A Sociolinguistic Study of Walungge and Related Varieties Dhokpya and Thudam
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A Sociolinguistic Study of Walungge and Related Varieties Dhokpya and Thudam Written by: Micah Clark Researched by: Micah Clark, Janel Swenson, and Sarah Shackelford Central Department of Linguistics Tribhuvan University, Nepal and SIL International 2019 Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ i साराश更 .................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iii 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 5 1.1 Purposes & Report Overview ............................................................................... 6 1.2 Terminology and Clarifications ............................................................................ 7 1.3 Geography .......................................................................................................... 11 1.4 The People .......................................................................................................... 16 1.5 History and Tibetan Identity .............................................................................. 21 2 Goals & Research Questions ....................................................................................... 25 2.1 Goal 1: Ethnolinguistic Identity ......................................................................... 25 2.2 Goal 2: Dialect Areas .......................................................................................... 25 2.3 Goal 3: Language Attitude Assessment .............................................................. 26 2.4 Goal 4: Language Vitality ................................................................................... 26 2.5 Goal 5: Desires for Development........................................................................ 26 3 Methodology ............................................................................................................... 27 3.1 Site Selection ...................................................................................................... 27 3.2 Subject and Language Help Selection ................................................................ 27 3.3 Tools ................................................................................................................... 29 4 Ethnolinguistic Identity .............................................................................................. 35 4.1 Dialect Mapping ................................................................................................. 35 4.2 Individual Interviews ......................................................................................... 39 4.3 Recorded Story Playing ...................................................................................... 45 4.4 Language Attitudes ............................................................................................. 46 4.5 Observation ........................................................................................................ 47 4.6 Conclusions ......................................................................................................... 47 5 Language & Dialect groupings .................................................................................... 49 5.1 Lexical Similarity ................................................................................................ 49 5.2 Perceived Intelligibility ...................................................................................... 50 5.3 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 60 6 Language Vitality ........................................................................................................ 63 6.1 Intergenerational Transfer (Acquisition) ........................................................... 64 6.2 Domains (Functions) .......................................................................................... 69 6.3 Contact and Language Use Patterns (Motivation & Differentiation).................... 72 6.4 Development Desires .......................................................................................... 77 6.5 Summary ............................................................................................................. 78 7 Summary of Findings & Recommendations ............................................................... 81 7.1 Summary of Findings.......................................................................................... 81 7.2 Recommendations .............................................................................................. 82 8 सर्वेक्षणका सारा車श तथा ससफाररसह셂 ................................................................................... 85 8.1 सर्वेक्षणका सारा車श .................................................................................................... 85 8.2 ससफाररसह셂 ........................................................................................................... 86 Table of Figures Figure 1: Ethnic and language names for each DM site and any similar languages . 36 Figure 2: Ethnic name according to age ..................................................................... 40 Figure 3: Ethnic name according to village ............................................................... 41 Figure 4: Contact between WDT Bhote by village ..................................................... 42 Figure 5: WDT Bhote perceptions of other villages’ customs .................................... 43 Figure 6: Lexical similarity percentages ..................................................................... 50 Figure 7: WDT Bhote areas and their reported intelligibility .................................... 52 Figure 8: Villages included in each DM site’s own variety ........................................ 54 Figure 9: Perceived understanding of Halung’s speech ............................................. 55 Figure 10: Perceived understanding of Thudam speech ............................................ 56 Figure 11: Perceived understanding of Dhokpya speech ........................................... 57 Figure 12: Best and second-best varieties .................................................................. 58 Figure 13: “Do all your children speak your mother tongue?” ................................. 65 Figure 14: Children's "best language" ......................................................................... 66 Figure 15: Reported language use by domain ............................................................ 69 Figure 16: Language of storytelling by age and village ............................................. 71 Figure 17: Singing by age, language, and village ...................................................... 71 Figure 18: “Best language” grouped by age and village ............................................ 73 Figure 19: Do you use languages other than your MT with other WDT Bhote?” ..... 74 Figure 20: “Do you use languages other than your MT with other WDT Bhote?” .... 74 Figure 21: Which language should be learned first? ................................................. 75 Figure 22: “Which language do you love the most?” ................................................ 76 Table of Maps Map 1: Nepal with the highlighted districts: Taplejung and Sankhuwasabha ............ 6 Map 2: Use of terms in the literature ........................................................................... 8 Map 3: Terms as used in this report ........................................................................... 10 Map 4: WDT Bhote villages classified by habitational patterns of use ...................... 11 Map 5: Closest perceived ethnolinguistic ties by DM site .......................................... 38 Map 6: WDT Bhote language area: the three dialects ................................................ 62 Abstract This report presents the findings of a sociolinguistic survey of Walungge and related varieties Thudam and Dhokpya. The purposes of the survey were to understand the general sociolinguistic situation, to determine which variety is most suitable for the development of materials in the mother tongue, and to aid in the goals of the LinSuN project (which ended in January 2018). These purposes were pursued by investigating different sociolinguistic aspects such as: language attitudes, lexical similarity, perceived intelligibility, perceived ethnolinguistic groupings and desires for development. The results indicated the studied varieties are dialects of a single language spoken by people who are loosely connected under the term Bhote or Sherpa. There are local names used in some villages and known in the broader community, but no one term is used by people of every village to encompass the people and the language. Even so, there is high intelligibility between the dialects, with only Thudam Bhote showing any noticeable difficulty in understanding any other variety. Additionally, attitudes among the community are generally positive or neutral concerning the other dialects researched. Though attitudes toward the language are generally positive and use of the mother tongue is quite strong, there are signs indicating language shift. The use of Nepali among