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Rajbanshi language (Nepal)

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Rajbanshi
राजबंशी‎
Tajpuria
Native toNepal
RegionJhapa District, Morang District
EthnicityRajbanshi
Native speakers
170,000 (2011)[1]
Devanagari
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
rjs – Rajbanshi
kyv – Kayort
Glottolograjb1243  Rajbanshi
kayo1247  Kayort

Rajbanshi (also called Tajpuria[3]) is a Bengali-Assamese language spoken in Nepal. It is related to, but distinct from Rangpuri/Kamta in Bangladesh and India, which is also known by the alternative name "Rajbanshi", with which it forms the KRNB cluster.[4]

Phonology

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This section is based on Wilde 2008.

Consonants

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Labial Dental/
Alveolar
Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop voiceless p ʈ k
aspirated t̪ʰ ʈʰ
voiced b ɖ ɡ
breathy d̪ʱ ɖʱ ɡʱ
Affricate voiceless ts
aspirated tsʰ
voiced dz
breathy dzʱ
Fricative s (ʃ) h
Nasal plain m ŋ
breathy n̪ʱ ŋʱ
Trill plain r
breathy
Approximant lateral l
lateral br.
central (w) (j)
  • /ts, tsʰ, dz, dzʱ/ can often be heard as post-alveolar [tʃ, tʃʰ, dʒ, dʒʱ], when following back vowels.
  • /r/ and /rʱ/ can have allophones of ɾ] and [ɽʱ ɾʱ].
  • /b/ can have allophones of w].
  • /pʰ/ can also be realised as [f].
  • /s/ can also have an allophone of [ʃ].
  • /h/ can be realised as voiceless or voiced [ɦ] in word-initial positions.
  • /n̪/ can be heard as alveolar [n] before an alveolar consonant, and as a retroflex [ɳ] when preceding a retroflex consonant.
  • A word-final /r/ may tend to be voiceless [r̥].
  • Central approximants [w j] occur, but are deemed allophones of /u i/.

Vowels

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Front Central Back
High i u
Mid e ʌ o
Low æ (ɐ)

In addition to these vowels, Rangpuri has the following diphthongs: /ie, iæ, iu, iʌ, ui, uæ, uʌ, ei, eu, æi, æu, ʌi, ʌu/.

  • Vowels /i, e/ can have shortened allophones of [ɪ, ɛ].
  • /æ/ can also be articulated more central as [ɐ, ä].
  • /ʌ/ may also be heard as two sounds [ɜ, ə] in free variation.[5]

Notes

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  1. ^ Rajbanshi at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019) Closed access icon
    Kayort at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019) Closed access icon
  2. ^ a b Toulmin, Mathew W S (2006). Reconstructing linguistic history in a dialect continuum: The Kamta, Rajbanshi, and Northern Deshi Bangla subgroup of Indo-Aryan (PhD). The Australian National University. p. 305.
  3. ^ Toulmin 2009, p. 16.
  4. ^ Toulmin 2009, p. 3.
  5. ^ Wilde 2008, p. [page needed].

References

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