Recent Language Contact in the Nepal Himalaya

Abstract

The author examines the conducts and relations between the different language families in Nepalese Himalaya region. The Nepal Himalayas have been the scene of extensive linguistic contact over a considerable period. Languages of different genetic phyla, in particular Indo-European and Tibeto-Burman, have been involved, but so have languages within the Tibeto-Burman phylum representing different stocks with differing typological characteristics. Indeed, the long periods of contact between speakers of Tibeto-Burman languages of different stocks have resulted in considerable lexical and grammatical borrowing, which has tended to obscure genetic relationships. As a result, there is still a good deal of uncertainty as to how even major groupings of languages should be positioned within the family tree.