Rongpo language#Dialects

{{Infobox language

| name = Rongpo

| altname = Rangpo{{cite web|url=https://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/5685|title=Endangered Languages Project - Rongpo|publisher=ELP|access-date=2024-12-23}}

| nativename = {{lang|rnp|/r~øpø/}}{{cite book|url=https://www.randylapolla.info/Papers/LaPolla_2001_The_Tibeto-Burman_Languages_of_Uttar_Pradesh.pdf|author=Randy J. LaPolla|title=The Tibeto-Burman Languages of Uttar Pradesh|publisher=University of Hong Kong|access-date=2024-12-29|date=2001|page=2,9}}

| states = India

| region = Uttarakhand

| ethnicity = Rongpo people

| speakers = 7,500

| date = 2001

| ref = {{cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/rnp|title=Rongpo|publisher=Ethnologue|access-date=2024-12-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190606091844/https://www.ethnologue.com/language/rnp|archive-date=2019-06-06|url-status=dead|quote=7,500 (2001 D. Bradley).}}

| familycolor = Sino-Tibetan

| fam1 = Sino-Tibetan

| fam2 = Tibeto-Burman

| fam3 = Tibeto-Kanauri (?)

| fam4 = West Himalayish

| fam5 = Rongpo–Almora

| iso3 = rnp

| glotto = rong1264

| glottorefname = Rongpo

| dia1 = Marcha

| dia2 = Tolcha †

| notice = IPA

}}

Rongpo (also known as Rangpo and Rang Po Bhasa) is a West Himalayish language spoken in Uttarakhand, India. George Abraham Grierson originally called the language the Garhwal dialect of one of the Tibetic languages, but is now considered its own independent language.

Geographical distribution

Rongpo is spoken in the following locations of Uttarakhand, India (Ethnologue).

Niti Valley, Joshimath tehsil, Chamoli District, Garhwal Division, Uttarakhand (in Niti, Gamshali, Bampa, and Malari villages)
Mana valley, Joshimath tehsil Chamoli District, Garhwal Division, Uttarakhand: Mana, Indradhara, Gajkoti, Pathiya-Dhantoli, Hanuman Chatti, Benakuli, and Aut.

Dialects

The two different dialects of Rongpo are called the Marcha (Marchha) and the Tolcha (Tolchha) dialect, Both dialects only have a difference in the phonetic level and are written in the same way.

=Marcha=

Marcha dialect is spoken in Mana and Niti valleys.

=Tolcha=

{{Infobox language

| name = Tolcha

| altname = Tolchha

| region = Niti Valley

| states = India

| ethnicity = Tolcchas

| familycolor = Sino-Tibetan

| extinct = since the 1950s

| ref =

| fam1 = Sino-Tibetan

| fam2 = Tibeto-Burman

| fam3 = Tibeto-Kanauri (?)

| fam4 = West Himalayish

| fam5 = Rongpo–Almora

| fam6 = Rongpo

| linglist = rnp-tol

| iso3 = none

| glotto = tolc1238

}}

There are a few Tolchha dialect speakers in Niti valley. Tolcha is usually considered its own independent and separate language from Rongpo.{{cite web|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/national/the-endangered-and-extinct-languages-of-india-news-194995|title=The Endangered And Extinct Languages Of India|publisher=Outlook|access-date=2025-01-05|date=5 May 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/ht-school/of-native-tongues-vanished-in-peril/story-gl8BxEWZ2FnTX1irYEWQCK.html|title=Of native tongues vanished & in peril|publisher=Hindustan Times|access-date=2025-01-04|date=12 July 2019}} Tolcha has been considered extinct by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger since the 1950s.{{cite web|title=Atlas of the world's languages in danger|url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000187026|website=UNESCO|page=203|date=2010|access-date=2024-12-22|author1=Christopher Moseley|author2=Alexandre Nicolas}}

References

Category:Languages of Uttarakhand

Category:Endangered languages of India

Category:West Himalayish languages