Raji language

{{Short description|Sino-Tibetan language of western Nepal and Uttarakhand, India}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Raji

|nativename=

|region=Nepal, India

|speakers={{sigfig|3760|2}}

|date=2011 census

|ref=e18

|familycolor=Sino-Tibetan

|fam2=Raji–Raute

|dia1=Barh Bandale

|dia2=Naukule

|dia3=Purbiya

|iso3=rji

|glotto=raji1240

|glottorefname=Raji

}}

Raji is a small Sino-Tibetan language of Nepal and Uttarakhand, India. Speakers were until recently nomadic.

Distribution

Raji is spoken in the following areas of southwestern Nepal:

Lumbini Province: Banke and Bardiya districts
Karnali Province: Surkhet
Sudurpashchim Province: Kailali and Kanchanpur districts

It is also spoken by Raji people of Uttarakhand, India, primarily living in Pithoragarh district.

In Pithoragarh district, Rastogi (2015)Rastogi, Kavita. 2015. [https://escholarship.org/uc/item/74h7j2p6 Raji Orthography Development]. Himalayan Linguistics, Vol. 14(2): 39–48. {{doi|10.5070/H914224947}} reports that Raji is spoken in the hamlets of Kimkhola, Bhogtirua, Ganagaon, Chipaltara, Madanbori, Kutachaurani, Altodi, Jamtadi, Khirdwari and Chakarpur.

Dialects

Khatri (2008)Khatri, Ramesh. 2008. The structure of verbs and sentences of Raji. MA thesis, Kirtipur: Tribhuvan University. divides Raji into 3 main regional dialects, for which he also provides word lists.

Barabandale: spoken in Jyotinagar, Katasi, Lalbojhi, Kuti, Bhuruwa, Solta, Khairehi, and Keodi of Kailali District; Sundarpur, Bandevi Sibir, Daiji, krishanpur and Chela Sibir of Kanchanpur District; and Rajigaun, Galfa, and Babiyachaur of Surkhet District.
Purbiya: Shankarpur, Machhagadh, Baniyabhar, Rambhapur, Dhakela, Dhadhawar, Sanoshree, Gulariya Municipality and Phanphena of Bardiya District.Also Speak in Chhinchu of Surkhet District.
Naukule : Spoken in Jhil and Kuchaini of Chaumala, Shankarpur of Masuriya, Jarahi of Sadepani, Dhangaghi Municipality and Manera. All are located within Kailali District.

Phonology

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" \|+Consonants{{cite journal \|last=Krishan \|first=Shree \|date=2001 \|title=A Sketch of Raji Grammar \|journal=New Research on Zhangzhung and Related Himalayan Languages \|location=Osaka \|publisher=National Museum of Ethnology \|volume=3 \|pages=449-497 \|editor1-last=Nagano \|editor1-first=Yasuhiko \|editor2-last=Lapolla \|editor2-first=Randy J. \|doi=10.15021/00002153 }} !colspan=2\| !Labial !Alveolar !Retroflex !Palatal !Velar !Glottal
rowspan=2\|Plosive !plain \|{{IPA link\|p}} {{IPA link\|b}} \|{{IPA link\|t}} {{IPA link\|d}} \|{{IPA link\|ʈ}} {{IPA link\|ɖ}} \|{{IPA link\|tʃ}} {{IPA link\|dʒ}} \|{{IPA link\|k}} {{IPA link\|g}} \|
aspirated \|{{IPA link\|pʰ}} {{IPA link\|bʱ}} \|{{IPA link\|tʰ}} {{IPA link\|dʱ}} \|{{IPA link\|ʈʰ}} {{IPA link\|ɖʱ}} \|{{IPA link\|tʃʰ}} {{IPA link\|dʒʱ}} \|{{IPA link\|kʰ}} {{IPA link\|gʱ}} \|
colspan=2\|Fricative \| \|{{IPA link\|s}} \| \| \|{{IPA link\|x}} \|{{IPA link\|h}}
rowspan=2\|Nasal !plain \|{{IPA link\|m}} \|{{IPA link\|n}} \|{{IPA link\|ɳ}} \| \|{{IPA link\|ŋ}} \|
preaspirated \|{{IPA link\|ʱm}} \|{{IPA link\|ʱn}} \| \| \| \|
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preaspirated \| \|{{IPA link\|ʱl}} \|{{IPA link\|ʱr}} \|{{IPA link\|ʱj}} \| \|

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+Consonants{{cite journal |last=Krishan |first=Shree |date=2001 |title=A Sketch of Raji Grammar |journal=New Research on Zhangzhung and Related Himalayan Languages |location=Osaka |publisher=National Museum of Ethnology |volume=3 |pages=449-497 |editor1-last=Nagano |editor1-first=Yasuhiko |editor2-last=Lapolla |editor2-first=Randy J. |doi=10.15021/00002153 }}

!colspan=2|

rowspan=2|Plosive

!plain

|{{IPA link|p}} {{IPA link|b}}

|{{IPA link|t}} {{IPA link|d}}

|{{IPA link|ʈ}} {{IPA link|ɖ}}

|{{IPA link|tʃ}} {{IPA link|dʒ}}

|{{IPA link|k}} {{IPA link|g}}

aspirated

|{{IPA link|pʰ}} {{IPA link|bʱ}}

|{{IPA link|tʰ}} {{IPA link|dʱ}}

|{{IPA link|ʈʰ}} {{IPA link|ɖʱ}}

|{{IPA link|tʃʰ}} {{IPA link|dʒʱ}}

|{{IPA link|kʰ}} {{IPA link|gʱ}}

colspan=2|Fricative

|{{IPA link|s}}

|{{IPA link|x}}

|{{IPA link|h}}

rowspan=2|Nasal

!plain

|{{IPA link|m}}

|{{IPA link|n}}

|{{IPA link|ɳ}}

|{{IPA link|ŋ}}

preaspirated

|{{IPA link|ʱm}}

|{{IPA link|ʱn}}

rowspan=2|Approximant

!plain

|{{IPA link|w}}

|{{IPA link|l}}

|{{IPA link|r}}

|{{IPA link|j}}

preaspirated

|{{IPA link|ʱl}}

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|{{IPA link|ʱj}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" \|+Vowels ! !Front !Central !Back
High \|{{IPA link\|i}} {{IPA link\|ĩ}} \| \|{{IPA link\|u}} {{IPA link\|ũ}}
Mid \|{{IPA link\|e}} {{IPA link\|ẽ}} \|{{IPA link\|ə}} {{IPA link\|ə̃}} \|{{IPA link\|o}} {{IPA link\|õ}}
Low \|{{IPA link\|ɛ}} {{IPA link\|ɛ̃}} \|{{IPA link\|a}} {{IPA link\|ã}} \|

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+Vowels

|{{IPA link|i}} {{IPA link|ĩ}}

|{{IPA link|u}} {{IPA link|ũ}}

Mid

|{{IPA link|e}} {{IPA link|ẽ}}

|{{IPA link|ə}} {{IPA link|ə̃}}

|{{IPA link|o}} {{IPA link|õ}}

Low

|{{IPA link|ɛ}} {{IPA link|ɛ̃}}

|{{IPA link|a}} {{IPA link|ã}}

References

External links

[https://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/collections/RAJLR Raji Language Resource] collection of Raji language documentation in the Computational Resource for South Asian Languages (CoRSAL) archive

Category:Raji–Raute languages

Category:Languages of Nepal

Category:Languages of Uttarakhand

Category:Endangered languages of India

Category:Languages of Lumbini Province

Category:Languages of Karnali Province