The Chepang language: Phonology, Nominal and Verbal morphology - synchrony and diachrony of the varieties of the Lothar and Manahari Rivers

Overview & Synopsis

Chepang is a Trans-Himalayan (a.k.a. Tibeto-Burman or Sino-Tibetan) language mainly spoken in 4 districts of Nepal: Makawanpur, Chitwan, Dhading and Gorkha. Around 48,000 speakers declared speaking the language in 2011 (Nepal CBS). Chepang is an oral language, which means that the community has not yet developed a written tradition. This dissertation offers in-depth and comprehensive descriptions of many aspects of the language structures and valuable insights on their variation and historical developments. It includes an analysis of phonetics and phonology, drawing a new understanding of the positions and realizations of the laryngeal features at the source of the development of tonal distinctions. Chepang’s nominal morphology shows typologically well attested word formation processes combining nouns, nouns and verbs, compounds and nouns, and nouns and derivational morphology. A detailed description of kinship terms is provided, specifying how people use them. The description of verbal morphology provides a clear understanding of the type of morphology and constructions associated with verbs, covering all typical contextual settings where such constructions can occur. The complex non-canonical direct-inverse system of Chepang shows further pragmatic or epistemic motivations behind the use of a construction over another. When possible, historical explanations for the origin of certain forms or constructions are provided, allowing a better understanding of the verbal system in its entirety. Throughout the dissertation, the examples provided in Chepang were carefully chosen to illustrate the daily life, culture, spiritual beliefs, history, and other knowledge that pertain to the Chepang people. Such description contributes to a better understanding of Trans-Himalayan typology and more broadly linguistics typology. It provides a solid foundation for further historical linguistics research on the reconstruction of Proto-Chepang (ancestor language) and on the nature of its relationship to other Trans-Himalayan languages at lower and higher-level clades of the family. It offers two comprehensive orthographies based on Devanāgarī and Roman alphabet to the Chepang community. Part of the recordings is being made accessible to the public in an online accessible format. This project aimed at participating in raising interest and awareness to promote the preservation of the language and the culture it conveys.