Dhimalish languages

The Dhimalish languages, Dhimal and Toto, are a small group of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Nepal, Bhutan, and the Jalpaiguri division of West Bengal, India.

Dhimalish
Geographic distribution	India, Nepal
Linguistic classification	Sino-Tibetan Sal ? Kiranti ? Dhimalish
Subdivisions	Dhimal Toto Lhokpu
Glottolog	dhim1245[1]

Classification

Hammarström, et al.[2] note in Glottolog that Dhimalish is best considered to be a separate Sino-Tibetan branch rather than as a subgroup of Brahmaputran (Sal), and consider Dhimalish as failing to show sufficient Brahmaputran diagnostic vocabulary. Sotrug (2015)[3] considers Dhimalish to be particularly closely related to the Kiranti languages rather than to the Sal languages.

Grollmann & Gerber (2017)[4] consider Lhokpu to have a particularly close relationship with Dhimal and Toto.

Gerber & Grollmann (2018)[5] group Dhimal, Toto, and Lhokpu within Central-Eastern Kiranti.

Comparative vocabulary

Sanyal (1973:77-81) provides a comparative word list of Toto from Sunder (1895)[6] and George Abraham Grierson's Linguistic Survey of India,[7] and Dhimal from Brian Houghton Hodgson.[8][9]

English gloss	Toto (Sunder)	Toto (Grierson)	Dhimal (Hodgson)	Page no.
air	bingah	-	-	77
ass	-	pangbu	-	77
brother	eh	apu; e	yolla	77
belly	-	pa-ma	hemang	77
back	-	ju-ma	gandi	77
brinjal	bengini	-	-	77
bird	-	bakhi	jiha	77
behind	-	no	-	77
blood	viti	-	-	77
beat	-	sapu	-	77
before	-	dongangta	-	77
bullock	pekah-dambe	-	-	77
cat	minki	minki	dankha-menko	77
cock	odangpa	keka	dhangai-kai	77
come quickly	to-to-wa-wang	le-le	dhi-dhi	77
cow	-	pika	mahani-pia	77
daughter	memi-cheng	chai-me	chamdi	77
devil	-	jishang	-	77
duck	hangsa	hangsa	hangs	77
die	-	sipuna	sili	77
dog	kia	kia	khia	77
down	-	lijuing	-	77
door	lafoong	-	duar	77
eat	-	char	chabi	77
eye	michu	-	mi	77
eyebrow	mimu	-	-	77
elephant	hati	-	-	77
elder sister	anna	-	-	77
evening	jilong	-	-	78
ear	nanoong	-	naha-thong	78
far	-	hinda-mina	-	78
fire	meh	megue	mau	78
forehead	ting-ang	-	-	78
foot	tang-ba	-	kokoi	78
father	appa	apa	aba	78
of father	-	apak	-	78
two fathers	-	apa-nisa	-	78
fish	ngya	-	-	78
fever	haina	-	-	78
good	-	entana	-	78
give	-	picha	-	78
girl	chame	-	-	78
god	-	iswal	-	78
go north	enta-vatu	-	-	78
go east	nuta-vatu	-	-	78
go south	leta-vatu	-	-	78
go west	dita-vatu	-	-	78
go	vatu; hatu	chhapur	hadeli	78
hair	puring	puring	poshom	78
he	-	-	wa	78
he-goat	edang	-	-	78
horse	onyah	aia	-	78
high	-	hinda-nina	-	78
hand	kooe	kui	khur	78
his	uko	-	oko, wang	78
head	pudung	pudang	purin	78
house	-	sa	sa	78
I	kug-ve	kate	ka	78
iron	-	chaka	chir	78
jackfruit	dangse	-	-	79
jungle bamboo	-	-	-	79
lips	megoe	-	-	79
leg	kok-koi	-	khokoi	79
lime	churai	-	-	79
man	-	deya	waved	79
mother	aeu	aio	amma	79
mouth	noohgung	-	-	79
monkey	nokka	-	-	79
milk	yoti	-	-	79
moon	tari	tari	tali	79
morning	habkong	-	-	79
nose	nabboh	-	-	79
nails	kushing	-	-	79
near	-	abeto	-	79
night	lishong	-	-	79
no	-	ma-koe	-	79
orange	santra	-	-	79
our	kongo	-	king	79
pig	pakka	-	-	79
pan leaf	parai	-	-	79
plantain	eungpi	-	-	79
plantain tree	eungpi	-	-	79
paddy	mabe	-	-	79
river	tihana	-	-	79
rain	vathi	-	-	79
rice	unku	-	-	79
rice-beer	eu	-	-	79
run	-	tui	-	79
rupee	tanka	-	-	79
sister	-	ing	rima	79
sun	sani	chhani	bela	79
son	chung	chao, chaoa	chau	79
stand	-	lo-lo	-	79
star	puima	-	-	79
salt	ngi	-	-	80
sit	-	iyung	yongli	80
tiger	koogah	-	-	80
thigh	vybe	-	-	80
thou	-	na-ga	-	80
tree	singe	-	-	80
tooth	shitang	-	sitong	80
tongue	lebek	-	detong	80
up	-	jujuntaye	-	80
water	ti	ti	chi	80
we	-	na-te	kyel	80
woman	-	mem-bi	beval	80
wife	-	me	be	80
who	-	ha	jeti-siti	80
why	-	ha-ranga	haipali	80
younger sister	ing	-	-	80
yes	-	ke	he	80
you	naga	-	nye	80
1	eoo	che	e-long	80
2	nih-hu	ne	gne-long	80
3	soongu	sung	sum-long	80
4	diu	ji	dia-long	80
5	ngyu	nga	na-long	80
6	tuu	tu	tu-long	80
7	niu	dun	nhu-long	80
8	yau	ge, ne	ye-long	80
9	kuu	gu	kuha-long	80
10	thau	chu-tamba	te-long	80
20	chuniso	nisa	e-long-bisha	81
100	nakai	nga-kai	na-long-bisha	81

See also

• Dhimalish comparative vocabulary list (Wiktionary)

References

1. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Dhimalish". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
2. http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/kena1236
3. Sotrug, Yeshy T. (2015). Linguistic evidence for madeskā kirãntī. The phylogenetic position of Dhimalish. Bern: University of Bern Master’s Thesis, 22 June 2015.
4. Grollmann, Selin and Pascal Gerber. 2017. Linguistic evidence for a closer relationship between Lhokpu and Dhimal: Including some remarks on the Dhimalish subgroup. Bern: University of Bern.
5. Pascal Gerber; Selin Grollmann (2018). What is Kiranti? A Critical Account. Bulletin of Chinese Linguistics 11 (2018) 99-152.
6. Sunder, D. H. E. 1895. Survey and Settlement of Western Duars in the District of Jalpaiguri, 1889-1895.
7. Grierson, George A. 1909. Linguistic Survey of India (Vol. III, Part I, Tibeto-Burman Family: Tibetan Dialects, the Himalayan Dialects and the North Assam Group). Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing, India.
8. Hodgson, Brian. 1874. Essays on the Languages, Literatures, and Religion of Nepal and Tibet. London: Truebner and Co.
9. Hodgson, Brian Houghton. 1880. Miscellaneous Essays relating to Indian Subjects (2 vols.). London: Trübner & Co.

• George van Driem (2001) Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region. Brill, Boston (Available at https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=114099398 Accessed 1 March 2011).
• Sanyal, Charu Chandra. 1973. "The Totos: A sub-Himalayan tribe." In The Meches and the Totos, 1-81. Darjeeling: University of North Bengal.