The Magar languages (or Magaric languages) are a small proposed family of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Nepal, notably including Magar and Kham. (Ethnologue considers each to be a cluster of languages.) They are often classified as part of the Mahakiranti family, and Van Driem (2001) proposes that they are close relatives of Mahakiranti.
| Magar | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Nepal |
| Linguistic classification | Sino-Tibetan
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Glottolog | None |
Several neighboring languages with uncertain affiliation may prove to belong to a larger Magar family ("Greater Magaric"). These are Chepangic, and possibly also Raji–Raute and Dura languages.
Thurgood & LaPolla (2003) included Kham in LaPolla's speculative 'Rung' proposal, but found the inclusion of Magar and Chepang less probable, suggesting that the evidence for even a Magar–Kham connection is far from clear-cut.
The Kaike language is also spoken by the Magar people, but is a Tamangic rather than a Magaric language.
Classification edit
Schorer (2016:293)[1] classifies Magaric as part of his newly proposed Greater Magaric group.
References edit
- ^ Schorer, Nicolas. 2016. The Dura Language: Grammar and Phylogeny. Leiden: Brill.
Bibliography edit
- George van Driem (2001) Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region. Brill.
- Thurgood, Graham (2003) "A subgrouping of the Sino-Tibetan languages: The interaction between language contact, change, and inheritance." In G. Thurgood and R. LaPolla, eds., The Sino-Tibetan languages, pp 14–17. London: Routledge.