Gurung, Western

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A language of Nepal

ISO 639-3
gvr
Alternate Names
Gurung, Tamu Kyi
Population

125,000 in Nepal (2007), increasing. 12,000 monolinguals. Population total all countries: 158,000. Ethnic population: 544,000.

Location

Gandaki Zone, Kaski and Syangja districts; Dhaulagiri Zone, Parbat district. Possibly in Myanmar. Also in Bhutan, India.

Language Maps
Language Status

6b (Threatened).

Classification
Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Western Tibeto-Burman, Bodish, West Bodish, Gurung-Tamang, Gurungic
Dialects

Northwestern Gurung (Kaski Gurung), Southern Gurung (Syangja Gurung). Dialect speakers may have enough mutual intelligibility to understand complex and abstract discourse, but not enough with Eastern Gurung [ggn]. Related to Thakali [ths].

Typology

SOV; postpositions; genitives, adjectives, relative clauses precede noun heads; numerals after noun heads; noun head final; no noun classes or genders; content q-word in situ; rising intonation marks bipolar questions; one negative prefix on verbs; up to 2 suffixes; clause constituents indicated by case-marking; case of noun phrases is indicated by postpositions; no subject or object referencing in verbs; split ergative system according to tense; causatives; benefactives; aspect; no passives or voice; 24 consonant and 5 vowel phonemes; CV, CCV, CCCV; tonal: voice quality or register is part of the tone system

Language Use

Children and young people use Gurung less frequently than those who are older. Passed down only a little from generation to generation (2002 UNESCO). Home; mixed use: Friends, religion, work. Some use among all ages. Positive attitudes. Also use Nepali [npi]. School graduates speak some English [eng].

Language Development
Literacy rate in L1: 30%. Literacy rate in L2: 30%. Poetry. Magazines. Newspapers. New media. Radio programs. Films. TV. Videos. Dictionary. Grammar. NT: 1982.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Gurung, Western
Writing
Devanagari script.
Other Comments

Buddhist, Hindu, Christian.

Also spoken in:

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