Raji language

Raji
RegionNepal, India
Native speakers
3,800 (2011 census)[1]
Dialects
  • Barh Bandale
  • Naukule
  • Purbiya
Language codes
ISO 639-3rji
Glottolograji1240
ELPRaji

Raji is a small Sino-Tibetan language of Nepal and Uttarakhand, India. Speakers were until recently nomadic.

Distribution

Raji is spoken in the following areas of southwestern Nepal:[1]

It is also spoken by Raji people of Uttarakhand, India, primarily living in Pithoragarh district.

In Pithoragarh district, Rastogi (2015)[2] reports that Raji is spoken in the hamlets of Kimkhola, Bhogtirua, Ganagaon, Chipaltara, Madanbori, Kutachaurani, Altodi, Jamtadi, Khirdwari and Chakarpur.

Dialects

Khatri (2008)[3] divides Raji into 3 main regional dialects, for which he also provides word lists.

  • Barabandale: spoken in Jyotinagar, Katasi, Lalbojhi, Kuti, Bhuruwa, Solta, Khairehi, and Keodi of Kailali District; Sundarpur, Bandevi Sibir, Daiji, krishanpur and Chela Sibir of Kanchanpur District; and Rajigaun, Galfa, and Babiyachaur of Surkhet District.
  • Purbiya: Shankarpur, Machhagadh, Baniyabhar, Rambhapur, Dhakela, Dhadhawar, Sanoshree, Gulariya Municipality and Phanphena of Bardiya District.Also Speak in Chhinchu of Surkhet District.
  • Naukule : Spoken in Jhil and Kuchaini of Chaumala, Shankarpur of Masuriya, Jarahi of Sadepani, Dhangaghi Municipality and Manera. All are located within Kailali District.

Phonology

Consonants[4]
Labial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive plain p b t d ʈ ɖ k g
aspirated ʈʰ ɖʱ tʃʰ dʒʱ
Fricative s x h
Nasal plain m n ɳ ŋ
preaspirated ʱm ʱn
Approximant plain w l r j
preaspirated ʱl ʱr ʱj
Vowels[4]
Front Central Back
High i ĩ u ũ
Mid e ə ə̃ o õ
Low ɛ ɛ̃ a ã

References

  1. ^ a b Raji at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Rastogi, Kavita. 2015. Raji Orthography Development. Himalayan Linguistics, Vol. 14(2): 39–48. doi:10.5070/H914224947
  3. ^ Khatri, Ramesh. 2008. The structure of verbs and sentences of Raji. MA thesis, Kirtipur: Tribhuvan University.
  4. ^ a b Krishan, Shree (2001). Nagano, Yasuhiko; Lapolla, Randy J. (eds.). "A Sketch of Raji Grammar". New Research on Zhangzhung and Related Himalayan Languages. 3. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology: 449–497. doi:10.15021/00002153.
  • Raji Language Resource collection of Raji language documentation in the Computational Resource for South Asian Languages (CoRSAL) archive