Belhare
RegionDhankuta district, Nepal
EthnicityKirat Athpare of Belhara
Native speakers
600 (2011 census)[1]
Sino-Tibetan
Language codes
ISO 639-3byw
Glottologbelh1239
ELPBelhariya
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Belhare (Nepali: Belhāreor), also known as Athpariya II (not to be confused with Athpariya I), is a Kirati language spoken by some 2,000 people living on Belhara Hill, at the southern foothills of the Himalayas situated in the Dhankuta District, Koshi Province in eastern Nepal. All speakers of Belhare are bilingual in Nepali, which results in frequent code mixing and a large amount of Nepali loan-words. Nevertheless, the grammar of Belhare has maintained its distinct Kiranti characteristics.

Like other Kiranti languages, Belhare is characterized by an elaborate morphology in both the nominal and verbal domain. Syntactically, Belhare has partly an accusative, partly an ergative pivot, but accusative syntax is more prominent in terms of frequency.

Phonology

The phonemes in parentheses only occur in loanwords from Nepali.

Consonants

Bilabial Apical Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩ ŋ ⟨ŋ⟩
Plosive/
Affricate 		voiceless unaspirated p ⟨p⟩ t ⟨t⟩ ts ⟨c⟩ k ⟨k⟩ ʔ ⟨ʔ⟩
aspirated pʰ ⟨ph⟩ tʰ ⟨th⟩ tsʰ ⟨ch⟩ kʰ ⟨kh⟩
voiced unaspirated b ⟨b⟩ d ⟨d⟩ (dz ⟨j⟩) ɡ ⟨g⟩
aspirated (bʱ ⟨bh⟩) (dʱ ⟨dh⟩) (dzʱ ⟨jh⟩) (ɡʱ ⟨gh⟩)
Fricative s ⟨s⟩ h ⟨h⟩
Lateral l ⟨l⟩
Trill unaspirated r ⟨r⟩
aspirated (rʱ ⟨rh⟩)
Approximant w ⟨w⟩ j ⟨y⟩

Vowels

front central back
close i ĩ u ũ
mid e (ʌ) o
open a

References

  1. ^ Belhare at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

External links


Sino-Tibetan branches
Kiranti languages
Languages of Nepal
Categories