The
Mahakiranti or
Maha-Kiranti ('Greater Kiranti') languages are a proposed intermediate level of classification of the
Tibeto-Burman languagesThe Tibeto-Burman family of languages is spoken in various central, east, south and southeast Asian countries, including Burma , Tibet, northern Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, parts of central China , northern parts of Nepal, eastern parts of Bangladesh , Bhutan, northern parts of...
. They are the languages most closely related to the
Kiranti languagesThe Mahakiranti or Maha-Kiranti languages are a proposed intermediate level of classification of the Tibeto-Burman languages. They are the languages most closely related to the Kiranti languages proper, which are spoken by the ethnic Kirat...
proper, which are spoken by the ethnic Kirat (sometimes called
RaiThe Rai, also known as the Khambu. They are one of Nepal's most ancient indigenous ethnolinguistic groups. The Rai belong to the Kirati group or the Kirat confederation that includes the Limbu, the Sunuwar, Yakkha Dhimal, Koche, Meche,Hayu ethnic groups.According to Professor Dor Bahadur Bista...
). The conception of which languages belong in Mahakiranti—or if Mahakiranti is even a valid group—varies between researchers.
Van Driem (2001) posits that the Mahakiranti languages besides Kiranti proper are
NewarNepal Bhasa is one of the major languages of Nepal. It is one of roughly five hundred Sino-Tibetan languages, and belongs to the Tibeto-Burman branch of this family. It is the only Tibeto-Burman language to be written in the Devanāgarī script...
(Nepal Bhasa), Baram, and Thangmi.
The
Mahakiranti or
Maha-Kiranti ('Greater Kiranti') languages are a proposed intermediate level of classification of the
Tibeto-Burman languagesThe Tibeto-Burman family of languages is spoken in various central, east, south and southeast Asian countries, including Burma , Tibet, northern Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, parts of central China , northern parts of Nepal, eastern parts of Bangladesh , Bhutan, northern parts of...
. They are the languages most closely related to the
Kiranti languagesThe Mahakiranti or Maha-Kiranti languages are a proposed intermediate level of classification of the Tibeto-Burman languages. They are the languages most closely related to the Kiranti languages proper, which are spoken by the ethnic Kirat...
proper, which are spoken by the ethnic Kirat (sometimes called
RaiThe Rai, also known as the Khambu. They are one of Nepal's most ancient indigenous ethnolinguistic groups. The Rai belong to the Kirati group or the Kirat confederation that includes the Limbu, the Sunuwar, Yakkha Dhimal, Koche, Meche,Hayu ethnic groups.According to Professor Dor Bahadur Bista...
). The conception of which languages belong in Mahakiranti—or if Mahakiranti is even a valid group—varies between researchers.
Conceptions of Mahakiranti
Van Driem (2001) posits that the Mahakiranti languages besides Kiranti proper are
NewarNepal Bhasa is one of the major languages of Nepal. It is one of roughly five hundred Sino-Tibetan languages, and belongs to the Tibeto-Burman branch of this family. It is the only Tibeto-Burman language to be written in the Devanāgarī script...
(Nepal Bhasa), Baram, and Thangmi. Baram and Thangmi are clearly related, but it is not yet clear if the similarities they share with Newar demonstrate a 'Para-Kiranti' family, as Van Driem suggests, or if they are borrowings. In van Driem's conception, Bodic is a geographic term, but some Bodic families do appear to be related to each other. He sees
LepchaLepcha is a language spoken by the Lepcha people in Sikkim in India, and parts of Nepal and Bhutan. The Lepcha script is a syllabic script which has a lot of special marks and requires ligatures. Its genealogy is unclear. Early Lepcha manuscripts were written vertically, a sign of Chinese influence...
, Lhokpu, and the
Magaric languagesThe Magaric languages, Magar and Kham, are a small proposed family of Tibeto-Burman languages spoken in Nepal. They are often classified as part of the Mahakiranti family, and Van Driem proposes that they are close relatives of Mahakiranti.Several neighboring languages with uncertain affiliation...
(in the narrow sense, whether or not Chepangic proves to be Magar) as the Bodic languages closest to Mahakiranti.
Van Driem's conception of Mahakiranti:
Matisoff's Mahakiranti includes the Newar and the Magaric languages along with Kiranti. He groups Mahakiranti with the
Tibeto-Kanauri languagesThe Tibeto-Kanauri or Bodish-Himalayish languages are a proposed intermediate level of classification of the Tibeto-Burman languages, centered on the Tibetan and Kanauri languages...
(in which he includes Lepcha) as Himalayish.
Bradley (1997) adds Magar and Chepang to van Driem's Mahakiranti and calls the result
Himalayan. This, along with his "Bodish" (equivalent to Tibeto-Kanauri), constitutes his Bodic family.
EthnologueEthnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, primarily to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language.The Ethnologue contains statistics for 7,358 languages...
(15th ed.) posits Magaric, Chepang, and Newar alongside Kiranti; Mahakiranti is in turn related to Tibeto-Kanauri in a
Himalayish branch, largely equivalent to other scholars' Bodic.
Benedict (1972) included Newari and Chepangic, but not Magaric. He mistakenly classified the
Wayu languageWayu, Vayu, or Hayu is a language spoken by about 1740 people in the Janakpur Zone of Nepal.According to Van Driem , Shafer mistakenly classified Wayu as a Chepang language, and this has carried through to Ethnologue.-References:...
(Vayu) as Chepangic, and thus named the family
Bahing-Vayu.
History
Mahakirati languages have a long documented history. Nepal Bhasa has a well documented history spanning over 800 years. Most of the history of Nepal is derived from manuscripts in Kirati languages like Nepal Bhasa. Most speakers are bilingual in
NepaliNepali is a language in the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family.It is official language and de facto lingua franca of Nepal and is also spoken in Bhutan, parts of India and parts of Myanmar...
, with many of the younger generation speaking it preferentially. With approximately one million speakers,
Nepal BhasaNepal Bhasa is one of the major languages of Nepal. It is one of roughly five hundred Sino-Tibetan languages, and belongs to the Tibeto-Burman branch of this family. It is the only Tibeto-Burman language to be written in the Devanāgarī script...
is the most widely-spoken member of the Kiranti languages.
See also