGu 4 3 sʊɾja NEP 3 dʒun
43. sky 44. star 45. rain TUK 1 mu TUK 1 sɔr TUK 1 nʌm 22
MAR 1 mṳ MAR 1 sʌr MAR 1 nʌm TIN 1 mo̤ TIN 1 sʌr TIN 1 nʌm SYA 1 mo̤ SYA 1 sar SYA 1 nəm WTa 1 mu WTa 1 sɔr WTa 1 nʌm GGu 1 mu GGu 2 taɾa GGu 1 NEP 2 akaʃ NEP 2 taɾa NEP 2 pani
46. water 47. river 48. cloud TUK 1 kju TUK 1 kju TUK 1 mo̤ MAR 1 kju MAR 1 kʰjor(sm.river) MAR 1 mɔ̤ TIN 1 gju TIN 1 gju TIN 1 mo̤ SYA 4 dʒu SYA 4 omdzʲu SYA 1 mo̤ WTa 3 WTa 3 WTa 3 GGu 1 kju GGu 2 kʰola GGu 2 badʌl NEP 2 pani NEP 2 kʰola NEP 2 badʌl
49. lightning 50. rainbow 51. wind TUK 2 bitʃʌwli TUK 1 hɛrkʊn TUK 1 nʌmpʌr MAR 1 kʌmli MAR 1 hɛrkɛn 2 pʰɔmʌr TIN 1 kʌmʌli TIN 2 jokoŋ MAR 1 nʌmbʌr SYA 1 gamli SYA 1,2 jeɾgʰoŋ TIN 3 nɐmo WTa 3 WTa 4 SYA 3 nəmõ GGu 0 GGu 3 indɾeɲi WTa 6 NEP 2 bɪdʒuli NEP 3 indɾeɲi GGu 5 NEP 4 bʌtas
52. stone 53. path 54. sand TUK 1 jimpɔ TUK 1 kjʌm TUK 2 sʌpe MAR 1 jumbɐ MAR 1 kjʌm MAR 1 si TIN 1 jumɐ TIN 1 kjʌm TIN 2 sʌbe SYA 1 jum SYA 1 gʲəm SYA 2 sabʲe WTa 1 WTa 1 WTa 3 GGu 3 GGu 1 GGu 3 baluwa NEP 2 duŋga NEP 2 baʈo NEP 3 baluwa 23
55. fire 56. smoke 57. ash TUK 1 me TUK 1 miku TUK 1 meprɔ MAR 1 mʲe̤ MAR 1 migi MAR 1 miprɐ TIN 1 mi TIN 1 muki TIN 1 njɐprɐ SYA 1 mi SYA 1 mugʔi SYA 1 ɲebɾa WTa 1 me WTa 1 WTa 1 meprɔ GGu 1 mi GGu 1 miku GGu 1 NEP 2 ago NEP 2 dʰuwã NEP 2 kʰʌɾani
58. mud 59. dust 60. gold TUK 1 tʌle TUK 2 dʰulo TUK 1 mʌr MAR 1 tiljæ MAR 1 sʌprɐ MAR 1 mʌr TIN 1 teljɐ TIN 1 sʌprɐ TIN 1 mɐr SYA 1 tela SYA 2 dṳl SYA 1 mɐr WTa 2 hɪlo WTa 2 dʰulo WTa 1 mʌr GGu 2 hɪlo GGu 3 GGu 1 mʌr NEP 2 hɪlo NEP 2 dʰulo NEP 2 sun
61. tree 62. leaf 63. root TUK 1 ɖṳŋ TUK 1 ba̤ TUK 1 pri̤ MAR 1 ʈuŋ MAR 1 pɐ̤ MAR 1 pri̤ TIN 1 dʰuŋ TIN 1 bɐ̤ TIN 1 pri̤ SYA 1 duŋ SYA 1 ba̤ SYA 1 bʰɾi WTa 4 WTa 1 ba̤ WTa 3 GGu 3 GGu 3 GGu 2 dʒʌɾa NEP 2 ɾukʰ NEP 2 pat NEP 2 dʒʌɾa
64. thorn 65. flower 66. fruit TUK 1 putʃu TUK 1 me̤ndo TUK 1 pʰəlpʰʊl(N) MAR 1 putsu MAR 1 me̤nto MAR 1 pʰəlpʰʊl(N) TIN 1 putsu TIN 1 mi̤nto TIN 1 pʰəlpʰʊl(N) SYA 1 pudzu SYA 1 mɛndo SYA 0 WTa 1 WTa 1 me̤nto WTa 2 24
GGu 1 GGu 3 GGu 1 pʰəlpʰʊl(N) NEP 2 kãɖa NEP 2 pʰul NEP 1 pʰəlpʰʊl(N)
67. mango 68. banana 69. wheat TUK 0 TUK 1 kerʌ TUK 2 dʰo̤ MAR 0 MAR 0 3 kʌru TIN 0 TIN 0 MAR 1 ko SYA 0 SYA 0 TIN 1 go̤ WTa 2 WTa 2 SYA 1 ko GGu 1 ãp GGu 2 WTa 5 NEP 1 ãp NEP 1 kerʌ GGu 4 NEP 4 gʌhũ
70. millet 71. rice 72. potato TUK 1 raŋre TUK 1 mlʌ TUK 1 tʌja MAR 1 raŋtʰe MAR 1 mɬʰa MAR 1 tɐjɐ TIN 1 raŋte TIN 0 TIN 0 SYA 1 laŋde SYA 1 mla SYA 1 daja WTa 4 WTa 3 WTa 3 GGu 3 GGu 3 GGu 2 alu NEP 2 kodo NEP 2 tʃamʌl NEP 2 alu
73. eggplant 74. groundnut 75. chili TUK 0 TUK 0 TUK 1 kʰorɔŋ MAR 0 MAR 0 MAR 1 kʰoraŋ TIN 0 TIN 0 TIN 1 kʰoraŋ SYA 0 SYA 0 SYA 1 koraŋ WTa 0 WTa 0 WTa 2 koɾsani GGu 0 GGu 0 GGu 2 koɾsani NEP 1 bʰanʈʌ NEP 1 bʌdʌm NEP 2 koɾsani
76. turmeric 77. garlic 78. onion TUK 0 TUK 1 no̤ TUK 1 pjɔdʒ MAR 0 MAR 1 nɔ MAR 1 pjɐdʒ 25
TIN 0 TIN 1 nɔ̤ TIN 1 pjɐdʒ SYA 0 SYA 1 no̤ SYA 0 WTa 1 besaɾ WTa 1 no̤ WTa 1 GGu 1 besaɾ GGu 2 lʌsun GGu 1 pjɐdʒ NEP 1 besaɾ NEP 2 lʌsun NEP 1 pjɐdʒ
79. cauliflower 80. tomato 81. cabbage TUK 0 TUK 1 golperʌ TUK 0 MAR 0 MAR 0 MAR 0 TIN 0 TIN 0 TIN 0 SYA 0 SYA 0 SYA 0 WTa 1 kauli WTa 2 WTa 1 bʌndgobi GGu 2 GGu 1 golbʰera GGu 1 bʌndgobi NEP 1 kauli NEP 1 golbʰera NEP 1 bʌndgobi
82. oil 83. salt 84. meat TUK 1 tʃjuku TUK 1 tʃʌtʃʌ TUK 1 ʃʲʌ MAR 1 tʃʰugu MAR 1 tsɐtsɐ MAR 1 sjʌ TIN 1 tʃʰugu TIN 1 tsɐdzɐ TIN 1 ʃʲɐ SYA 1 tʃʰugu SYA 1 zaza SYA 1 ʃʲɐ WTa 1 WTa 1 WTa 1 sjʌ GGu 1 GGu 1 tsɐtsɐ GGu 1 sjʌ NEP 2 tel NEP 2 nun NEP 2 masu
85. fat 86. fish 87. chicken TUK 1 tʃʰi TUK 1 tʌrʌŋʌ TUK 1 nʌkɐ MAR 1 tʃʰi MAR 1 tʌrŋɐ MAR 1 nʌkɐ TIN 1 tʃʰi TIN 1 tʌrŋɐ TIN 1 nɐkɐ SYA 1 tʃʰi SYA 1 tʌrʌŋʌ SYA 1 nagaɾ WTa 1 tʃʰi WTa 1 tərŋə WTa 1 nɐkɐ GGu 1 tʃʰi GGu 1 GGu 1 nɐkɐ NEP 2 boso NEP 2 matʃa NEP 2 kukuɾa
26
88. egg 89. cow 90. buffalo TUK 1 pʰum TUK 1 mehmomo TUK 1 bʰaisi MAR 1 pʰum 2 lulu MAR 0 TIN 1 pʰum MAR 1 mⁱe TIN 2 maⁱ SYA 1 pʰum TIN 1 me̤ SYA 2 maⁱ WTa 1 pʰum SYA 1 mʲẽ WTa 4 GGu 1 WTa 1 me̤ GGu 3 NEP 2 pʰʊl GGu 4 NEP 1 bʰaĩsi NEP 3 gai
91. milk 92. horns 93. tail TUK 1 ŋje̤ TUK 1 ru TUK 1 me MAR 1 njṳ MAR 1 ru MAR 1 me TIN 1 nje̤ TIN 1 ru TIN 1 me SYA 1 nẽ SYA 1 ru SYA 1 me WTa 1 nje̤ WTa 1 ru WTa 1 GGu 1 GGu 1 GGu 2 NEP 2 dudʰ NEP 2 siŋ NEP 2 putʃtʃʰʌɾ
94. goat 95. dog 96. snake TUK 1 rʌ TUK 1 nəkju TUK 1 puʈi MAR 1 rʌ MAR 1 nʌkjṳ MAR 1 pṳki TIN 1 rʌ TIN 1 nʌkju TIN 1 puki SYA 1 rʌ SYA 1 nəkju SYA 1 puki WTa 1 WTa 1 WTa 2 GGu 1 GGu 1 nʌkjṳ GGu 1 NEP 2 bakʰɾa NEP 2 kukuɾ NEP 2 sʌɾp
97. monkey 98. mosquito 99. ant TUK 1 pɔ̤ŋtʌr TUK 1 lɔmkʰuʈʈe TUK 2 nʌʈok MAR 0 MAR 1 lɐmkʰuʈʈe MAR 1 nokʌr TIN 1 bɐndɐr TIN 0 TIN 1 noko SYA 0 SYA 0 SYA 1 nogo WTa 2 WTa 1 WTa 4 27
GGu 2 GGu 1 lɐmkʰuʈʈe GGu 0 NEP 1 bandʌr NEP 1 lɐmkʰuʈʈe NEP 3 kʌmɪlo
100. spider 101. name 102. man TUK 2 ti̤mbʰuluŋ TUK 1 min TUK 1 mi̤ MAR 1 tinhruŋbɐbʰuluŋ MAR 1 min 2 pjuŋ TIN 2 dʰi̤mbʰuluŋ TIN 1 min MAR 1 mi̤ SYA 0 SYA 1 min TIN 1 mi̤ WTa 5 WTa 1 min 2 pjuŋ GGu 4 GGu 1 SYA 1 mi̤ NEP 3 makuɾa NEP 2 nam WTa 5 NEP 3 (logne)mantʃʰe
103. woman 104. child 105. father TUK 1 mrin TUK 1 kolɔ TUK 1 ɐwɐ MAR 1 mrin MAR 1 kolɐ MAR 1 ɐwɐ TIN 1 mun TIN 1 kʌlɐ TIN 1 ɐwɐ SYA 5 muŋala SYA 4 tʃazeme SYA 1 a'a WTa 4 WTa 1 kolɐ WTa 4 GGu 3 GGu 3 GGu 3 NEP 2 aimai NEP 2 bʌtʃtʃʰa NEP 2 bau
106. mother 107. older brother 108. younger brother TUK 1 ɐmɐ TUK 1 ɐdʒu TUK 1 ɐle MAR 1 ɐmɐ MAR 1 ɐdʒu MAR 1 ɐle TIN 1 ɐmɐ TIN 1 ɐdʒo TIN 2 tʃʊn SYA 1 ɐmɐ SYA 4 pʰon 3 mʌju WTa 1 ɐmɐ WTa 1 ɐdʒo SYA 0 GGu 1 ɐmɐ 2 dadʒiu WTa 1 ɐle NEP 1 ɐmɐ GGu 3 GGu 4 NEP 2 dadʒiu NEP 4 bʰai
109. older sister 110. younger sister 111. son TUK 1 ɐnʌ TUK 1 pʰi̤dʒaŋ TUK 1 tʃʰɐ̤ 28
MAR 1 ɐnʌ MAR 1 mi̤ʒaŋ MAR 1 tʃʰɐ̤ TIN 1 ʌnɐ TIN 2 ʃrɪn TIN 1 dzɐ SYA 1 ɐnʌ SYA 0 SYA 1 tsɔ̤ WTa 1 WTa 4 WTa 1 dzɐ GGu 2 dɪdi GGu 3 bʌhɪni GGu 1 tʃʰɐ̤ NEP 2 dɪdi NEP 3 bʌhɪni NEP 2 tʃoɾa
112. daughter 113. husband 114. wife TUK 1 tsʰa̤me TUK 1 pʰa TUK 1 pʰe̤ MAR 1 tsʰʌme MAR 1 pʰa MAR 1 pʰe̤ TIN 1 dzʌme TIN 1 pʰa TIN 1 be̤ SYA 1 tseme SYA 1 pʰa SYA 1 pʰe̤ WTa 1 dzʌme WTa 1 pʰa WTa 3 GGu 1 tsʰʌme GGu 1 pʰa GGu 3 NEP 2 tʃʰoɾi NEP 2 logne NEP 2 swasni 3 pʌti 4 poi
115. boy 116. girl 117. day TUK 1 pjunkolʌ TUK 1 mrinkolʌ TUK 1 di̤n MAR 1 pjuŋkɔlɐ MAR 1 mrinkɔlɐ MAR 1 di̤ni TIN 1 pjuŋ TIN 1 mʊn TIN 1 dʰi̤n SYA 0 SYA 0 SYA 0 WTa 4 WTa 4 WTa 1 dɪn GGu 3 GGu 3 GGu 2 NEP 2 keʈa NEP 2 keʈi NEP 1 dɪn
118. night 119. morning 120. noon TUK 2 ŋo̤nɔ TUK 1 no̤ŋo TUK 1 di̤ŋi 3 ŋeʃe MAR 1 nuŋge TIN 1 dʰi̤ŋi MAR 1 mṳnse TIN 2 noŋon SYA 5 tɪnitegoɾ TIN 1,6 mṳn SYA 1 no̤ŋo WTa 4 SYA 1 mṳn WTa 5 GGu 3 NEP 4 ɾat NEP 3 bɪhanʌ NEP 2 diũso 29
121. evening 122. yesterday 123. today TUK 1 ŋjese TUK 1 tilʌ TUK 1 tiŋi MAR 1 njese MAR 1 tilʌ MAR 1 tiŋi TIN 1 ɲese TIN 1 tili TIN 1 tini SYA 1 nuse SYA 1 pʰili SYA 1 tɪni WTa 1 WTa 1 tilʌ WTa 1 tini GGu 1 ɲese GGu 1 GGu 1 tini NEP 2 beluka NEP 2 hɪdʒo NEP 2 adʒʌ
124. tomorrow TUK 1 namʌ MAR 1 nɐmɐ TIN 1 nɐmɐ SYA 1 nɐmɐ WTa 4 GGu 3
125. week 126. month 127. year TUK 1 hʌptɐ TUK 1 lʌ TUK 1 lo̤ 2 sʌtʌ 3 mahɪnʌ MAR 1 lo̤ MAR 1 hʌptɐ MAR 1 lʌ TIN 1 lo̤ TIN 3 sʌrkri TIN 1 hɬɐ SYA 1 lo̤ SYA 3 satkʰi 2 tilɐ WTa 2 bʌɾʃʌ WTa 4 SYA 0 GGu 2 bʌɾʃʌ GGu 1 hʌptɐ WTa 1 lʌ NEP 2 bʌɾʃʌ NEP 1 hʌptɐ GGu 3 NEP 3 mahɪna
128. old 129. new 130. good TUK 1 ŋimpʌ TUK 1 sʌmba TUK 1 gʰjo̤wʌ MAR 1 njimpʌ MAR 1 sʌmpʌ 2 sʌwʌ TIN 1 ɲima TIN 1 sʌmpɐ MAR 1 gʰji̤wʌ SYA 1 niŋba SYA 1 sʌmba TIN 2 sɐwɐ 30
WTa 3 WTa 3 SYA 2 sɐwɐ GGu 0 GGu 2 nʌjã WTa 5 NEP 2 puɾano NEP 2 nʌjã GGu 4 NEP 3 ʌsʌl
131. bad 132. wet 133. dry TUK 2 ɔs̃ʌwʌ TUK 2 po̤mdʒuwʌ TUK 1 kʰʌrdʒuwʌ MAR 1 ɐgʰji̤wʌ MAR 1 ʃu MAR 1 kʰʌruwʌ TIN 2 ɐsɐwɐ TIN 1 ʃu TIN 1 kʰʌr SYA 2 ɐsɐwɐ SYA 5 ʃuʒemo SYA 1 kʰʌr WTa 2 WTa 1 ʃu WTa 1 kʰʌr GGu 2 GGu 4 GGu 1 NEP 3 kʰʌɾab NEP 3 bʰɪdʒeko NEP 2 sukeko
134. long 135. short 136. hot TUK 1 ri̤mpɔ TUK 1 rimpʌ TUK 1 hɬʌp MAR 1 ruŋbʌ MAR 1 rumpʌ TIN 1 hɬo TIN 1 rṳmbɐ TIN 1 rumbɐ SYA 3 tsawa SYA 1 ɾumbaɾ SYA 1 rumbɐ WTa 1 WTa 1 WTa 4 GGu 2 tato GGu 1 GGu 3 NEP 2 tato NEP 2 lamo NEP 2 tʃoʈo
137. cold 138. right 139. left TUK 2 ʃim TUK 2 ki TUK 1 pʌ MAR 1 bʰla̤wʌ MAR 1 kʌndzo MAR 1 pɐ TIN 2 ʃim TIN 2 kijɐ TIN 1 pɐjɐ SYA 2 ʃimba SYA 2 kẽa SYA 3 baⁱa WTa 2 ʃim WTa 4 WTa 4 GGu 3 tʃɪso GGu 3 GGu 2 debre NEP 3 tʃɪso NEP 3 dahɪne NEP 2 debre 3 bajã 140. near 141. far 142. big TUK 1 resaŋ TUK 1 ʈoro TUK 1 ʈʰowɐ 31
MAR 1 resʌŋ MAR 1 ʈɐrɐ MAR 1 ʈʰowɐ TIN 1 redʒe 3 ʈɐɾɐ TIN 1 ʈʰewɐ SYA 1 ɾede TIN 2 tɐrumbɐ SYA 1 ʈʰowɐ WTa 4 SYA 2 tʰaɾuŋna WTa 4 GGu 3 WTa 3 GGu 3 NEP 2 nadʒɪk GGu 4 NEP 2 ʈʰulo NEP 3 ʈaɖʰa
143. small 144. heavy 145. light TUK 1 tʃjɔŋpɘ TUK 1 li̤wʌ TUK 1 jɔŋpʌ MAR 1 tʃʰɐŋpʌ MAR 1 ᶘi ̤wʌ MAR 1 jɐŋpʌ TIN 1 tʃʰɐŋbɐ TIN 1 liwʌ TIN 1 jɐŋbɐ SYA 4 dzeme SYA 1 liwʌ SYA 1 jɐŋbɐ WTa 3 WTa 1 WTa 1 jɔŋpʌ GGu 1 GGu 1 GGu 3 hʌluŋgo NEP 2 sano NEP 2 gʌɾuŋgo NEP 2 hʌluko 3 gʌhɾaũ 3 hʌluŋgo
146. above 147. below 148. white TUK 1 pʰiɾi TUK 1 wo̤ri TUK 1 tʌr 2 ka̤ɾi 3 ma̤ri MAR 1 tʌr 4 pʰiɾi MAR 1 wori TIN 1 tʌr MAR 1 pʰeɾʌŋ TIN 2 o̤jɐŋ SYA 1 daɾ TIN 1 pʰejɐŋ SYA 7 mona WTa 1 tʌr 2,6 kono WTa 6 GGu 1 tʌr SYA 6 nono GGu 5 NEP 2 seto WTa 5 NEP 4 tʌlʌ GGu 4 NEP 3 matʰi
149. black 150. red 151. one TUK 1 mlɐŋ TUK 1,3 olɐ TUK 1 ʈʰi̤ MAR 1 mlɐŋ MAR 1 wolʌ MAR 1 kʰi TIN 1 mlɐŋ TIN 1,3 olɐ TIN 4 gri 32
SYA 1 mlɐŋ SYA 1 wala SYA 5 gei̤ WTa 1 mlɐŋ WTa 1 WTa 1 GGu 1 GGu 3 GGu 3 NEP 2 kalo NEP 2 rato NEP 2 ek
152. two 153. three 154. four TUK 1 ŋi̤ TUK 1 som TUK 1 pli̤ MAR 1 nji MAR 1 som MAR 1 pʰli TIN 1 ɲi̤ TIN 1 som TIN 1 pli SYA 1 ni̤ SYA 1 som SYA 1 pli WTa 1 nji WTa 1 som WTa 1 GGu 1 GGu 1 GGu 1 pli NEP 2 dui NEP 2 tin NEP 2 tʃaɾ
155. five 156. six 157. seven TUK 1 ŋɐ̤ TUK 1 ʈṳ TUK 1 nigs MAR 1 ŋɐ MAR 1 ʈu MAR 1 ŋis TIN 1 ŋɐ TIN 1 ɖṳ TIN 1 ŋis SYA 1 ŋɐ SYA 1 tu SYA 1 niʃ WTa 1 ŋɐ WTa 1 ɖṳ WTa 1 GGu 1 ŋɐ GGu 0 GGu 0 NEP 2 pãtʃ NEP 2 tʃʰʌ NEP 2 sat
158. eight 159. nine 160. ten TUK 1 pre̤ TUK 1 ku TUK 1 tʃju MAR 1 pʰre MAR 1 ku MAR 1 tʃʰu TIN 1 pʰre TIN 1 ku TIN 1 tʃʰu SYA 1 pre̤ SYA 1 gu SYA 1 dzʲu WTa 1 WTa 1 ku WTa 3 GGu 0 GGu 0 GGu 0 NEP 2 aʈʰ NEP 2 nau NEP 2 dʌs
161. eleven 162. twelve 163. twenty TUK 2 tsʌʈʰi̤ TUK 1 tʃʰuŋŋi TUK 1 ŋi̤syu 33
MAR 1 tʃʰugi MAR 1 tʃʰuŋŋi MAR 1 ŋiʃu TIN 1 tsʰugri TIN 1 tsʰuŋŋi TIN 1 ŋiʃu SYA 1 sugəⁱ SYA 1 suŋni SYA 1 niʃu WTa 3 egʰaɾʌ WTa 2 bahɾʌ WTa 2 bis GGu 3 egʰaɾʌ GGu 2 bahɾʌ GGu 2 bis NEP 3 egʰaɾʌ NEP 2 bahɾʌ NEP 2 bis
164. hundred 165. who 166. what TUK 1 prʌ TUK 1 su TUK 1 tɐ MAR 1 prʌ MAR 1 su MAR 1 tɐ TIN 1 prɐ TIN 1 su TIN 1 tɐ SYA 1 pɾa̤ SYA 1 su SYA 1 taⁱme WTa 2 WTa 3 WTa 1 tɐ GGu 2 sʌi GGu 1 su GGu 1 tɐ NEP 2 sʌi NEP 2 ko NEP 2 ke
167. where 168. when 169. how many TUK 1 kʰʌtɔŋ TUK 1 kʰʌjɐŋ TUK 1 kʌte MAR 1 kʰɐ̃ MAR 1 kʰɐjɐŋ MAR 1 kʌte TIN 1 kʰɐ̃ TIN 1 kʰɐjɐŋ TIN 1 gʌte SYA 1 kaɹ SYA 1 kajaŋ SYA 1 kʰade WTa 3 WTa 3 WTa 1 GGu 3 GGu 3 GGu 1 NEP 2 kʌhã NEP 2 kʌhɪle NEP 1 kʌti
170. what kind 171. this 172. that TUK 2 kʌdʒuwu TUK 1 tʃu TUK 1 tsʰɐ MAR 1 kʌtekisim MAR 1 tʃu MAR 1 te TIN 2 kʰɐdʒugwi TIN 1 tsu TIN 1 tsɐ SYA 2 kʰadzuguwi SYA 1 zu SYA 1 tsɐ WTa 5 WTa 1 tsu WTa 3 GGu 4 GGu 1 tsu GGu 1 tsɐ NEP 3 kʌsto NEP 2 jo NEP 2 tjo
34
173. these 174. those 175. same TUK 1 tsutsʰɐ TUK 1 tsʌtsʰɐ TUK 0 tsʌtsiwʌ MAR 1 tsutʃɐ MAR 1 tetʃɐ MAR 0 tʃʰotʃʰorʌmu TIN 1 tsudɐ TIN 1 tsɐdɐ TIN 0 tʃʰugu SYA 3 tsiʔiʔme SYA 3 taʔiʔme SYA 0 kʰəiʒəm WTa 0 WTa 0 WTa 0 GGu 0 GGu 0 GGu 0 NEP 2 ji NEP 2 ti NEP 0 uhi
176. different 177. whole 178. broken TUK 0 fɐrʌk TUK 1 jowʌ TUK 1 tidʒi MAR 0 sodo MAR 1 jom MAR 1 tidʒi TIN 0 ɐgrimo TIN 1 jom TIN 1 tiʒe SYA 0 ɾaŋdoɾaŋdo SYA 4 adiʔiʔmo SYA 4 diʔiʔmo WTa 0 WTa 3 WTa 3 GGu 0 GGu 0 GGu 0 NEP 0 beglai NEP 2 puɾa NEP 2 bãtʃ:ɪjo
179. few 180. many 181. all TUK 2 tʃipi TUK 1 tɘnɘ TUK 1 jo̤m MAR 1 tipitʃi MAR 1 dʰʌnʌ̃ MAR 1 jom TIN 3 tʃe TIN 1 dʰʌnʌ̃ TIN 1 jom SYA 6 tʃaŋŋa SYA 1 dana SYA 1 jomdzom WTa 5 WTa 4 WTa 3 GGu 0 GGu 3 GGu 3 NEP 4 kehi NEP 2 dʰeɾai NEP 2 sʌbai
182. eat!; he ate 183. bite!; he bit
TUK 1 tʃʌwʌ; solwʌ TUK 1 tsi̤go; tsi̤dʒi
2 tsoè; tsʌdʒi MAR 0
MAR 2 tsɔ; tsʌdʒi TIN 2 kʰaⁱdo; kʰaⁱdze
TIN 2 tsʌwa; tsʌʒe SYA 1 dziwa
SYA 2 tsʌwa; tsʌʒe WTa 5
WTa 2 GGu 4 35
GGu 2 NEP 3 ʈokʌ; ʈokjo
NEP 3 kau; kajo
184. he is/was hungry 185. drink!; he drank
TUK 1 potʰɛndʒi TUK 1 tʰuŋo; tʰuŋdʒi
MAR 1 pokʰentʃi MAR 1 tʰuŋo; tʰuŋdʒi
TIN 1 pokʰʌmo TIN 1 tʰuŋo; tʰuŋdʒe
SYA 1 pʰokaŋdze SYA 1 tʰuŋba; tʰuŋdze
WTa 4 WTa 1
GGu 3 GGu 1
NEP 2 bʰoklagekotʃʌ NEP 2 pijʌ; pijo
186. he is; was thirsty 187. he sleeps; he slept
TUK 1 pʰidʒi; pʰidʒimo TUK 1 nṳla; nu
MAR 1 pʰjimu; pʰjime MAR 1 nula; nuwʌ
TIN 1 pʰjimu TIN 1 nuʒe; nuwa
SYA 1 pʰidze SYA 0
WTa 1 pʰidʒi; pʰidʒimo WTa 1 nṳwʌ; nṳɾ̃ʌlʌ
GGu 3 GGu 3
NEP 2 tɪɾkaekotɪjo NEP 2 sutjo; suttʃʰʌ
188. lie down!; he lay down 189. sit down; he sat down
TUK 0 TUK 1 ʈuwʌ; ʈṳ; ʈṳdʒi
MAR 0 MAR 1 ʈu; ʈudʒi
TIN 0 TIN 1 ʈu; ʈudʒe
SYA 2 nugo; nudze SYA 1 ɖu
WTa 0 WTa 3
GGu 0 GGu 3
NEP 1 pʌlʈʌ; pʌlʈjo NEP 2 bʌsʌ; bʌsjo
36
190. give!; he gave 191. it burns; it burned
TUK 1 pinno; pindʒi TUK 1 luŋpʌ; luŋdʒi; luŋ
MAR 1 pinu; pindʒi MAR 1 luŋdʒi; luŋ
TIN 1 pinu; pindʒe TIN 1 lumdʒe; lummo
SYA 1 pʰʲino; pʰʲindze SYA 0
WTa 1 WTa 1
GGu 1 GGu 3
NEP 2 deu; dɪjo NEP 2 bʌljo; bʌltʃʰʌ
192. he dies; he died 193. kill!; he killed
TUK 1 sidʒi; silekʌm TUK 1 seko; sedʒi
MAR 1 sidʒi; si MAR 1 seto; sedʒi
TIN 1 ʃiʒe; ʃiwʌ TIN 1 seto; seʒe
SYA 1 ʃito SYA 1 seɹto
WTa 1 WTa 1
GGu 1 GGu 1
NEP 2 mʌɾjo; mʌɾnetʃʌ NEP 2 maɾ; maɾjo
194. it flies; it flew 195. walk!; he walked
TUK 1 pjṳɾdʒi; pjṳɾlʌkʌm TUK 1 pɾa̤go; pra̤dʒi
MAR 2 pʰiɾtʃi; pʰiɾ MAR 1 pɾo; pɾʌdʒi
TIN 2 pʰiɾʒe; pʰiɾwa TIN 1 pɾo; pɾadʒe
SYA 2 pʲiɖro SYA 1 pɹa̤go
WTa 4 WTa 1
GGu 2 GGu 1
NEP 3 uɾjo; uɾnetʃʰʌ NEP 2 hɪɳɖʌ; hɪɳɖjo
196. run!; he ran 197. go!; he went
TUK 0 TUK 1 �̃ʌlʌ; sjelʌ
MAR 1 kjuko; kjutʃi 2 heɾo; hedʒi 37
TIN 2 da̤ŋpito; da̤ŋpiʒe MAR 2 jɛɾo; jɛdʒi
SYA 2 pəŋtido TIN 2 jɛɾo; jo̤dʒe
WTa 5 SYA 2 jʊɾo
GGu 4 WTa 1
NEP 3 dʌguɾʌ; dʌguɾjo GGu 1
NEP 3 dʒau; gʌjo
198. come!; he came 199. speak!; he spoke
TUK 1 kʰʌwʌ; tʃjo̤ŋpa TUK 1 tego; tedʒi
2 kʰo; kʰolʌ 5 kʌjtelʌ
MAR 2 kʰo; kʰʌdʒi MAR 1 teto; tedʒi
TIN 2 kʰo; kʰadʒe TIN 2 kʌibʰido; bʰidʒe
SYA 2 kʰo SYA 0
WTa 1 WTa 4
GGu 1 GGu 0
NEP 3 au; ajo NEP 3 bolʌ; boljo
200. he hears; he heard 201. he sees; he saw
TUK 1 tʰewʌ TUK 1 mɾaŋpʌ; mɾaŋdʒi
2 njɛno; njɛndʒi MAR 1 mɾaŋla; mɾaŋdʒi
MAR 1 tʰeto; tʰedʒi TIN 1 mɾaŋmo; mɾaŋdʒe
TIN 2 manjɛno SYA 4 ɳiogʰo
3 godʒe; go WTa 3
SYA 2 ɲaneno (listen) GGu 3
WTa 1 NEP 2 dekʰtʃʰʌ; dekʰjo
GGu 1
NEP 4 sunʌ; sunjo
202. I 203. you (sg. inform.) 204. you (sg. form.) TUK 1 ŋɐ TUK 1 kjɐ̤ TUK 1 njaŋ MAR 1 ŋɐ MAR 2 kʰi MAR 0 38
TIN 1 ŋɐ TIN 2 gʰi̤ TIN 0 SYA 1 ŋɔ SYA 2 gʰi̤ SYA 0 WTa 1 ŋɐ WTa 4 WTa 0 GGu 1 ŋɐ GGu 1 GGu 0 NEP 2 mʌ NEP 3 timi NEP 2 tʌpai
205. he 206. she 207. we (inc.) TUK 1 tʰe TUK 0 TUK 1 ŋja̤ŋ MAR 1 tʰe MAR 0 MAR 2 njitʃa TIN 1 tʰe TIN 0 TIN 1 njaŋdaga SYA 1 tʰe SYA 0 SYA 1 naŋjəm WTa 1 tʰe WTa 0 WTa 1 GGu 1 GGu 0 GGu 1 NEP 2 u NEP 0 NEP 3 hʌmihʌɾu
208. we (exc.) 209. you (2nd pl.) 210. they TUK 1 ŋi TUK 1 nʌmadʒa TUK 1 tʰʌmadʒa MAR 1 ŋi MAR 1 nʌmdʒa MAR 1 tʰʌmdʒa TIN 1 ŋi TIN 1 nʌmdaga TIN 2 nʌmdagʌ SYA 0 SYA 5 nəmjom SYA 1 tʰamdzagə WTa 1 WTa 4 WTa 4 GGu 1 ŋi GGu 3 GGu 3 NEP 2 hʌmi NEP 2 timihʌɾu NEP 0
211. not 212. person 213. bird TUK 1 a TUK 1 mi̤ TUK 1 nema MAR 1 a MAR 1 mi̤ MAR 1 nimjæ TIN 1 a TIN 1 mi̤ TIN 1 nemjæ SYA 0 SYA 0 SYA 0 WTa 1 a WTa 1 mi̤ WTa 1 GGu 1 a GGu 1 mi̤ GGu 1 NEP 2 nʌ NEP 2 mantʃʰe NEP 2 tʃʌɾa
39
214. louse 215. seed 216. bark TUK 1 ʂje TUK 0 TUK 1 pʰi MAR 1 sje MAR 0 MAR 1 pʰi TIN 1 ʃʲe TIN 0 TIN 1 pʰi SYA 0 SYA 0 SYA 0 WTa 1 WTa 0 WTa 3 GGu 1 GGu 0 GGu 1 pʰi NEP 2 dʒumɾa NEP 0 NEP 2 bokɾa
217. feather 218. knee 219. neck TUK 1 mṳⁱ TUK 1 pƏ̤lepuʈi TU 1 kʰa 2 tsʰʌm MAR 1 pa̤lepuki MAR 1 kʰa MAR 2 tsʰʌm TIN 1 pukja TIN 1 kʰaɾi TIN 2 tsʰʌm SYA 0 SYA 0 SYA 0 WTa 3 WTa 5 WTa 6 GGu 2 gʰũɖa GGu 4 GGu 5 NEP 2 gʰũɖa NEP 3 gʌɾdʰʌn NEP 3 butla 4 pwãkʰ
220. liver TUK 1 ŋje̤ MAR 1 nje TIN 1 nje SYA 0 WTa 3 GGu 2 kʌledʒo
Appendix B: Recorded Text Tests
B.1 Recorded Text Test procedures3
The extent to which speakers of related dialectal varieties understand one another can be studied by means of tape-recorded texts. Such studies investigate whether speakers of one variety understand a narrative text in another variety and are able to answer questions about the content of that text. The accuracy with which subjects answer these questions is taken as an index of their comprehension of that speech form. From the percentage of correct answers, the amount of intelligibility between speech forms is inferred. The recorded text testing used in this survey is based on the procedures described in Casad (1974) and Blair (1990). Short, personal-experience narratives are deemed to be most suitable for recorded text testing in that the content must be relatively unpredictable and the speech form should be natural. Folklore or other material thought to be widely known is avoided. A three- to five-minute story is recorded from a speaker of the regional vernacular, and then checked with a group of speakers from the same region to ensure that the spoken forms are truly representative of that area. The story is then transcribed and a set of comprehension questions is constructed based on various semantic domains covered in the text. Normally, a set of fifteen or more questions is initially prepared. Some of the questions will prove unsuitable—perhaps because the answer is not in focus in the text, or because the question is confusing to native speakers of the test variety. Unsuitable questions are then deleted from the preliminary set, leaving a minimum of ten final questions for each RTT. To ensure that measures of comprehension are based on the subjects’ understanding of the text itself and not on a misunderstanding of the test questions, these questions are always recorded in the regional variety of the test subjects. This requires an appropriate dialect version of the questions for each RTT for each test location. In this study, test subjects heard the complete story text once, after which the story was repeated with test questions and the opportunities for responses interspersed with necessary pauses in the recorded text. Appropriate and correct responses are directly extractable from the segment of speech immediately preceding the question, such that memory limitations exert a negligible effect and indirect inference based on the content is not required. Thus, the RTT aims to be a close reflection of a subject’s comprehension of the language itself, not of his or her memory, intelligence, or reasoning. The average or mean of the scores obtained subjects from one test location is taken as a numerical indicator of the intelligibility between speakers of the dialects represented. In order to ensure that the RTT is a fair test of the intelligibility of the test variety to speakers from the regions tested, the text is first tested with subjects from the region where the text was recorded. This initial testing is referred to as the hometown test. The hometown test serves to introduce subjects to the testing procedure in a context where intelligibility of the dialect is assumed to be complete since it is the native variety of test subjects. In addition, hometown testing ensures that native speakers of the text dialect could accurately answer the comprehension questions used to assess understanding of the text in non-native dialect areas. Once a text has been hometown tested with a minimum of ten subjects who have been able to correctly answer the selected comprehension questions, the test is considered validated. It is possible that a subject may be unable to answer the test questions correctly simply because he does not understand what is expected of him. This is especially true with unsophisticated subjects or those unacquainted with test-taking. Therefore, a very short pre-test story with four questions is recorded in the local variety before beginning the actual testing. The purpose of this pre-test is to teach the subject what is expected according to the RTT procedures. If the subject is able to answer the pre-test questions, it is assumed that he or she would serve as a suitable subject. Each subject then participates in the hometown test in his or her native variety before participating in RTTs in non-native varieties. Occasionally, even after the pre-test, a subject fails to perform adequately on an already validated hometown test. Performances of such subjects are eliminated from the final evaluation, the assumption
3 This description of lexical similarity counting procedures is partially adapted from that found in Appendix A of O’Leary (1992).
40 41 being that uncontrollable factors unrelated to the intelligibility of speech forms are skewing such test results. In this study, subjects performing at levels of less than 80 percent on their hometown test were eliminated from further testing. When speakers of one linguistic variety have had no previous contact with that represented by the recorded text, the test scores of ten subjects from the test point tend to be more similar—especially when the scores are in the higher ranges. Such consistent scores are often interpreted to be closer reflections of the inherent intelligibility between speech forms. Increasing the number of subjects should not significantly increase the range of variation of the scores. However, when some subjects have had significant previous contact with the speech form recorded on the RTT, while others have not, the scores usually vary considerably, reflecting the degree of learning that has gone on through contact. For this reason, it is important to include a measure of dispersion which reflects the extent to which the range of scores varies from the mean—the standard deviation. On a RTT with 100 possible points (that is 100 percent), standard deviations of 15 or more are considered high. If the standard deviation is relatively low, say 10 or below, and the mean score for subjects from the selected test point is high, the implication is that the community as a whole probably understands the test variety rather well simply because the variety in the RTT is inherently intelligible. If the standard deviation is low and the mean RTT score is also low, the implication is that the community as a whole understands the test variety rather poorly and that regular contact has not facilitated learning of the test variety to any significant extent. If the standard deviation is high, regardless of the mean score, one implication is that some subjects have learned to comprehend the test variety better than others. In this last case, inherent intelligibility between the related varieties seems to be mixed with acquired comprehension which results from learning through contact. Questionnaires administered at the time of testing can help researchers discover which factors are significant in promoting such contact. Travel to or extended stays in other dialect regions, intermarriage between dialect groups, or contacts with schoolmates from other dialect regions are examples of the types of contact that can occur. In contrast to experimentally controlled testing in a laboratory or classroom situation, the results of field administered methods such as the RTT cannot be completely isolated from potential biases. Recorded texts and test questions will vary in terms of their relative difficulty and complexity or in terms of the clarity of the recording. Comparisons of RTT results from different texts need to be made cautiously. It is therefore recommended that results from RTTs not be interpreted in terms of fixed numerical thresholds, but rather be evaluated in light of other indicators of intelligibility such as lexical similarity, dialect opinions, and reported patterns of contact and communication. In general, however, RTT mean scores of around 80 percent or higher with accompanying low standard deviations are usually taken to indicate that representatives of the test point dialect display adequate understanding of the variety represented by the recording. Conversely, RTT means below 60 percent are interpreted to indicate inadequate intelligibility. 42
B.2 RTT Results
For explanation of codes used for demographic information, see Appendix C.2.
Recorded Text Test results for Tukche RTT tested in Tukche (hometown test)
ID Sex Age Occ Ed Q01 Q02 Q03 Q04 Q05 Q06 Q07 Q08 Q09 Q10 Avg T01 F 20 pr 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 T02 F 49 hm 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 0 10 80 T03 M 60 ag 6 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 T04 M 51 pr 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 90 T05 M 74 ag 0 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 T06 M 59 ag 0 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 T07 M 75 pr 0 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 5 10 10 95 T08 F 66 hm 0 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 T09 F 64 hm 0 5 10 10 5 10 10 10 10 10 10 90 T10 F 18 pr 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 Average = 95.5; Sample size = 10; Standard Deviation = 6.85
Recorded Text Test results for Marpha RTT tested in Tukche
ID Q01 Q02 Q03 Q04 Q05 Q06 Q07 Q08 Q09 Q10 Avg T01 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 T02 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 T03 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 T04 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 T05 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 T06 10 0 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 90 T07 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 T08 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 90 T09 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 10 10 90 T10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 Average = 97.0; Sample size = 10; Standard Deviation = 4.83
Recorded Text Test results for Marpha RTT tested in Marpha (hometown test)
ID Sex Age Occ Ed Q01 Q02 Q03 Q04 Q05 Q06 Q07 Q08 Q09 Q10 Avg M001 M 49 mc 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 M041 M 52 mc 6 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 M043 M 50 ag 6 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 CH029 M 36 pr 15 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 M068 F 18 st 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 M069 F 40 hm 0 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 M071 F 50 ag 0 10 10 5 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 85 M035 F 45 ag 0 10 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 95 M034 M 43 ag 7 10 10 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 0 80 M014 F 18 ag 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 Average = 95.5; Sample size = 10; Standard Deviation = 7.62 43
Recorded Text Test results for Tukche RTT tested in Marpha
ID Q01 Q02 Q03 Q04 Q05 Q06 Q07 Q08 Q09 Q10 Avg M001 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 M041 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 M043 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 CH029 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 90 M068 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 0 10 0 80 M069 0 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 10 10 80 M071 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 90 M035 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 M034 0 10 10 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 80 M014 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 90 Average = 91.0; Sample Size = 10; Standard Deviation = 8.76
Recorded Text Test results for Tukche RTT tested in Thini
ID Sex Age Occ Ed Q01 Q02 Q03 Q04 Q05 Q06 Q07 Q08 Q09 Q10 Avg THI02 M 55 ag 0 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 THI03 M 50 ag 0 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 THI04 M 66 mc 0 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 90 THI05 M 34 pr 12 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 0 90 THI06 M 57 ag 0 10 10 10 5 10 10 10 10 10 10 95 THI07 M 42 pr 5 0 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 90 THI08 M 48 pr 10 0 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 10 10 80 THI09 M 35 pr 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 THI10 M 41 ag 4 0 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 90 THI11 F 20 mc 12 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 0 10 10 80 Average = 91.5; Sample Size = 10; Standard Deviation = 7.47
Recorded Text Test results for Marpha RTT tested in Thini
ID Q01 Q02 Q03 Q04 Q05 Q06 Q07 Q08 Q09 Q10 Avg THI02 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 THI04 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 THI05 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 THI06 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 THI07 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 THI08 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 0 90 THI09 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 THI10 10 10 10 0 10 5 10 10 10 10 85 THI11 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 100 Average = 97.2; Sample Size = 9; Standard Deviation = 5.65
44
B.3 Texts used in RTTs
Marpha “Marriage” text
TXTN unm 1 wtn pekimbe lejarm. gll marriage story frr This is a story about a marriage.
TXTN unm 2 wtn pekimbe lejarm. gll marriage story frr About a marriage.
TXTN unm 3 wtn ause ŋaraŋ pekinʌ biʒe. gll father.AG to.me to.marry told frr My father told me to marry.
TXTN Q14 wtn usko babule uslai ke bʰʌnjo? gll His father.AG to.him what told frr What did his father tell him to do? ans Told him to get married [pekina bizhe]
TXTN unm 4 wtn ŋa awa lejamʌn awa lejame sunedʒi ŋa pekimbe tajar tedʒi. gll I father this.story father thing heard I marriage ready happened frr I heard my father say this and I was ready to obey and get married.
TXTN unm 5 wtn tʃʰagana ŋa pokari mudʒi. gll at.that.time I Pokara was frr At that time l was in Pokara.
TXTN unm 6 wtn miŋgala lai pokari mudʒi. gll girl also Pokara was frr The girl also was in Pokara.
TXTN unm 7 wtn miŋgala tʃʰalen idʒe. gll girl to.look went frr I went to see the girl.
4 Transcription of all questions are of the Nepali used for elicitation. 45
TXTN unm 8 wtn ŋa sʌmkadʒe. gll I liked frr I liked her.
TXTN Q2 wtn uslai ketʰi kʌsto lagjo? gll to.him girl how he.liked frr How did he find the girl (how did he feel about her)? ans he liked her [sam kaje]
TXTN unm 9 wtn aŋa tʃʰʌm miŋgala rila tʰaŋʒe. gll I that girl to.negotiate I.sent frr I sent to negotiate marriage with her.
TXTN unm 10 wtn awse riʒe miŋgala pimbataʒi miŋgala pimtaʒi ŋiʒa pegimbe gll father.AG proposed girl to.give girl to.give we.all marriage
wtn tajar taʒi. gll ready were frr My father proposed to her, and she agreed, and we were all ready for the wedding.
TXTN unm 11 wtn pegimba tajar teʒi. gll wedding ready was frr The wedding was ready.
TXTN unm 12 wtn pegimbe mitʰiʒa tʃum tajar lʌʒi. gll marriage date also ready was frr The wedding date was also set.
TXTN unm 13 wtn tʃʌse kunto ŋiza kadʒa sudʒi kadʒa sudʒi ŋi ŋatapata tʃaɾʌ kadʒa gll before that we cards made cards made our relatives to cards
wtn pindʒi. gll gave frr Before that cards were made and sent to relatives.
TXTN unm 14 wtn pegimbe nine tʰinɲi lili miŋgala læʃijetʃemo. gll marriage day day.two before girl ran.away.with.another.boy frr Two days before the wedding the girl ran away with another boy.
TXTN Q3 wtn bilɪa hunubʰanda dui din agʰi tyo ketʰile ke gʌri? gll wedding was.from two day before that girl.AG what did 46
frr Two days before the wedding, what did that girl do? ans ran away (with another boy) [lashiyechemo]
TXTN unm 15 wtn tʃʰʌ miŋgala læʃijeʒi ŋeti tipitʃi sʌm nawa tʃoro tʌʒi ŋara. gll that girl ran.away to.me little heart mine hurt was to.me frr That girl ran away and I was a little hurt.
TXTN Q4 wtn ketʰi bagepʌʈfã ketalai kasto lagjo? gll girl ran.after boy.to how liked frr After the girl ran off, how did he (the boy) feel? ans a little hurt [tipichi] [sam nowa]
TXTN unm 16 wtn tʃʰiparise ɲi ŋatapata kadʒi ŋara sʌmtʌʒi. gll after.that our relatives came to.me consoled frr After that my relatives came and consoled me.
TXTN Q5 wtn usko natapatale uslai ke bʰʌne gll his relatives.AG to.him what said frr What did his relatives say to him? ans consoled him [sam tazhi]
TXTN unm 17 wtn sʌm nʌlato. gll heart do.not.worry frr Don’t worry.
TXTN unm 18 wtn sʌm nɔwa lajema tajarte gll heart not.mind thing nothing frr Don’t worry about any of this.
TXTN unm 19 wtn duka lʌʃi tujãr tʌ. gll anxiety nothing.will.happen frr It’s ok, nothing will happen.
TXTN unm 20 wtn miŋgalatʃa jaŋ ɲi ŋatapata suŋla tʃeʒi ŋaraŋ. gll girl.PL available our relatives said to.me frr Our relatives said to me that there are other girls.
TXTN unm 21 wtn sese awʌse sotoʌ miŋgala ki tʃatʃe. gll again father.AG another girl one looked frr Again, my father looked for another girl.
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TXTN unm 22 wtn tʃʰʌkana miŋgala ki undʒi ŋaraŋ tʃʌ miŋgala duligoɽa tʰuhimo gll at.that.time girl one found to.me that girl Duligoda was.live
wtn tʰʌmʒa indiase kʰʌtʃiwʌimo awa ama jɨmdʒʌm. gll they from.India had.come father mother all fr Then a girl was found for me who was living in Duligoda, from where father, mother, and everyone had come.
TXTN unm 23 wtn oudroŋ ɲaŋ man miʒʌm jimo tsõŋtsori tuhiʒimo diligoɽi. gll previously our Marpha people were now.there were.living Diligoda frr People who had come from Marpha were living there then.
TXTN unm 24 wtn tʃʌririʒi tʌjar ŋira piŋdʒi piŋdʒi ŋe pekimbe tʌʒi. gll there.proposed ready to.us gave gave we marriage was frr There we proposed for the girl, and they were ready to give her, and we were to be married.
TXTN unm 25 wtn pekimdʒi pekimbe kana ŋi dumdaŋse pekintʃi. gll wedding marriage time our pomp wedding.was.made frr At the wedding time the marriage was made with great pomp.
TXTN Q6 wtn biha kun prʌkarle gʌrjo gll wedding which kind.with was.done frr How was the wedding (done)? ans With much pomp [dumdangse]
TXTN unm 26 wtn pekintʃi kʰaʒe gʌgʌngauda kʰadʒiŋ niʒa. gll wedding after Gagangonda came we.all frr After the wedding, we all came to Gagangonda.
TXTN unm 27 wtn gʌgʌngonda kʰatʃi barsa ki tsʌri tuʒi. gll Gagangonda came year one there lived frr We came and lived there in Gagangonda for 1 year.
TXTN unm 28 wtn tsosi kundo ŋisʌrasʌr tʃɨri kʌtʃi. gll after.that directly here came frr After that we came directly here.
TXTN unm 29 wtn tʃɨri mari tʌlʌ kowa biase ŋaja dʒagir tʃuritʃʌm muʒe. gll here Marpha why came is my job here.EMP was frr We came here because my job was here.
48
TXTN unm 30 wtn ŋa tʃuri ɪskulri mæstʌr keloʌ. gll I here school master work frr I work here as the school master.
TXTN unm 31 wtn ŋa be̤ tʃuritʃʌm baʃi kʰʌdʒi. gll I wife here.EMP bringing came frr Bringing my wife I came here.
TXTN Q7 wtn usle kʌslai satma leajo? gll he.AG whom with.him bringing.came frr Who did he come bringing? ans wife [bhe]
TXTN unm 32 wtn baʃi kʰʌdʒi ondroŋ ŋa be̤ra tipitsi sʌmnowa tʃurodʒʌm tʌʒe. gll bringing came previously I wife.to little was.sorry like was frr When I first came here with my wife (she) was a little unhappy.
TXTN Q8 wtn usko swasnilai kʌsto lagjo? gll his wife.to how she.felt frr (At first) how did his wife feel? ans A little sad [tipichi] [samnowa]
TXTN unm 33 wtn lejʌ sʌma mʌŋʃi roatʃa araʃi sʌmnʌdʒi. gll town new saw friends did.not.have unhappy frr She had no friends to see in the new town and she was unhappy.
TXTN unm 34 wtn tʃipari tʃipari tuatuari kera bʰani taʒemo tibi kiʒi tʰerʌ gll after after living to.her habit was.formed little pleasant her.to
wtn ŋarʌ tʃʌm tibi kiʒi. gll to.me also little pleasant frr After a while, she got used to living here, and she and I were both much happier.
TXTN unm 35 wtn tuʌtuʌrʌ ŋin ŋirʌ barsa ku tʌʒe. gll living we two year nine was frr We two have lived (together) for nine years.
TXTN Q9 wtn uniliamko biha baeko kati barsa bʰa̤i̤o? gll their wedding was how.many year ago frr How many years has it been since their wedding? ans nine [ku]
49
TXTN unm 36 wtn dʒõ barsʌ kurʌ ŋa pre tʃaŋimu soto dʒa are. gll now year nine we with child.two others do. frr It’s now been nine years, and I have 2 children, no others.
TXTN Q10 wtn ahile, uniharu sangʌ ko tsʰa? gll now they with who is frr Now, who is with them? ans two children [tʃaŋi]
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Tukche Thakali “Tiger” text
TXT #1 ipa ŋa ɳenla dʒaito, mamedʒa. tʃu ŋai dʒindagɾi paɾidʒumwa goʈnai hi̤mo. gl I please listen relatives this my life.in happened incident is
ipa niʃu din omo. gl twenty years ago fr Now please listen relatives. This incident happened in my life 20 years ago.
TXT Q15 ipa jo kʌhile bʰʌeko kura ho? gl this when happening thing was fr When did this incident happen? ans 20 years ago [nyishu din omo]
TXT #2 ipa ŋa tʃu tukutʃʰeɾi ɪskulɾi mæstar ke lowa mudʒi. samisarbar tʃʰuʈi gl I this Tukche.in school master what work did Saturday holiday
ipa tʰowa gamdʒe karjaŋ kataŋ jowa, ŋa itʃa mudʒi tiɾa dʰina ni gl during that.time sometimes went used.to I wish did one day two
ipa ro̤ ŋi pre sala ladʒi. gl friends our with decide did fr I used to be the school master in Tukche. On our Saturday holiday, we sometimes used to go and do something. One day I decided on a plan with 2 friends.
TXT Q2 ipa unle kosʌŋga sʌllah gʌɾe? gl he.AG with.whom planned did fr With whom did he make a plan? ans (2) friends [nyi roh] NOTE: the number often had to be prompted—“friends” is the key answer.
TXT #3 ipa ʃikari kjanbari jawa bitʃar dʰi kowadʒe ʃikari kjaŋbari jawa gl hunt doing go thought I came hunt doing go
ipa salatadʒi. tʃʰaŋin ŋi ʃikari kjanbari jawa. gl we.decided that.day our hunt doing go fr The thought came that we should go hunting, so that day we went hunting.
TXT Q3 ipa tyo din uniharule ke gʌɾnʌ gʌje? gl that day they.AG what to.do went fr That day what did they go to do? ans to hunt [shikar kyangbari]
5 Transcription of all questions are of the Nepali used for elicitation. 51
TXT #4 ipa kʰja̤ kataŋ jawa pʰiba saladʒe nja tʃoŋoɾi jodʒu tʃoŋo nadʒik gl place where go saying decided our Chongo.to let.us.go Chongo near
ipa mu tʃoŋo tʃʰaŋɾi tsupaɾi bidʒam kʰaʃibuʒi goda̤ gl is Chongo Chang.to between.in many have.come narrow.place
ipa kʰaʃibuʒi pʰiwa towadʒe ŋi sum salalasi. gl have.come goat saying our three deciding fr We decided to go to the place called Chongo Chang. There is a narrow place there where many goats used to come.
TXT Q4 ipa tyo ʈʰaũma ke aũtʰjo? gl that place.to what used.to.come fr What used to come to that place? ans Mt. goat [pho] or [gHoDal]
TXT #5 ipa tsaɾi jowa saladʒe ŋi tsoɾi jazi. tsa kaŋdʒe ŋi sum pɾe gl there go decide we there went what time we three with.us
ipa pasɾi mebra̤ dʰiaŋse̤ areʒi̤ gl gun one only wasn’t fr We decided to go, and went. At that time we didn’t have but one gun with us.
TXT Q5 ipa tinihʌɾu tin dʒʌna sʌŋga euʈa matɾʌ ke tʰijo? gl they three people with one only what was fr The three of them had only one what? ans gun [mebra] or [bhanduk]
TXT #6 ipa tsa mebra ̤ pʰorsi ŋi tʰa tsa ŋin tsuwa lowa bisi ʃikari kjaŋbari gl that gun carrying we now that time fun work make hunt doing
ipa kjaŋbari jawa. gl doing go fr Carrying the gun we went off to have some fun hunting. NOTE: on second playing cut from here!!
TXT #7 ipa sala anusar ŋi tsoŋa aŋse jadʒi. gl decide according.to we Chongo towards went fr According to our plan we went towards Chongo.
TXT #8 ipa jama jama tsoŋa tʃaŋ pʰiri toktʃi. tsa tʃoŋo tʃaŋɾi gl going going Chong Chang up reach that Chong Chang
52
ipa katʃuwa gija dʰi ̤ mu biʒi bijaŋ. gl what.kind.of place one is saying while fr Going and going up we reached Chongo Chang. I’ll tell you what kind a place it is.
TXT #9 ipa pʰo jowa gja gora dʰi̤ firi are. tʃa towadʒe tsa goraɾi gl goat go place path one other wasn’t that saying that path.in
ipa hɾuŋ pari yowa ŋa. sotowa ro̤wa ŋi tʃe ka madʒe kʰoro gl to.look at went I other friends two from below above
ipa dʰe̤wa bʰi̤wa sala aniɪsar. gl drive will decide according.to fr There was only one place for a goat to go. That is why I went to find that path. My other two friends would drive (them) up from below, according to our plan. NOTE: on second playing, cut to end of this section.
TXT #10 ipa ŋa mebɾa dʰi̤ tʃʰuʃi ni tʃoŋo tʃaŋ aŋse jadʒi. jawa jawaɾi gl I gun one holding by Chong Chang towards went go going.while
ipa kʰjam kuŋɾi tokpadʒe tsaɾi duŋ dʰi̤te kalʈa dʰi̤ paɾiwa jimo. gl came middle.in reaching.when there tree one hole one there were
ipa tsa kja tʃʰʊwa tsa kalʈaɾi ʃudʰi̤ duŋ dʰi̤ muwajuŋo. gl that place EMPH that hole.in pine tree one was fr While going up, I reached a place in the middle where there was a tree in a hole. At that place, in the hole there was a pine tree.
TXT Q6 ipa kʰalʈoma keko rukʰ tʰijo? gl hole.in what tree was fr What kind of tree was in the hole? ans pine [shuthi] or [dhupi]
TXT #11 ipa tsa duŋ tsʰoɾi tʰapɾaŋ ŋisum tsokateʒurn kai teʒe. gl that tree on.top crow few too.much crowing were fr On the top of that tree were 2–3 crows that were crowing too much.
TXT Q7 ipa tjo rukʰma ke tʰijo? gl that tree.on what was fr What was on that tree? ans crows [nyi-sum taprang] (number can be omitted).
TXT #12 ipa tsa ŋa samɾi taloɾe ho̤le kai tewa hi̤me mandʒe. gl what I mind.in why so.much crowing were came.into mind fr I wondered to myself why they were making so much noise.
53
TXT #13 ipa tsa kaŋɾi mebre jaɾi tsamu. tapɾaŋɾi ŋjuʃi tʰudʒe ŋa tsodʒe dʒati gl that time.in gun hand.in was crow.to see sat I so much
ipa bidi kai tewa towadʒe samri saŋka dʰi̤ta kadʒe mudʒi. gl very crowing were saying mind.in doubt one came did fr The gun was in my hand then, and seeing the crow crowing so much, I sit there and a doubt came to mind.
TXT #14 ipa ta hi̤me biʃi ŋa tʃipi kʰoro jowadʒe tsa tʰik gl what came.into saying I little above going.while that right
ipa tapraŋe lise. gl crow.of behind fr What I’m saying is that I went a little above to right behind the crows.
TXT #15 ipa doŋ tʰiɾi ka jakʃon ʈʰowa dʰi tʃeŋsomtʃe seisiwa tʃemo. gl hole one.in male.yak large one tiger.three.AG killed had fr In a hole were three tigers who had killed a yak.
TXT Q8 ipa tinoʈa bagʰ rʌ yak kʌhã tʰie? gl three tiger and yak where were fr Where were the 3 tigers and the yak? ans in the hole (pit) [dhong] or [khalto]
TXT #16 ipa tsʰʊwi lamota tsa totori ŋaʒe tʃen dʰi̤ aŋse mɾaŋsi. tsa gl while thinking that time.in me.to tiger one only had.not.seen that
ipa towadʒe dʒaba tʃen tam mɾaŋla ŋadʒe te ɾi nʲowa tedʒe ŋaɾi gl saying when tiger what saw I.AG it too saw it to.me
ipa njowa te nindʒuwa ŋai nindʒuwa. gl saw it afraid I.also afraid fr I had only seen one tiger at that time, I hadn’t seen any others. So, when I saw the tiger, and it saw me, we were both afraid.
TXT Q9 ipa unle bagʰlai rʌ bagʰle unlai dekʰepʌtʃʰi ke bbʌjo? gl he.ag tiger.to and tiger.ag him.to after.seeing what happened fr What happened when he and the tiger saw each other? ans They were afraid. [ninjuwa] [darayo]
TXT #17 ipa tse ŋa naŋse laʃi sartuʒi. tʃe tʃena ŋa ro aŋse gl and I slowly doing ground.on.sat than I friends towards
ipa laʃe kadʒi. tsa ro̤wa ŋiɾi salalaʒi ta tʃʰotʃʰo jadʒo nja. gl running came that friends two.with decided what ok.ok let.us.go we
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ipa tsaɾi tʃen mumo nja sum jaʃi tʃa tʃenɾi sedʒo. gl there tiger is we three going that tiger to.kill fr I slowly sat on the ground. Then I ran away to my friends. We talked about what to do and decided to go to where the tiger was. We went to where the tiger was to kill it.
TXT Q10 ipa tjʌspʌtʃʰi ti tindʒʌna ke gʌɾnʌ gʌe? gl after.that they three.people that to.do went fr After that what did the three of them go to do? ans To kill the tiger [chenri seyo] or [baghlai martsa]
NOTE: The story continues, but this is the end of the part to which the questions relate. The story can be cut here both times.
Appendix C: Sentence Repetition Test
C.1 Sentence repetition test procedures6
A sentence repetition test is based on the premise that people’s ability to repeat sentences in a second language is limited by the level of their mastery of the morphology and syntax of that second language. The greater proficiency they have in that language, the better able they are to repeat sentences of increasing length and complexity. A sentence repetition test is developed separately for each language to be tested. Detailed procedures for developing and calibrating a sentence repetition test are presented in Radloff (1991). The sentences selected are calibrated against an evaluative instrument called the Reported Proficiency Evaluation (RPE), where mother tongue rater are provided with a detailed framework of proficiency descriptions against which to evaluate the proficiency of their second language speaking acquaintances.7 The half-levels of the RPE describe increasing levels of proficiency in a second language, as elaborated in table C.1.
Table C.1 Brief descriptions of RPE levels
RPE proficiency level Brief description 0+ Very minimal proficiency 1 Minimal, limited proficiency 1+ Limited, basic proficiency 2 Adequate, basic proficiency 2+ Good, basic proficiency 3 Good, general proficiency 3+ Very good, general proficiency 4 Excellent proficiency 4+ Approaching native speaker proficiency
A sentence repetition test provides a rapid assessment of a person’s second language proficiency, suited to the purposes of a bilingualism survey. It is often the goal of a bilingualism survey to obtain a profile of the second language proficiencies in the community under investigation, that is, a picture of what percentage of the population can be projected to be at each of the different levels of proficiency. In order to do this, a large and representative sample of the population must be tested. This speaks to the need for an assessment instrument that is quick and easy to administer. The short administration time, however, is offset by careful attention to the development and calibration of a sentence repetition test. The SRT provides a general assessment, thus, the researcher must be able to place full confidence in the results through strict attention to the quality of each developmental step. A complete step-by-step methodology for developing and calibrating a sentence repetition test is given in Radloff (1991). The development and calibration of a sentence repetition test proceeds through several steps: A preliminary form of the test is developed through the assistance of mother tongue speakers of the test language. A large group of second language speakers of the test language have their proficiency assessed through a second, more descriptive proficiency standard instrument, in this case the Reported Proficiency Evaluation. These people are then administered the preliminary form of the test. Based on their performances, fifteen sentences are selected, which prove to be the most discriminating of performance and also represent increasing complexity and length. These fifteen sentences are calibrated
6 The description of procedures for sentence repetition testing is quoted from Appendix A of O’Leary (1992), and is used by permission. 7 RPE levels as assigned by mother-tongue raters show an internal consistency, but have not yet been correlated with any other, more widely recognized, scale of second language proficiency. The rationale and methodology for the Reported Proficiency Evaluation is also included in Radloff (1991).
55 56 against the proficiency assessments from the RPE. This fifteen-sentence final form of the test is used in the bilingualism survey, and the resulting test scores are interpreted in terms of equivalent RPE proficiency levels. The Nepali SRT was developed by Bryan Varenkamp (1991).8 The ranges of Nepali SRT scores corresponding to RPE levels are presented in table C.2.
Table C.2 Nepali SRT scores and predicted RPE levels
Nepali SRT Score Predicted RPE Level 0–4 0+ 5–8 1 9–14 1+ 15–20 2 21–27 2+ 28–33 3 34–39 3+ 40–45 4 and above
Preliminary Nepali SRT scores used for calibration with the RPE levels indicated that the Nepali SRT does not differentiate between RPE levels 4 and 4+. Therefore the highest level results are interpreted as RPE level 4 and above.
8 Varenkamp, Bryan. 1991. A report on the development of the Nepali SRT. Unpublished manuscript. 57
C.2 Nepali SRT results for Thakali villages
Key to abbreviations used
ID# Identification number: unique for each subject. Numbers beginning with M are for Marpha subjects, with C for Chimang subjects, and with CH for Chhairo subjects. Sex Sex: M = male, F = female Age Age: in years Ed Education: years of formal education Occ Occupation: ag=agricultural, hm=home, st=student, mc=mercantile jobs of various kinds, pr=professional jobs, lb=laborer, cs=caste trades of various kinds. Poc Previous occupation: same codes as for occupation Residence Place of current residence KTM=Kathmandu), POK=Pokhara Prevres Previous residence: if listed, location of any previous residence longer than 6 months Mar Married: Y = yes, N = no Spvil Spouse village, if married: If not married, mother’s village. Ed-Ch Educated child: Y=yes, if subject has a child educated beyond 5th class; N=no L-Out Lived outside local area: Y=yes if subject lived outside local area for longer than 6 months; N=no if subject hasn’t lived outside longer than 6 months T-Out Time outside local area: H=high, >6 months/yr or >5 years total; M= 3–5 months/year or 2–5 years total; L= 1–2 months/year, occasional, or <2 years total; 0= no or little travel outside; X= unknown Clan Clan: name of subject’s clan L1 First language: subject’s first language learned, generally the language spoken to the child by the parents in the home. T=Thakali, N=Nepali, B=both Nepali and a local language, O=some other language Lit Literate: Y=yes if subject can read and write, N=No Rad Radio: Y=yes if there currently is a radio in the home; N=no SRT SRT taken: Y= yes, test taken; N= no, test not taken NSRT SRT raw score: Nepali SRT score out of 45 possible points RPE9 RPE Level: Predicted equivalent RPE (Reported Efficiency Evaluation) level based on SRT score.
SRT results
Sex Age Ed Occ Poc Residence Prevres Mar Spvil Ed-Ch M 49 10 mc ag Marpha . Y . Y F 50 0 mc ag Marpha . Y . Y F 17 10 st st Marpha . N . . M 51 0 ag . Marpha . Y . Y M 55 0 ag . Marpha . Y . Y M 37 0 ag . Marpha . Y . .
9 RPE levels as assigned by mother-tongue raters show an internal consistency, but have not yet been correlated with any other, more widely recognized, scale of second language proficiency. The rationale and methodology for the Reported Proficiency Evaluation is also included in Radloff (1991). 58
Sex Age Ed Occ Poc Residence Prevres Mar Spvil Ed-Ch M 36 14 pr st Marpha Kaski Y India N M 52 7 ag . Marpha . Y . Y M 20 12 st . Kathmandu Marpha N . N F 20 10 AG . Marpha . N . N F 78 0 AG . Marpha . Y . Y M 23 12 PR . Marpha . N . N M 39 8 AG . Marpha . Y . Y M 30 10 PR . Marpha . Y . N M 38 13 PR . Marpha KTM\POK Y Dang Y M 16 7 ST ST Marpha . N . N M 46 0 AG . Marpha . Y . Y M 21 12 PR . Marpha . N . N M 69 0 AG . Marpha . Y . Y M 35 12 AG . Marpha KTM Y . N M 71 0 AG MC Marpha Damauli Y . Y M 43 7 AG . Marpha POK Y . Y . 45 0 AG . Marpha . Y . . M 55 0 AG . Marpha . N . . M 77 0 AG . Marpha POK Y . . F 25 10 HM . Marpha . Y . . M 41 10 MC PR Marpha . Y . . F 33 0 HM . Marpha . Y . . M 50 6 AG . Marpha . Y . Y M 48 6 AG . Marpha . Y . Y F 29 0 AG . Marpha . Y . N F 28 5 AG . Marpha Chimang Y Chiman N M 46 10 AG . Marpha . Y . Y F 40 0 AG . Marpha . Y . Y F 17 9 HM . Marpha . N . . F 22 7 HM . Marpha . Y . . M 46 8 AG . Marpha . Y . Y M 78 0 MC . Marpha . Y . Y F 15 6 HM . Marpha Tukche N . . . 18 10 ST . Marpha . N . . F 40 0 HM . Marpha . Y . . M 38 0 AG . Chhairo . Y Parbat F 28 6 HM . Chhairo Parbat Y . . M 59 0 AG . Chhairo . Y Thini Y F 22 0 HM . Chhairo . N . . F 16 6 HM . Chhairo . N . . F 19 2 HM . Chhairo . N . . M 19 7 AG . Chhairo . N . N M 25 5 AG . Chhairo . N . N M 24 8 AG . Chhairo . N . N 59
Sex Age Ed Occ Poc Residence Prevres Mar Spvil Ed-Ch M 31 3 AG . Chhairo Myagdi Y . . M 21 9 AG . Chhairo . Y . N F 28 0 AG . Chhairo Kagbeni Y . N M 19 10 AG . Chhairo Syangja N . N M 56 0 AG . Chhairo Syangja Y . . F 49 0 AG . Chhairo Syangja Y . . F 27 5 HM . Chimang . N . . F 15 7 AG . Chimang . N . . F 17 6 HM . Chimang . N . . F 57 0 AG . Chhairo . Y . Y M 17 4 AG . Chhairo Tukche N . . M 54 0 AG . Chhairo . Y Tukche Y M 31 3 AG . Chhairo . Y Kagbeni M 36 5 AG . Chimang . Y Syang . F 36 5 AG . Chimang Pokhara Y . . F 36 5 AG . Chimang Pokhara Y . . F 52 0 AG . Outside Syangja Y . . M 36 15 PR . Chimang . Y Thini . M 54 0 AG . Chimang . Y . Y M 65 0 AG . Chimang . Y Jomsom F 41 0 AG . Chimang . Y . Y M 52 3 AG PR Chimang . Y . Y F 18 10 AG PR Chimang . N . M 54 2 AG . Chimang . Y . N M 53 0 AG . Chimang . Y Thini M 38 0 AG . Chimang . Y Thini F 45 0 AG . Chimang Marpha Y . Y F 60 0 AG . Chimang . N . Y M 24 10 AG . Chimang . N . N F 18 . AG . Chimang . N . N F 50 0 AG . Chimang . Y . . F 15 5 AG . Chimang . N . N M 45 4 AG . Chimang . Y . N F 50 0 AG . Chimang . Y . . F 14 8 ST . Marpha . N . . F 27 9 HM ST Marpha India Y . N F 50 0 AG . Marpha . Y . N F 17 9 ST . Marpha . N . N M 25 10 AG . Marpha . N . N F 35 8 AG . Marpha . Y . N F 27 10 PR . Marpha Dang Y . N F 40 0 AG . Marpha . Y . N M 84 0 AG . Marpha . Y . N F 36 3 AG . Marpha . Y . N 60
Sex Age Ed Occ Poc Residence Prevres Mar Spvil Ed-Ch F 71 0 AG MC Marpha . Y . Y M 18 10 MC ST Jomsom Marpha+KM N . . M 14 5 ST . Marpha . N . . F 52 0 AG . Marpha . Y . . M 18 9 ST . Marpha . N . . F 49 0 AG . Marpha . Y . . F 16 8 ST . Marpha . N . . M 36 0 TR . Marpha . Y . . . 83 0 AG . Marpha . Y . . F 50 0 HM . Marpha . Y . . M 45 4 AG . Marpha . Y . . M 26 12 PR . Marpha . Y . . F 44 6 HM . Marpha . Y . . F 68 0 AG . Marpha . Y . . F 79 0 MC . Marpha . Y . Y F 32 0 HM . Marpha . N . . M 30 7 AG . Marpha . Y . . F 52 0 AG . Chhairo . Y . Y F 22 0 AG . Chhairo . . . N F 29 3 AG . Chhairo . Y . . F 50 0 AG . Chimang . Y . Y F 65 0 AG . Outside . Y . M 42 0 AG . Chimang . Y Gorkha. M 19 5 . . Outside . N . . F 51 0 AG . Chimang . Y . . F 58 0 AG . Chimang . N . . F 19 5 AG . Chimang . N . . F 16 6 AG . Chimang . N . . M 60 0 AG . Chimang . Y Thini . F 63 0 AG . Chimang . Y . . M 42 3 AG . Chimang . Y Kaski . M 42 3 AG . Chimang . Y Kaski . F 26 8 AG . Chimang Kaski Y . . F 51 0 AG . Chimang Thini Y . . M 21 . AG . Chimang . N . N F 17 6 AG . Chimang . N . .
ID# L-Out T-Out Clan L1 Lit Rad Date SRT NSRT RPE M001 N H Lalchan T Y Y 30/07/93 Y 26 3 M002 . H Lalchan T N Y 30/07/93 Y 19 2 M003 Y H Lalchan B Y Y 30/07/93 Y 41 4 M005 Y H Juharchan T Y Y 30/07/93 Y 21 2+ M006 Y H Hirachan T N Y 30/07/93 Y 14 2 61
ID# L-Out T-Out Clan L1 Lit Rad Date SRT NSRT RPE M007 N 0 . T Y Y 30/07/93 Y 18 2 M008 Y M Lalchan T Y Y 31/07/93 Y 33 3+ M010 Y L Juharchan T Y Y 31/07/93 Y 29 3 M013 Y H Hirachann N Y Y 31/07/93 Y 43 4 M014 Y H Hirachann N Y Y 31/07/93 Y 32 3+ M015 Y H Hirachann T N Y 31/07/93 Y 11 1+ M017 Y X Bistachan T Y Y 1/8/1993 Y 43 4 M018 Y H Lalchanan T Y Y 1/8/1993 Y 33 3+ M020 Y X Hirachann T Y Y 1/8/1993 Y 41 4 M022 Y H Hirachann T Y Y 1/8/1993 Y 44 4+ M024 N 0 Juharchan T Y Y 1/8/1993 Y 24 2+ M025 Y X Hirachann N N N 1/8/1993 Y 20 2+ M027 Y X Lalchannn T Y Y 1/8/1993 Y 33 3+ M028 Y X Hirachann T N Y 1/8/1993 Y 6 1 M029 Y H Lalchannn T Y Y 1/8/1993 Y 44 4+ M032 Y H Hirachann T N Y 1/8/1993 Y 22 2+ M034 Y H Lalchannn T Y Y 1/8/1993 Y 28 3 M035 Y H Lalchannn T N Y 1/8/1993 Y 31 3 M038 Y X Hirachann T N N 1/8/1993 Y 9 1+ M039 Y H Hirachann T N Y 1/8/1993 Y 9 1+ M040 Y H Hirachann T Y Y 1/8/1993 Y 39 4 M041 Y M Hirachann T Y Y 1/8/1993 Y 25 2+ M042 N 0 Hirachann T N Y 1/8/1993 Y 25 2+ M043 Y M Pannachan T Y N 2/8/1993 Y 32 3+ M046 Y M Hirachann T Y N 2/8/1993 Y 38 4 M049 Y H Thakali T N Y 2/8/1993 Y 19 2 M051 Y X Thakali T Y Y 2/8/1993 Y 24 2+ M053 Y M Hirachan T Y Y 2/8/1993 Y 43 4 M056 Y M Lalchann T N Y 2/8/1993 Y 23 2+ M058 Y M Lalchann N Y Y 2/8/1993 Y 38 4 M059 Y L Juharchan T Y Y 2/8/1993 Y 31 3 M061 N 0 Lalchanan T Y Y 2/8/1993 Y 27 3 M064 Y X Hirachan T Y Y 2/8/1993 Y 30 3 M067 N 0 Hirachan N Y Y 2/8/1993 Y 39 4 M068 Y X Hirachan B Y Y 2/8/1993 Y 42 4 M069 N X Lalchann T N Y 2/8/1993 Y 26 3 C01 Y M Sherchan T Y Y 2/8/1993 Y 16 2 C02 Y H Sherchan N Y . 2/8/1993 Y 34 3+ C03 Y M Sherchan T Y N 2/8/1993 Y 9 1+ C05 . 0 Thakalin T Y Y 2/8/1993 Y 15 2 C06 Y L Sherchan N Y Y 2/8/1993 Y 30 3 C07 Y M Thakali T Y Y 2/8/1993 Y 14 2 C08 N 0 Thakali N Y Y 2/8/1993 Y 38 4 C09 Y M Thakali T Y N 2/8/1993 Y 31 3 62
ID# L-Out T-Out Clan L1 Lit Rad Date SRT NSRT RPE C010 Y 0 Thakali T Y N 2/8/1993 Y 35 3+ C012 Y H Thakali T Y Y 2/8/1993 Y 31 3 C014 Y 1 Thakali N N N 2/8/1993 Y 33 3+ C015 . 0 Thakali O N Y 2/8/1993 Y 14 2 C016 Y H Thakali N Y Y 2/8/1993 Y 31 3 C017 Y H Thakali T Y Y 2/8/1993 Y 21 2+ C018 Y H Thakali T N Y 2/8/1993 Y 23 2+ CH019 Y L Thakali B Y N 2/8/1993 Y 21 2+ CH020 Y L Thakali B Y N 2/8/1993 Y 27 3 CH021 Y L Thakali T Y N 2/8/1993 Y 25 2+ C022 N 0 Thakali T N Y 2/8/1993 Y 14 2 C023 N 0 . N Y Y 2/8/1993 Y 33 3+ C024 Y L . T Y Y 2/8/1993 Y 22 2+ C025 Y X . O Y Y 2/8/1993 Y 28 3 CH026 Y L . T Y Y 3/8/1993 Y 38 4 CH027 Y H . N Y Y 3/8/1993 Y 35 3+ CH027 Y H . N Y Y 3/8/1993 Y 35 3+ CH028 Y H . T Y Y 3/8/1993 Y 20 2+ CH029 Y X . T Y Y 3/8/1993 Y 40 4 CH030 N 0 . T N Y 3/8/1993 Y 19 2 CH032 Y H . T Y N 3/8/1993 Y 17 2 CH036 N 0 . T N Y 3/8/1993 Y 31 3 CH037 Y M. . T Y Y 3/8/1993 Y 33 3+ CH038 N 0 . T Y Y 3/8/1993 Y 38 4 CH039 N 0 . T Y N 3/8/1993 Y 9 1+ CH041 . X . T Y N 3/8/1993 Y 18 2 CH043 N 0 . T N N 3/8/1993 Y 20 2+ CH050 N 0 . T N N 3/8/1993 Y 27 3 CH051 N 0 . T N N 3/8/1993 Y 13 1+ CH052 Y X . T Y Y 3/8/1993 Y 35 3+ CH056 Y M . T Y Y 3/8/1993 Y 28 3 CH057 N 0 . T N N 3/8/1993 Y 13 1+ CH058 Y M . T Y Y 3/8/1993 Y 29 3 CH059 Y H . T Y Y 3/8/1993 Y 22 2+ CH060 N 0 . T N Y 3/8/1993 Y 12 1+ M004 Y H Lalchan N Y Y 30/07/93 N . . M009 Y M Lalchan B Y Y 31/07/93 N . . M011 N 0 Juharchan T N Y 31/07/93 N . . M012 N 0 Juharchan T Y Y 31/07/93 N . . M016 . X Pannachan T Y N 1/8/1993 N . . M019 . X Lalchanan T Y Y 1/8/1993 N . . M023 Y X Hirachann N Y Y 1/8/1993 N . . M026 Y X Hirachann T N . 1/8/1993 N . . M030 N 0 Lalchannn T N Y 1/8/1993 N . . 63
ID# L-Out T-Out Clan L1 Lit Rad Date SRT NSRT RPE M031 N 0 Lalchannn T Y Y 1/8/1993 N . . M033 Y H Hirachann T N Y 1/8/1993 N . . M036 Y H Lalchannn N Y Y 1/8/1993 N . . M037 Y M Lalchannn N Y . 1/8/1993 N . . M044 . X Pannachan T N . 2/8/1993 N . . M045 N X Pannachan N Y N 2/8/1993 N . . M047 N 0 Hirachann T N N 2/8/1993 N . . M048 N 0 Hirachann T Y N 2/8/1993 N . . M050 . X Thakali T N Y 2/8/1993 N . . M054 Y H Hirachan T N Y 2/8/1993 N . . M055 Y H Hirachan T N Y 2/8/1993 N . . M057 Y L Lalchann T Y Y 2/8/1993 N . . M060 Y M Juharchan T Y Y 2/8/1993 N . . M062 N 0 Lalchanan T Y Y 2/8/1993 N . . M063 N 0 . T N Y 2/8/1993 N . . M065 Y H Hirachan T N Y 2/8/1993 N . . M066 N 0 Hirachan T Y Y 2/8/1993 N . . M070 N 0 Lalchann T Y Y 2/8/1993 N . . C04 . X Sherchan T N N 2/8/1993 N . . C011 . X Thakali T N . 2/8/1993 N . . C032 . H Thakali T Y Y 2/8/1993 N . . CH031 N 0 . T N Y 3/8/1993 N . . CH033 . X . T N N 3/8/1993 N . . CH034 N 0 . T N . 3/8/1993 N . . CH035 . H . N Y N 3/8/1993 N . . CH040 Y M . T N N 3/8/1993 N . . CH042 . X . T Y N 3/8/1993 N . . CH044 N 0 . T Y N 3/8/1993 N . . CH045 N 0 . T Y N 3/8/1993 N . . CH046 Y H . T N Y 3/8/1993 N . . CH047 Y H . T N . 3/8/1993 N . . CH048 Y H . T Y Y 3/8/1993 N . . CH049 Y H . N Y Y 3/8/1993 N . . CH053 . X . T N Y 3/8/1993 N . . CH054 . 0 . T Y Y 3/8/1993 N . . CH055 N 0 . T Y . 3/8/1993 N . .
64
C.3 Nepali sentence repetition test
Practice p1. म अक� ह�ा भारत ज ा न छु । p2. तयसपिछ दायाँितर ला�ोस। p3. मेरो बुवा काठमाड�मा �नु��ो।
Test
1. म �ु ल म ा काम ग छु � ।
2. िहजो आज पसलमा के ह ी छै न ।
3. म नेपालमा बसेको धे रै बष� भयो।
4. ितमो धरमा पनी िबजुली बती रहेछ।
5. यसले दे शको िवकास ग छ� ।
6. खाना िपरो भए तापनी मलाई िमठो ला�ो।
7. िसनेमा हेदा� -हेद� म त भ ुस ु�ै िनंदाएछु ।
8. �हाँबाट �ो मूलबाटोसमम िन�नुहोस्।
9. यसले �ा� र सुर�ा को लािग सहयोग ग छ� ।
10. कु र ा गरे को र काम गरे कोमा धे रै फरक पो �नछ।
11. आज िदउँ सो पानी प छ� भ�े कु र ा हामीलाई थाहा छँदैिथयो।
12. यसले जनताको सबै सिबधा बारे िबचार ग छ� ।
13. रनेले बाबुको ितया-कम� मु���े गन� स�ो।
14. िश�क िशि�काह�सँग पिन पाठयकमकोबारे कु र ा ग छु �
15. हामो दे शको आिथ�क अवसथाले गदा� पानी खाने धारा कबैितर तुगेको छै न । 65
C.4 Practical descriptions of RPE levels
The following Reported Proficiency Evaluation (RPE) descriptions are adapted from Radloff (1991:152– 53) and Brewster and Brewster (1976:370–76).
Level 0+ (Very minimal proficiency)
Memorized proficiency. Able to satisfy immediate needs using rehearsed utterances. Able to use at least 50 words in appropriate contexts.
Level 1 (Minimal, limited proficiency)
Able to satisfy minimum courtesy requirements and maintain very simple face-to-face conversations on familiar topics. Understands only very simple speech and needs frequent repetition. A person at this level has a very heavy accent which makes understanding difficult. Examples: Could understand and correctly respond to questions about marital status, nationality, occupation, age, and place of birth; could buy a bus ticket, and get off where intended.
Level 1+ (Elementary proficiency, plus)
Can initiate and maintain predictable face-to-face conversations and satisfy limited social demands. Vocabulary is limited to basic personal and survival areas. Can do anything a Level One can do, and a few of Level Two. Examples: Might be able to give one’s life story and talk about one’s plans and hopes.
Level 2 (Adequate, basic proficiency)
Able to satisfy routine social demands and limited requirements in other domains. Can talk about and understand everyday topics but has difficulty with some topics. A person at this level has great difficulty dealing with complications or conflicts if they arise. Pronunciation is almost always understandable. Has a heavy accent that forces people to concentrate when listening and sometimes causes misunderstanding. Examples: Can engage in superficial discussions on current events, about oneself, and about family and work; can also understand native speakers talking about simple topics. Can describe a recent job or activity in some detail and can describe the local political structure.
Level 2+ (Good, basic proficiency)
Able to satisfy most requirements with language usage that is often, but not always, acceptable and effective. A person at this level can do all the things a Level Two person can do and a few things of Level Three. Examples: Might be able to cope with a social blunder or discuss alternative views on a controversial topic.
Level 3 (Good, general proficiency)
Able to speak the language with sufficient structural accuracy and vocabulary to participate effectively in most formal and informal conversations on practical, social, and occupational topics. Has a marked “foreign” accent, but this does not impede understanding. Normal educated speech is understood quite well. 66
Examples: Can successfully defend a position and understand an opposing point of view. Can understand native speakers talking with each other on a variety of topics. If unjustly accused of something, could successfully explain the misunderstanding; language skills are adequate for coping with emergency situations. At this level, the formation of close friendships is not hindered by language ability.
Level 3+ (Very good, general proficiency)
Is often able to use the language to satisfy needs in a wide range of sophisticated and demanding tasks. Is usually able to understand idiomatic speech that native speakers use when talking with each other. Can do all the things a Level 3 person can do, and some of the things of a person at Level 4. Examples: Could usually convey exact meaning in a technical or professional discussion.
Level 4 (Excellent proficiency)
Able to use the language fluently and accurately on all levels normally pertinent to needs. Grammatical errors are only rarely made, and these are corrected automatically and unconsciously. Vocabulary is adequate for all technical, social, and practical situations. Examples: Could naturally alter speech style for talking intimately with a friend, or respectfully to a high government official. Can understand humor and language puns and can actively use the language to participate in fun and humorous situations.
Level 4+ (Approaching native speaker proficiency)
Speaking proficiency is regularly superior in all respects, usually equivalent to that of an educated, highly articulate native speaker.
References10
Blair, Frank. 1990. Survey on a shoestring: A manual for small-scale language surveys. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics and University of Texas at Arlington. Brewster, E. Thomas, and Elizabeth S. Brewster. 1976. Language acquisition made practical. Colorado Springs, CO: Lingua House. Casad, Eugene. 1974. Dialect intelligibility testing. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics and University of Texas at Arlington. Fisher, James F. 1986. Trans-Himalayan traders: Economy, society and culture in northwest Nepal. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Gauchan, S., and Michael Vinding. 1979. The history of Thakaali according to the Thakaali tradition. Kailash, A Journal of Himalayan Studies, Vol. 5, No. 2: 97–184. Glover, Warren W. 1974. Sememic and grammatical structures in Gurung (Nepal). Kathmandu: SIL, University Press, Tribhuvan University. Government of Nepal, 1993. Statistical yearbook of Nepal 1993. Kathmandu: Central Bureau of Statistics. Hale, Austin. 1973. Clause, sentence, and discourse patterns in selected languages of Nepal. Part IV: Word lists. Kathmandu: SIL, University Press, Tribhuvan University. Hari, Annemarie, and Maibaum, Anita. 1970. Tone systems of Tibeto-Burman languages of Nepal, part III, text I. Occasional Papers of the Wolfenden Society on Tibeto-Burman Linguistics, Vol. III. Urbana, IL 1970. Mazaudon, Martine. 1978. Consonantal mutation and tonal split in the Tamang sub-family of Tibeto-Burman. Kailash, 6.3:157–179. O’Leary, Clare, ed. 1992. Sociolinguistic survey of northern Pakistan, Vols. 1–5. Islamabad: National Institute of Pakistan Studies and Summer Institute of Linguistics. Radloff, Carla F. 1991. Sentence repetition testing for studies of community bilingualism. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics and University of Texas at Arlington. Varenkamp, Bryan. 1991. A report on the development of the Nepali SRT. Ms. Varenkamp, Bryan. 1993. The Nepali sentence repetition test: Evaluating community-wide bilingualism. Paper presented at LSN XIV Annual Conference, 26–27 November, 1993. Webster, Jeff. 1993a. Indicators of L2 proficiency, revisited. Notes on Scripture in Use and Language Programs 38:37– 56. Dallas, TX: SIL. Webster, Jeff. 1993b. Nepali proficiency in rural Nepal. Paper presented at Linguistic Society of Nepal XIV Annual Conference, 26–27, November, 1993. Kathmandu, Nepal. Webster, Jeff. 1994. Yakthungpan: A preliminary sociolinguistic survey of Limbu. Ms. submitted to Center for Nepal and Asia Studies, Kirtipur, Nepal. Wimbish, John S. 1989. Wordsurv: A program for analyzing language survey word lists. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics and University of Texas at Arlington.
10 References about the Thakali not cited in this work but mentioned by the author as additional sources, include Fasold, Ralph W. 1984. The sociolinguistics of society. New York: Basil Blackwell, Inc., and von der Heide, Susanne. 1988. The Thakalis of northwestern Nepal. Kathmandu: Ratna Pustak Bhandar.
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