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The Bantawa Language (also referred to as An Yüng, Bantaba, Bantawa Dum, Bantawa Yong, Bantawa Yüng, Bontawa, Kirawa Yüng), is a Kirati languages spoken in the eastern Himalayan hills of eastern Nepal by Kirati Bantawa ethnic groups. They use a syllabic alphabet system known as Kirat Rai script . Among the Khambu or Rai people of Eastern Nepal, Sikkim, Darjeeling and Kalimpong in India. Bantawa is the largest language spoken.[3] According to the 2001 National Census, at least 1.63% of the Nepal's total population speaks Bantawa. About 370,000 speak Bantawa Language mostly in eastern hilly regions of Nepal (2001). Although Bantawa is among the more widely used variety of the Bantawa language, it falls in the below-100,000 category of endangered languages.[4] It is experiencing language shift to Nepali, especially in the northern region.[5]

Bantawa
बान्तावा
The word :Bantawa language written in Kirat Rai script
Region	Nepal, and Sikkim, Darjeeling, Kalimpong in India
Ethnicity	Bantawa Kirawa (natively)
Native speakers	170,000 (2001 & 2011 censuses)[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Mahakiranti ? Kiranti Bantawa
Writing system	Kirat Rai,[2] Devanagari
Official status
Official language in	Nepal Province No. 1 (additional)  India Sikkim (additional)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bap – inclusive code Individual code: wly – Waling
Glottolog	bant1280
ELP	Bantawa
Bantawa is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Bantawa is spoken in subject-object-verb order, and has no noun classes or genders.[6]

Dialects

This section does not cite any sources. (October 2021)

Most of the Bantawa clan are now settled in Bhojpur, Dharan, Illam, and Dhankuta. Recent figures show most of them are settled in Dharan. Bantawa is spoken in the following districts of Nepal (Ethnologue).

• Province No. 1: Bhojpur District, Dhankuta District, Ilam District, Jhapa District, Khotang District, Morang District, Okhaldhunga District, Panchthar District, Sunsari District, Taplejung District and Udayapur District
• Sikkim, Darjeeling, Kalimpong of India

Dialects are as follows (Ethnologue).

• Northern Bantawa (Dilpali)

Northern subdialects: Mangpahang, Raipachha, Awaichha, Rungchenbung and Yangma

• Southern Bantawa (Chewali, Okhreli, Hatuwali, Hangkhim)

Southern and Northern Bantawa, similar, could be united as 'Intermediate Bantawa'.

• Eastern Bantawa (Dhankuta)

Eastern dialect is the most divergent. It is most closely related to Dungmali language, though also related to Puma language, Sampang language, and Chhintange language.

• Western Bantawa (Amchoke, Amchauke)

Amchaucke dialects: Sorung, Saharaja, Lulam, and Sukita

• Wana Bantawa (also called simply Bantawa), spoken by the Bantawa subcaste. The Amchoke dialect is spoken in the Limbu area, especially in Ilam district.

Bantawa is also considered as a superior clan in the Kiranti family. Bantawa is also reportedly in use as a lingua franca among Rai minorities in Himalayan Sikkim, Darjeeling Kalimpong In India and Bhutan. Meanwhile, the language is just being introduced in a few schools at the primary level (Year 1- Year 5)[7] using Devanagari script.[8][9]

The extinct Waling language attested from the late 19th century may have been a variety of Bantawa, or a closely related language, if not the Hatuwali dialect the Waling people speak today.

Bantawa language

This section does not cite any sources. (October 2021)

Bantawa	Nepali	English
Sewa आलांङे सेवा	नमस्ते	Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening,
Kok काेक	भात	Food, Rice
Khan खान	तरकारी	Curry
Manachi मनाचि	मानिसहरू	People
Diwa दिवा	बाजे	Grandfather
Dima दिमा	बजू	Grandmother
papa पापा	बुबा	Father
mama मामा	आमा	Mother
Nana नाना	दिदी	Elder-sister
Nichhama निछामा	बहिनी	Little-Sister
Dewa देवा	ठूलो बुबा	Uncle elder to dad
Dema देमा	बडी आमा	Aunt Elder to Dad/ Dad's elder sister-in-law
Baŋa बाङा	काका	Uncle younger to Dad
Chhɘna छ़ना	काकी	Younger uncle wife
buwa बुवा	दाजु	Elder Brother
Nichha Duwachha निछा दुवाछा	भाइ	Younger Brother
Nichha O Chhachi निछा ओ छाची	भाइ बहिनीका छाेरा छाेरी	Brothers children Son/ Daughter
Aachhuwa आछुवा	मामा	Mother's Brother= Chhuwa
Phepwa फेप्वा	पैसा	Money= Phekwa, Yaang
Teet तित	लुगा	Cloths
Chaəˀwa चा:वा	पानी	Water= Chakwa
Me मि	आगाे	Fire
Thuli थुलि	पिठाे	Flour
Sampicha साम्पिचा	काेदाे	Millet
Khawat/Wachhon खावात, वाछाेन	जार	Locally brew wine
Hengmawa हेङमावा	रक्सी	Rum/Whisky/Brandy
Saa सा	मासु	Meat
chhüna छ़ना	फुपु	Aunt (Father's sister)= chunaa
Diwa/Dima दिवा, दिमा	हजुरबुवा, हजुरआमा	Grandfather/Grandmother
Oyatni ओयात्नी	यहा	Here
Moyatni माेयात्नी	त्यहा	There
Khadatni खादात्नी	कहाँ	Where
Demni देम्नी	कति	How
Monni माेन्नी	यति मात्र	This much
Chama चामा	खानु	to Eat
Tacha तचा	खाने हाे?	Do you want to eat?
Koke Tacha? काेक तचा ?	खाना खाने हाे ?	Do you eat rice?
munima	बिरालो	Cat

Phonology

Vowels

Vowel phonemes

	Front	Central	Back
	unrounded		rounded
Close	i	ɨ ~ ə	u
Close-mid	e		o
Open-mid			ʌ
Open		a

• ʌ vowel comes in Bantawa due to influence of Nepali language and it is rarely used like in other Tibetan Burmese language.
• nowadays some dialect or in region may pronounce /ɨ/ as [ʌ]/[u] or [ə].

Example: mɨk (eye) pronounce as mʌk/muk, pɨ (snake) as pʌ/pu.

Consonants

Bantawa consonant phonemes

			Bilabial	Dental	Apico- alveolar	Lamino- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal			m म		n न		ŋ ङ		ʔ :
Stop	voiceless	unaspirated	p प	t̪ त	t ट			k क
		aspirated	pʰ फ	t̪ʰ थ	tʰ ठ			kʰ ख
	voiced	unaspirated	b ब	d̪ द	d ड			ɡ ग
		aspirated	bʱ भ	d̪ʱ ध	dʱ ढ			ɡʱ घ
Affricate	voiceless	unaspirated				t͡s च
		aspirated				t͡sʰ छ
	voiced	unaspirated				d͡z ज
		aspirated				d͡zʱ झ
Fricative					s स				ɦ ह
Trill					r र
Lateral					l ल
Approximant			w व				j य

• Glotta stop [ʔ] is one of the consonants of Bantawa language which is represent by using /:/.
• Dental consonant and Apico-alveolar does not make any difference while speaking.
• To write Bantawa language either Kirat Rai script or Devanagari lipi is being used in Nepal.

References

Further reading

• Winter, Werner. 2003. A Bantawa Dictionary. Trends in Linguistics - Documentation 20. Mouton de Gruyter: New York.
• Doornenbal, Marius. 2009. A Grammar of Bantawa. Leiden University PhD Thesis. LOT Dissertation Series: Utrecht.
• Nishi 西, Yoshio 義郎 (1992b). "バンタワ語" [Bantawa, Bantāwā, Bāntāwā, Bantava; Bontawa, Bontāwā; Buntāwā, Bāntuwā]. In 亀井 Kamei, 孝 Takashi; 河野 Kōno, 六郎 Rokurō; 千野 Chino, 栄一 Eichi (eds.). 三省堂言語学大辞典 The Sanseido Encyclopaedia of Linguistics (in Japanese). Vol. 3. Tokyo: 三省堂 Sanseido Press. pp. 380a–391a. ISBN 4385152179.

External links

• A Grammar of Bantawa
• Bantawa: observations of a threatened language

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