Gongduk language

Endangered Sino-Tibetan language of Bhutan

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|

Gongduk

Gongdukpa Ang
དགོང་འདུས་
Region| Bhutan

Native speakers

| 2,000 (2006)[1]

Language family

Sino-Tibetan

* Gongduk

Writing system

| Tibetan script
Language codes
ISO 639-3| `goe`
Glottolog| `gong1251`
ELP| Gongduk

This article contains Tibetan script. Without proper rendering support, you may see very small fonts, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Tibetan characters.

Gongduk or Gongdu (Tibetan: དགོང་འདུས་, Wylie: Dgong-'dus, it is also known as Gongdubikha[2]) is an endangered Sino-Tibetan language spoken by about 1,000 people in a few inaccessible villages located near the Kuri Chhu river in the Gongdue Gewog of Mongar District in eastern Bhutan. The names of the villages are Bala, Dagsa, Damkhar, Pam, Pangthang, and Yangbari (Ethnologue).

Gongduk has complex verbal morphology, which Ethnologue considers a retention from Proto-Tibeto-Burman,[1] and is lexically highly divergent.[3] On this basis, it is apparently not part of any major subgroup and will probably have to be assigned to its own branch.[3][4]

The people are said to have come from hunters that would move from place to place at times.[5]

The language is notable for only being discovered by linguists in 1991.[6] Currently, George van Driem is working towards the completion of a description of Gongduk based on his work with native speakers in the Gongduk area.[4]

## Classification

[edit]

George van Driem (2001:870)[7] proposes that the Greater Bumthang (East Bodish) languages, including Bumthang, Khengkha, and Kurtöp, may have a Gongduk substratum. Gongduk itself may also have a non-Tibeto-Burman substrate.[citation needed]

Gerber (2018)[8] notes that Gongduk has had extensive contact with Black Mountain Mönpa before the arrival of East Bodish languages in Bhutan. Gongduk also has many Tshangla loanwords. The following comparative vocabulary table from Gerber (2020) compares Gongduk, Black Mountain Mönpa, and Bjokapakha, which is a divergent Tshangla variety.[9]

Gloss | Gongduk | Black Mountain Mönpa | Bjokapakha

|
|
|

hair (on head)  | θɤm | guluŋ | tsham
tongue  | dəli | líː | lɪ
eye  | mik | mek ~ mik | miŋ
ear  | nərəŋ | naktaŋ | nabali
tooth  | ɤn | áː ~ waː | sha
bone  | rukɤŋ | ɦɤtphok ~ yöphok | khaŋ
blood  | winiʔ | kɔk | yi
hand/arm  | gur | lɤk ~ lok | gadaŋ
leg/foot  | bidɤʔ | dɤkpɛŋ ~ tɛ̤kɛŋ | bitiŋ
faeces  | ki | cok | khɨ
water  | dɤŋli | cö, khe | ri
rain  | wɤ | ghö | ŋamtsu
dog  | oki | cüla ~ khula | khu
pig  | don | pɔk | phakpa
fish  | kuŋwə | nye̤ | ŋa
louse  | dɤr | θæːk | shiŋ
bear  | bekpələ | wɤm ~ wom | omsha
son  | ledə | bæθaː | za
daughter  | medə | bæmɛt | zamin
name  | kət | mön ~ min | mɨŋ
house  | kiŋ | mhiː̤ ~ mhe̤ː | phai
fire  | mi | áːmik ~ áːmit | mɨ
to hear  | lə yu- | goː- | nai tha-
to see  | tɤŋ- | tuŋ- | thoŋ-
to look  | məl- ~ mɤt- | mak- | got-
to sit  | mi- ~ mu- | buŋ- ~ bæŋ- | laŋ-
to die  | komθ- | θɛː- ~ θɛʔ- | shi-
to kill  | tɤt- | θüt- ~ θut- ~ θit | she-
Comparison of numerals:[9] Gloss | Gongduk | Black Mountain Mönpa | Bjokapakha

|
|
|

one  | ti | tɛk | thur
two  | niktsə | nhü | ɲiktsiŋ
three  | towə | sam | sam
four  | piyə | blö | pshi
five  | ŋəwə | lɔŋ | ŋa
six  | kukpə | o̤ːk | khuŋ
seven  | ðukpə | nyí | zum
eight  | yitpə | jit [ʤit] | yɪn
nine  | guwə | doːga | gu
ten  | deyə | chö | se
Comparison of pronouns:[9] Pronoun | Gongduk | Black Mountain Mönpa | Bjokapakha

|
|
|

1SG | ðə | kö | jaŋ
2SG | gi | iŋ | nan
3SG | gon | hoʔma (MASC); hoʔmet (FEM) | dan
1PL | ðiŋ | ɔŋdat (INCL); anak (EXCL) | ai
2PL | giŋ | iŋnak | nai
3PL | gonmət | hoʔoŋ | dai

## Phonology

[edit]

Consonants[9] | Labial | Dental | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal

|
|
|
|
|
|

Plosive | oral | p b | t d | (ʈ) (ɖ)  |  | k g | ʔ
aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | (ʈʰ)  |  | kʰ |
Affricate | oral |  | ts (dz)  |  | tɕ dʑ |  |
aspirated |  | (tsʰ)  |  | tɕʰ |  |
Fricative |  | θ ð |  | ɕʲ |  | h
Nasal | m | n |  |  | ŋ |
Approximant | w | r, l |  | j |  |

* Consonants in parentheses are only found in loanwords.
* The velar stops /kʰ k g/ are in free variation with their uvular counterparts [qʰ q ɢ].
* The stops /p t k/ are glottalised and unreleased [ʔp̚ ʔt̚ ʔk̚] at the end of syllables.
* /ŋ/ can often be heard as a glottal stop [ʔ] in fast speech or following another nasal.
* /n/ and /ŋ/ are palatalized to [ɲ] before /i/ or /j/.

Vowels[9] | Front | Central | Back

|
|
|

Unrounded | Rounded
High | i | (y)  |  | u
Mid | e | (ø)  | ɤ | o
Low | (ɛ)  |  | ə | (ɔ)

* /y/ and /ø/ most often appear after palatal consonants and in loanwords.
* /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ may be in free variation with /e o/.
* /ə/ can often be heard as [ɐ~ɑ].
* /ɤ/ varies broadly between [ɨ~ɯ~ɤ~ɘ~ə].

## Grammar

[edit]

### Morphology

[edit]

Gongduk has productive suffixal morphology (van Driem 2014).[10]

<-məˀtⁿ> ‘plural suffix in human nouns’

Examples:

* oloˀŋməˀtⁿ ‘children’ < oloˀk ‘child’ + -məˀtⁿ
* ŋidɤməˀtⁿ ‘people’ < ŋidɤ ‘person’ + -məˀtⁿ
* aroˀŋməˀtⁿ ‘friends’ < aroˀk ‘friend’ + -məˀtⁿ

However, non-human plural nouns do not take on any suffixes, and remain the same:

* kurtə ‘horse, horses’
* kəitɤ ‘bird, birds’
* kiŋ ‘house, houses’

<-e ~ -ðe ~ -θe> ‘ergative and possessive suffix’

Examples:

* bɤʔlɤpə-e ‘the people of Bɤʔlɤ [ergative]’
* choŋnən-ðe me ‘the seed of the maize’
* nor-θe taɦ ‘meat of the cow [beef]’
* rek-θe rukɤŋ ‘head bone [skull]’
* aroʔk-te-θe ‘the friend [ergative]’
* əp drəkpə-e ‘Ap Drakpa [ergative]’
* θok-θe əkəm ‘egg of offering (sacrificial egg)’
* lei-ti-ðe juʔmə ‘after one month’

<-gi> ‘ablative suffix’

Examples:

* ðiŋ goŋduʔ-gi əna ‘We are from Gongduk’
* nikkələŋ-gi ‘by way of the stairs’
* dəkθə-gi ‘from Daksa’
* kidu-gi ‘as a kidu [government gift]’
* bɤʔlɤ-gi ‘from Bɤʔlɤ’
* deŋkəle wɤŋ-gi ‘from Dengkalé Dale’
* doʔmoŋ-gi ‘from "Black Roof" village’
* phəjoŋ pəm-gi ‘from Phajong Pam’

<-gu ~ -go ~ -ku ~-ko> ‘dative / locative suffix’

Examples:

* gərəŋ-go ‘to whom’
* ohaŋ duʔ-gu ‘in that village’
* rek-ko ‘to [his] head’
* ðə-go ‘to me’
* jə-go ‘to India’
* gaoŋ-go ‘whereto, where precisely’
* pəkpək-ko ‘at times, sometimes’
* thimphu-gu ‘to Thimphu’

### Demonstratives

[edit]

Gongduk demonstratives precede head nouns.[10]

ohaŋ ‘that (demonstrative)’

Examples:

* ohaŋ ŋidɤ ‘that person’
* ohaŋ koŋ ‘that tree’
* ohaŋ duʔgu ‘in that village’

### Personal pronouns

[edit]

Personal pronoun paradigm[10] | absolutive  | ergative & genitive

|
|

singular | plural  | singular | plural
1st person  | exclusive  | ðə  | ðiŋ  | ðe  | ðiŋ, ðiŋ ŋəŋpoe
inclusive  | iθi, iθirəŋ gəŋpo  | dei, dei gəŋpoe
2nd person  | gi  | giŋ  | gi  | giŋ, giŋ ŋəŋpoe
3rd person  | gon  | gonmə  | gonðe  | gonməe, gonma ŋəŋpoe

van Driem (2014) compares the Gongduk first person singular personal pronoun ðə 'I, me' to Kathmandu Newar dʑiː ~ dʑĩ\- 'I, me' and Tshangla dʑaŋ ~ dʑi\- ~ dʑiŋ\- 'I, me'. He also compares the Gongduk first person plural personal pronoun ðiŋ 'we, us' to Kathmandu Newar dʑʰai ~ dʑʰĩ\- 'we, us'.

## Vocabulary

[edit]

The Gongduk words and phrases below are from van Driem (2014).[10]

### Basic vocabulary

[edit]

* rek ‘head’
* rukɤŋ ‘bone’
* əŋ ‘language, mouth’
* dɤŋli ‘water’
* wɤ ‘rain’
* yər ‘cliff’
* dɤ ‘salt’
* ɤn ‘tooth’
* koŋ ‘tree’
* diŋ ‘wood’
* me ‘seed’
* dola ‘cooked Setaria or rice’
* choŋnən ‘maize’
* ɤwɤ ‘banana’
* taɦ ‘meat’
* wərə ‘highland paddy, ghaiyā’
* khərəŋ ‘cooked Panicum or maize’
* don ‘pig’
* nor ‘cow’
* kurtə ‘horse’
* kəitɤ ‘bird’
* əkəm ‘egg’
* jə ‘day (24-hour period)’
* lei ‘month’
* oloʔk ‘child’
* ŋidɤ ‘person’
* aroʔk ‘friend’
* duʔ ‘village’
* kiŋ ‘house’
* nikkələŋ ‘stairs’
* θok ‘offering’
* goŋduʔ ‘Gongduk’

### Numerals

[edit]

* ti ‘1’
* niktsə ‘2’
* towə ‘3’
* diyə, piyə ‘4’
* ŋəwə ‘5’
* qukpə ‘6’
* ðukpə ‘7’
* yitpə, hetpə ‘8’
* ɢuwə ‘9’
* deyə ‘10’
* deθəti ‘11’
* deθəniktsə ‘12’
* deθətowə ‘13’
* khəe ‘score (20)’
* khəe ŋəwə ‘five score, i.e. one hundred’

### Interrogative pronouns

[edit]

* gərəŋ ‘who’
* gərəe ‘whose’
* θəpo ‘what’
* ko ‘when’
* gaoŋ ‘where, whither’
* qəti ‘how much, how many’
* gainəŋ ‘which, whence’
* qətigu ‘at what time’
* θəu, θəudi ‘why, how come’
* gora, gorapəm ‘how, in which way’
* ohaŋ ‘that (demonstrative)’

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Gongduk at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. ^ "Gongduk". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
3. ^ a b Blench, R. & Post, M. W. (2013). Rethinking Sino-Tibetan phylogeny from the perspective of Northeast Indian languages
4. ^ a b Himalayan Languages Project. "Gongduk". Himalayan Languages Project. Archived from the original on 2012-03-03. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
5. ^ "Languages and Ethnic Groups of Bhutan". www.languagesgulper.com. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
6. ^ "Why do languages die?", by Christopher Moseley, in The 5-Minute Linguist, ISBN 978-1-908049-49-0
7. ^ van Driem, George. 2001. Languages of the Himalayas. Leiden: Brill
8. ^ Gerber, Pascal. 2018. Areal features in Gongduk, Bjokapakha and Black Mountain Mönpa phonology Archived 2019-03-24 at the Wayback Machine. Unpublished draft.
9. ^ a b c d e Gerber, Pascal (2020). "Areal features in Gongduk, Bjokapakha and Black Mountain Mönpa phonology". Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area. 43 (1): 55–86. doi:10.1075/ltba.18015.ger. ISSN 0731-3500. S2CID 225218734.
10. ^ a b c d van Driem, George. 2014. Gongduk Nominal Morphology and the phylogenetic position of Gongduk. Paper presented at the 20th Himalayan Languages Symposium, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 16 July 2014.

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Dzongkha Development Authority; Dasho Sangay Dorji; Col. Wangdi Tshering; Namgay Thinley; Gyembo Dorji; Phuntsho Wangdi; Lekyi Tshering; Sangay Phuntsho (2005). དགོང་འདུས་རྫོང་ཁ་ཨིན་སྐད་ཤན་སྦྱར་ཚིག་མཛོད། (Gongduk-Dzongkha-English Dictionary). Thimphu: Dzongkha Development Authority. p. 115\. ISBN 99936-663-1-9.
* Gerber, Pascal. 2019. Gongduk agreement morphology in functional and diachronic perspective. Paper presented at the ISBS Inaugural Conference, Magdalen College, University of Oxford.
* van Driem, George L; et al. (Karma Tshering of Gaselô) (1998). Dzongkha. Languages of the Greater Himalayan Region. Leiden: Research School CNWS, School of Asian, African, and Amerindian Studies. pp. 32–33. ISBN 90-5789-002-X.
* van Driem, George L (2007). "Endangered languages of Bhutan and Sikkim". In Brenzinger, Matthias (ed.). Language diversity endangered. Trends in linguistics. Studies and monographs. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 314–15. ISBN 978-3-11-017050-4.
* van Driem, George. 2014. Gongduk Nominal Morphology and the phylogenetic position of Gongduk. Paper presented at the 20th Himalayan Languages Symposium, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 16 July 2014.

## External links

[edit]

* ELAR archive of Documentation of the flora and fauna of Gongduk

* v
* t
* e

Sino-Tibetan branches

Western Himalayas (Himachal,
Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim)|

* West Himalayish
* Tamangic
* Newaric
* Newar
* Baram–Thangmi
* Kiranti
* Dhimalish
* Dhimal
* Toto
* Lhokpu
* Lepcha

| Greater Magaric|

* Magaric
* Magar
* Kham
* Chepangic
* Chepang
* Bhujel
* Raji–Raute
* Dura–Tandrange

|

Eastern Himalayas
(Tibet, Bhutan, Arunachal)|

* Bodish
* Tibetic
* East Bodish
* Tshangla
* Basum
* Nam?
* Gongduk
* ʼOle
* Tani
* Chamdo

Myanmar and Indo-
Burmese border|

* Karbi
* Kuki-Chin
* Mruic
* Mru
* Hkongso
* Pyu
* Taman

| "Naga"|

* Ao
* Angami–Pochuri
* Meitei
* Tangkhulic
* Zeme

|

Sal|

* Boro–Garo
* Konyak
* Jingpho–Luish

East and Southeast Asia|

* Sinitic
* Bai
* Tujia
* Nungish
* Karenic
* Gong
* Kathu
* Cai–Long
* Caijia
* Longjia
* Luren

| Burmo-Qiangic|

* Qiangic
* Gyalrongic
* Ersuic
* Naic
* Lolo-Burmese
* Mondzish
* Burmish
* Loloish

|

Dubious (possible
isolates) (Arunachal)|

* Hrusish
* Hruso
* Mijiic
* Kho-Bwa
* Puroik
* Miju–Meyor
* Songlin

| Greater Siangic|

* Siangic
* Koro
* Milang
* Idu–Taraon

|

Proposed groupings|

* Central Tibeto-Burman
* Kuki-Chin–Naga
* Macro-Bai
* Mahakiranti
* Rung
* Tibeto-Burman
* Tibeto-Kanauri

Proto-languages|

* Proto-Sino-Tibetan
* Proto-Tibeto-Burman
* Proto-Loloish
* Proto-Karenic
* Proto-Min
* Proto-Hakka

Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches.

* v
* t
* e

Languages of Bhutan

Sino-Tibetan|

| Bodish|

| Tibetic|

* Dzongkha
* Ngalong
* Laya
* Brokkat
* Brokpa
* Chocangacakha
* Khams Tibetan
* Lakha
* Sikkimese

|

East Bodish|

* Bumthang
* Kheng
* Kurtöp
* Nupbikha
* Chali
* Dakpa
* Dzala
* Nyenkha

* Tshangla (Sharchop)

* Gurung
* Kiranti
* including Chamling
* Limbu
* Lepcha
* Newar
* Tamang

Unclassified|

* Gongduk
* Lhokpu
* 'Ole

Indo-Aryan|

* Nepali

Sign|

* Bhutanese Sign Language
* Nepali Sign Language

*[1SG]: first person, singular
*[2SG]: second person, singular
*[3SG]: third person, singular
*[MASC]: masculine gender
*[FEM]: feminine gender
*[1PL]: first person, plural
*[INCL]: inclusive person
*[EXCL]: exclusive person
*[2PL]: second person, plural
*[3PL]: third person, plural
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template