Dura language
Dura | |
---|---|
Native to | Nepal |
Ethnicity | 2,160 (2011 census)[1] |
Extinct | between 2008[2] and 2012[1] with the death of Soma Devi Dura |
Sino-Tibetan
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | drq |
drq.html | |
Glottolog | dura1244 |
Dura is an extinct language of
The Himalayan Languages Project is working on recording additional knowledge of Dura.[5] Around 1,500 words and 250 sentences in Dura have been recorded. The last known speaker of the language was the 82-year-old Soma Devi Dura.[2]
Classification
Schorer (2016:293)
Distribution
The ethnic Dura people mostly live in
Dura villages include:[6]
- बाँग्रे Bāṅgre
- बेसी बाँग्रे Besī Bāṅgre
- बेसी फाँट Besī Phā̃ṫ
- सिन्दुरे Sindure
- धुसेनी Dhusenī
- नस्के Naske (Dura majority)
- नेटा Neṭā
- चन्दि गाउँ Candigāũ
- भाँगु Bhāṅgu
- मालिङ Māliṅ
- आरीकोसे Ārīkose
- ठूलो स्वाँरा Ṭhūlo Svā̃rā (Dura majority)
- खजे गाउँ Khaje Gāũ
- तुर्लुङ Turluṅ (Dura majority)
- तान्द्राङ्कोट Tāndrāṅkoṫ
- Kunchha
- Bhorletar
Other ethnic groups in the Dura region include the Gurung, Brahmins, Chetrīs, Kāmī, and Damāi.[6]
Tandrange
A closely related language variety called Tandrange (Nepali: Tāndrāṅe; IPA: tandraŋe) is spoken in a few Gurung villages.[6] Tandrange is spoken in the villages of Tāndrāṅ तान्द्राङ, Pokharī Thok पोखरी थोक, and Jītā जीता. However, Tandrange speakers adamantly consider themselves as not related to the stigmatized Dura people.[6]
Vocabulary
Schorer (2016:126-127) provides the following 125-word Swadesh list of Dura.
No. | Gloss | Dura |
---|---|---|
1. | I (1SG) | ŋi ~ ŋe |
2. | you (2SG) | no |
3. | we (inclusive) | ŋyāro |
4. | this | ī |
5. | that | huī |
6. | Who? | su |
7. | What? | hāde |
8. | not | ma-, ta- (prohibitive) |
9. | all (of a number) | dhāī |
10. | many | bhāī |
11. | one | kyau, nām, di- |
12. | two | jʰim, ŋe- |
13. | big | kātʰe |
14. | long | kānu, remo ~ hreŋo |
15. | small | ācʰirī |
16. | woman (adult) | misā |
17. | man (adult) | kalārā, bro |
18. | person | bro |
19. | fish (n) | ɖisyā, nāh ~ nāhõ ~ nāhũ ~ nāi |
20. | bird; chicken | o |
21. | dog | nākyu ~ nakyu ~ nakī, koka |
22. | louse | syā |
23. | tree | kepo ~ kemo |
24. | seed (n) | ʈisro, hulu |
25. | leaf | lyoī, lho |
26. | root | - |
27. | bark (of tree) | - |
28. | skin | ke |
29. | flesh | syo |
30. | blood | hāyu |
31. | bone | - |
32. | grease, fat | duccʰu |
33. | egg | odī, onī |
34. | horn (of bull etc.) | soglo, sono |
35. | tail | - |
36. | feather | phya |
37. | hair (human) | kra |
38. | head | padʰe |
39. | ear | naya, muni, rānu |
40. | eye | mi |
41. | nose | nu |
42. | mouth | māsi, sũ |
43. | tooth | sa ~ se |
44. | tongue | li |
45. | nail | se |
46. | foot | sepe |
47. | knee | - |
48. | hand | kuru |
49. | belly | kyu |
50. | neck | kʰalī, po ~ põ |
51. | breasts | nāmlo |
52. | heart | māu |
53. | liver | ciŋ |
54. | to drink | kiu- |
55. | to eat | co- |
56. | to bite | - |
57. | to see | do- ~ dõ-, mātā- |
58. | to hear | tās-, tāu-, tānu- |
59. | to know | syo- |
60. | to sleep | tānu- |
61. | to die | si- |
62. | to kill | sā-, kāne-, kāde |
63. | to swim | - |
64. | to fly | ŋyau, hāsu- |
65. | to walk | so- |
66. | to come | hro |
67. | to lie | - |
68. | to sit | huni- |
69. | to stand | decʰe- |
70. | to give | hyo- |
71. | to say | cʰi- |
72. | sun | mamī |
73. | moon | tālā |
74. | star | -so (in compound) |
75. | water | ti ~ ʈi |
76. | rain (n) | ti ~ ʈi |
77. | stone | thũ ~ tũ, kāno ~ kānu |
78. | sand | - |
79. | earth, soil | kācʰo, cʰuu |
80. | cloud | - |
81. | smoke (n) | ma-kʰu |
82. | fire | mi |
83. | ash(es) | ma-pʰu |
84. | to burn (vi) | bani- |
85. | path | lāutʰyo |
86. | mountain | lgẽwarapʰa [sic] |
87. | red | cʰāblī |
88. | green | - |
89. | yellow | kẽlo |
90. | white | bintʰā |
91. | black | keplo |
92. | night | yāku |
93. | hot | - |
94. | cold | cʰiũ |
95. | full | ʈʰyāmmay |
96. | new | kācʰā |
97. | good | cʰyāu- (v), cʰāblī (also ‘red’) |
98. | round | burluŋ |
99. | dry | - |
100. | name | rāmī |
101. | he (3SG) | hui |
102. | he₂ (3SG) | ŋo ~ no |
103. | you (2PL) | nāro(-nī) |
104. | they (3PL) | hyāro |
105. | three | sām |
106. | four | pim |
107. | five | kum (<‘hand’) |
108. | where? | kālā |
109. | when? | komo |
110. | how? | kudinī |
111. | other | agyu, rijā |
112. | few | ācitī |
113. | fruit | pokimuni |
114. | flower | ŋepʰu ~ nepʰu |
115. | grass | cʰĩ |
116. | snake | kāuī |
117. | worm | kʰātalī |
118. | rope | rasarī |
119. | river | kloi ~ klou |
120. | to warm (vt) | tāle-u |
121. | old | ʈe |
122. | straight (not curved) | hopay |
123. | sharp | mhyā- (v) |
124. | wet | tʰo- (v) |
125. | happy | kru- (v) |
Numerals
Dura numerals are (Schorer 2016:146-147):
- 0. liŋa
- 1. nām, kyau, di-
- 2. jʰim
- 3. sām
- 4. pim
- 5. kum
- 6. cyām (Indo-Aryan loanword)
- 7. syām (Indo-Aryan loanword)
- 8. him
- 9. tum
- 10. tʰim
- 20. jʰim-tʰī
- 30. sām-tʰī
- 100. tʰiŋganā, kātʰerāgo
- 1,000. jena
Reconstruction of Proto-Dura
Schorer (2016:286-287) reconstructs the following Proto-Dura words.
- *hāyu ‘blood’
- *cʰiũŋ ‘cold’
- *kim ‘house’
- *ti ‘water’
- *krut ‘hand’
- *kyu ‘stomach’
- *yāku ‘night’
- *mamī ‘sun’
- *lām- ‘path’
- *luŋ ‘stone’
- *daŋ- ‘to see’
- *rā- ‘to come’
- *khāC- ‘to go’
- *yʱā ‘to give’
- *cʰi- ‘to say’
See also
- Dura word list (Wiktionary)
- Schorer, Nicolas. 2016. The Dura Language: Grammar and Phylogeny. Leiden: Brill. https://brill.com/view/title/33670
- Pons, Marie-Caroline. 2021. Review: The Dura language: Grammar and phylogeny. Himalayan Linguistics, 20(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.5070/H920155279
References
- ^ a b Dura at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b "The last of Nepal's Dura speakers". BBC News. January 15, 2008.
- ^ Kraayenbrink et al., "Language and Genes of the Greater Himalayan Region", preprint, http://www.le.ac.uk/genetics/maj4/Himalayan_OMLLreport.pdf Archived 2022-10-12 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved September 12, 2007
- ISBN 978-9004103900)
- ^ Programme Description | Himalayan Languages Project Archived 2007-07-29 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e Schorer, Nicolas. 2016. The Dura Language: Grammar and Phylogeny. Leiden: Brill.
- ^ a b c Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN) - Dura Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
External links
- The last of Nepal's Dura speakers BBC news story