Sherdukpen language
{{Short description|Language spoken in Northeast India}}
{{redirect|Mey language|ISO 639-3 language code mey|Hassaniya Arabic}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Sherdukpen
|altname=Mey
|nativename=Ngnok
|region=Assam, Arunachal Pradesh
|ethnicity=Sherdukpen people
|speakers=5,000
|date=2019
|ref=e25
|familycolor=Sino-Tibetan
|fam1=Possibly Sino-Tibetan
|fam2=Kho-Bwa
|fam3=Mey–Sartang
|iso3=sdp
|glotto=sher1257
|glottorefname=Sherdukpen
|dia1=Shergaon
|dia2=Tukpen (Rupa)
}}
Sherdukpen (autonym: Mey) is a small language of India. It is one of the Kho-Bwa languages.Post, Mark W. and Roger Blench (2011). "[https://unibe-ch.academia.edu/MarkWPost/Talks/33486/Siangic_A_new_language_phylum_in_North_East_India Siangic: A new language phylum in North East India]", 6th International Conference of the North East India Linguistics Society, Tezpur University, Assam, India, Jan 31 – Feb 2 There are two distinct varieties, Mey of Shergaon and Mey of Rupa. The name Sherdukpen comes from the words Shergaon and Tukpen (the Monpa name for Rupa) (Blench & Post 2011:3). The language is known to speakers as Mey nyuk.
Dialects
Lieberherr & Bodt (2017)Lieberherr, Ismael; Bodt, Timotheus Adrianus. 2017. [https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4t27h5fg Sub-grouping Kho-Bwa based on shared core vocabulary]. In Himalayan Linguistics, 16(2). list the following dialects of Sherdukpen.
- Rupa: spoken in Rupa village and two other main villages, as well as nearby hamlets. Likely around 3,000 speakers.
- Shergaon: spoken in Shergaon village. Likely around 1,500 speakers.
Locations
Sherdukpen is spoken in Shergaon, southern West Kameng District, Arunachal Pradesh (Dondrup 1988), located in the Tengapani river valley south of Bomdila.
Ethnologue lists Rupa (Kupa), Sheinthuk (Shergaon), Jigang (Jigaon), and Thungree villages, located south of Bomdi La Range and Tengapani river valleys in West Kameng District, Arunachal Pradesh.
References
{{Reflist}}
- Dondrup, Rinchin. 1988. A handbook on Sherdukpen language. Itanagar: Directorate of Research, Arunachal Pradesh Government.
{{Sino-Tibetan languages}}
{{Arunachal languages}}
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