Mugom language, also known as Mugom-ket, is the Sino-Tibetan language of the Mugali people of Mugu district in Nepal (ISO 639-3: muk, GlottoCode: mugo1238).^[2][3]

Language name

Mugom speakers self-identify as “Moa,” and are referred to as “Mugali” by non-Tibetan peoples of the area. Mugom speakers simply refer to their language as “mugu jillako bhote bhasa,” lit. ‘the Tibetan language of Mugu district.’^[4]

Speakers

Mugom is spoken by roughly 500 people originating from the village of Mugugau along the Mugu Karnali River in Mugum Karmarong Rural Municipality.^[4][5] The language is specifically associated with Mugali people. A small diaspora community of Mugali exists in Bouddha, in the northeast part of Kathmandu.

Language vitality

In 2002, a sociolinguistic study found that Mugom speakers in diaspora consistently used their own language with each other, and that the language was being transmitted to children.^[4] The Ethnologue has assigned EGIDS level 6a “vigorous” to the Mugom-Karmarong (ISO 639-3: muk).^[2] This level denotes oral use of Mugom is stable, and that the speaker population is not decreasing.^[6]

Resources

• Mugom primer: A clear reflection of Mugom: Book 1
• Mugom primer: A clear reflection of Mugom: Book 2
• Sociolinguistic Study: Japola, Mari-Sisco. (2002). Mugom Survey. United Mission to Nepal, Mugu Education Project internal report: unpublished.