Mewahang language

Kiranti language of Nepal
Meohang
Mewahang
Native toNepal
RegionKoshi Province
Native speakers
4,700 (2011 census)[1]
Language family
Sino-Tibetan
  • Tibeto-Burman
    • Mahakiranti (?)
      • Kiranti
        • Eastern
          • Upper Arun
            • Meohang
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
emg – Eastern
raf – Western
Glottologmewa1252
ELPWestern Mewahang

Mewahang (Meohang), or Newahang, is a Kiranti language spoken in Nepal. The eastern and western dialects are structurally distinct.

Distribution and dialects

Western Mewahang is spoken in the upper Arun valley west of the Arun River in Sankhuwasabha District, Koshi Province, in the villages of Bala, Yamdang, Tamku, and Sisuwa (Ethnologue).

  • The Bala dialect is spoken in Bala village, Sankhuwasabha VDC.
  • The Bumdemba dialect is spoken in Sishuwakhola VDC.

Eastern Mewahang is spoken in Mangtewa, Yaphu, and Choyang VDC's of Sankhuwasabha District, Koshi Province (Ethnologue). It is spoken in the upper Arun valley east of the Arun River.

Further reading

  • Gerber, Pascal; Selin Grollmann (2020). A field report on Sam Rai (Kiranti). ICSTLL 53.
  • Bickel, Balthasar/Martin Gaenszle (2015). ‘First person objects, antipassives, and the political history of the Southern Kirant’. In: Journal of South Asian Languages and Linguistics 2.1. 63–86.
  • van Driem, George (2001). Languages of the Himalayas. An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region. 2 vols. Leiden/Boston/Köln: Brill.
  • Gaenszle, Martin (2000). Origins and Migrations. Kinship, Mythology and Ethnic Identity among the Mewahang Rai of East Nepal. Kathmandu: Mandala Book Point.
  • Hanßon, Gerd (1991). The Rai of Eastern Nepal: Ethnic and Linguistic Grouping. Findings of the Linguistic Survey of Nepal. Kirtipur: Linguistic Survey of Nepal/Centre for Nepal/Asian Studies, Tribhuvan University.

References

  1. ^ Eastern at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Western at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
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Sino-Tibetan branches
Western Himalayas
(Himachal, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim)
Greater Magaric
Map of Sino-Tibetan languages
Eastern Himalayas
(Tibet, Bhutan, Arunachal)Myanmar and Indo-Burmese border
"Naga"
Sal
East and Southeast Asia
Burmo-Qiangic
Dubious (possible isolates)
(Arunachal)
Greater Siangic
Proposed groupingsProto-languages
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches.


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