Bunan language
{{Short description|Sino-Tibetan language of India}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Bunan
| nativename = गढ़ी ,𑚌𑚗𑚷𑚯, གཌྷཱི༹
| states = India
| region = Lahaul and Spiti(Himachal Pradesh)
| speakers = {{sigfig|3,750|2}}
| date = 2014
| ref = e25
| familycolor = Sino-Tibetan
| fam2 = Tibeto-Kanauri ?
| fam3 = West Himalayish
| iso3 = bfu
| glotto = gahr1239
| glottorefname = Bunan
| image = Garhi.jpg
}}
Bunan, also known as Gahri, Ghara, Lahuli of Bunan, Boonan, Punan, Poonan, Erankad or Keylong Boli, is a Tibeto-Burman minority language, largely spoken in the Keylong block of Lahaul and Spiti district, in the northernmost region of Himachal Pradesh, India. The number of people speaking the language is only approximately 4,000 in India. The Tibeto-Burman language family consists of fourteen languages spoken in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and Bunan is assigned to the West Himalayish branch.{{Cite journal |last=Sharma |first=Suhnu Ram |date=2006 |title=The Status of Bunan in the Tibeto-Burman Family |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42931455 |journal=Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute |volume=66/67 |pages=305–314 |issn=0045-9801}}
Status
The Endangered Languages Project classifies it as a ‘threatened’ language due to the changing economic landscape of the Lahaul region and the migration of Bunan speakers to other areas of the country, especially the younger generation migrating for education and employment.{{Cite web |title=Did you know Gahri is threatened? |url=https://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/1612 |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=Endangered Languages |language=en}} In the UNESCO list of endangered languages, Bunan is mentioned as ‘definitely endangered’ from extinction.{{Cite web |title=SPPEL - Scheme for Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages |url=https://www.sppel.org/gahridoc.aspx |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=www.sppel.org}}
The language has its own grammar, as documented by various scholars.{{Cite journal |last=Widmer |first=Manuel |date=2017 |title=A grammar of Bunan |url=https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/146718/ |journal=Mouton grammar library |volume=71}}{{Cite book |last=Widmer |first=Manuel |title=A Grammar of Bunan |date=2017 |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |isbn=978-3-11-047525-8 |series=Mouton Grammar Library [MGL] |location=Berlin Boston}} The Scheme for Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages organisation worked extensively on the documentation of the Bunan language.{{Cite web |title=SPPEL - Scheme for Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages |url=https://www.sppel.org/gahridoc.aspx |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=www.sppel.org}}
Other commonly spoken languages of the Bunan community are Hindi, Tibetan, Manchad, and English. The language has 37% lexical similarity with Lahauli Tinan language, 24% lexical similarity with Lhasa Tibetan language, and 34% lexical similarity with Central Tibetan languages.{{Cite web |last=Tripathi |first=Shishir |last2=Baraskar |first2=Trupti |date=2024-12-12 |title=Analysis of Lexical Similarity methods on Hindi Language |url=https://doi.org/10.36227/techrxiv.173398001.13857128/v1 |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=doi.org}}
Geographic distribution
According to Ethnologue, Bunan is spoken in the Gahr Valley along the Bhaga River from its confluence with the Chandra River and upstream about {{convert|25|km|mi|abbr=on}}.
Bunan is also spoken in Barbog, Bokar Gompa, Billing, Chhelling, Gozang, Greimas, Gumlink, Gumrang, Gyuskhar, Lepchang, Katchra, Kardang, Kardang Gompa, Mongwan, Mangmore, Namchia, Paspara, Pyaso, Pyukar, Sasure Gompa, Sikkeling, Styingri, Tayule, and Yurnad regions.
The Bunan language is sometimes confused with the Bunun language, which is spoken in Taiwan and belongs to the Austronesian language family.{{Cite web |last=Project |first=Joshua |title=Bunun in Taiwan |url=https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/18425/TW#:~:text=%22Bunun%20oral%20tradition%20mentions%20periodic,for%20the%20Bunun%20in%20Taiwan. |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=joshuaproject.net |language=en}}
See also
- Bunan word list (Wiktionary)
Further reading
- Sharma, Suhnu Ram. 1991. [http://stedt.berkeley.edu/~stedt-cgi/rootcanal.pl/source/SBN-BunQ Body Parts Questionnaire (Bunan)]. (Unpublished ms. contributed to STEDT).
- Widmer, Manuel. 2014. A descriptive grammar of Bunan. Doctoral dissertation, Universität Bern.
References
{{reflist}}
{{Sino-Tibetan languages}}
{{Bodic languages}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bunan Language}}
Category:Languages of Himachal Pradesh
Category:West Himalayish languages
Category:Endangered languages of India
Category:Languages written in Devanagari
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