Sunwar language

Sunwar, Sunuwar, or Kõinch (कोँइच; kõich; other spellings are Koinch and Koincha), is a Kiranti language spoken in Nepal and India by the Sunwar people. It was first comprehensively attested by the Himalayan Languages Project. It is also known as Kõits Lo (कोँइच लो ; kõica lo), Kiranti-Kõits (किराँती-कोँइच ; kirā̃tī-kõich), Mukhiya (मुखिया ; mukhiyā).[3][4]

Sunwar
RegionNepal
Native speakers
38,000 (2011)[1]
Sino-Tibetan
Language codes
ISO 639-3suz
Glottologsunw1242[2]

Geographical distribution

Sunwar is spoken in the following locations of Nepal (Ethnologue).

Vocabulary

Seu+wa+la (Sewala)

SunwarEnglish
NamsewalHello / Good Bye
Sew(Respect) / (Greeting) / I bow to you
MaahrWhat
DohpachaaHow to
DohshowHow much
DohmohHow big
GoI
GopukiWe are
GeYou (informal)
GepukhiYou are (informal)
Goiwe (formal)
GoiPukiwe are (formal)
DaarshowBeautiful
RimsoGood
MaDarshowUgly

Language Structure

In linguistic typology, a subject+object+verb (SOV) language is one in which the subject, object, and verb of a sentence always or usually appear in that order. If English were SOV, "Sam oranges ate" would be an ordinary sentence, as opposed to the actual Standard English "Sam ate oranges". (A Grammar of Sunwar) [5]

LanguageSOV
SunwarGoKhamayJainu
EnglishIRiceEat

Sunwar people called "Khangsa" sign language with voice and direct action, for foreign people who don't understand a sunuwar language.

Area

Sunwar language is spoken in villages in Dolakha, Ramechhap and Okhaldhunga, about 120 kilometers east of Kathmandu.[4]

Writing systems

Though Sunwar is most commonly written with the Devanagari script, a native writing system, Jenticha, has seen limited use since the 1940s. Invented by Krishna Bahadur Jenticha in 1942, the Jenticha script (Also called jẽtica brese or kõica brese) was initially a pure alphabet, but has since developed alphasyllabic characteristics. It has seen use in newspapers, poetry anthologies, academic works, and Sunwar-language translations of the proceedings of the Sikkim legislative assembly. [6]

Numerals and alphabet (Devanagari)

Numerals
1ichi/kaa 2ni/nishi 3sa/saam 4le 5nga
6ruku/roku 7chani 8sasi 9van 10gau

Vowels
अa आā इi ईī उu ऊū
एe ऎai ओo औau ऑang ऒaha

Consonants
कka खkha गga घgha ङṅga चcha छchha जja झjha
ञña टṭa ठṭha डḍa ढḍha णṇa तta थtha दda
धdha नna पpa फpha बba भbha मma यya रra
लla वwa शśha षṣra सsa हha व्हhha

References
  1. Sunwar at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Sunwar". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. Ager, Simon. "Jenticha alphabet, and the Sunuwar language". Omniglot. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  4. Borchers, Dörte (2008). A grammar of Sunwar: descriptive grammar, paradigms, texts and glossary ([Online-Ausg.]. ed.). Leiden: Brill. pp. 1–2. ISBN 9789004167094.
  5. "A Grammar of Sunwar". Dörte Borchers. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  6. Pandey, Anshuman (31 May 2011). "Proposal to Encode the Jenticha Script in ISO/IEC 10646" (PDF). Retrieved 18 December 2019.


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