Recent Language Contact in the Nepal Himalaya

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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.