Bordering Tibetan languages : making and marking languages in transnational high Asia / edited by Gerald Roche and Gwendolyn Hyslop.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Roche, Gerald, editor.

Hyslop, Gwendolyn, editor.

Series:

Asian borderlands.

Asian borderlands

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Tibetan language--Dialects.

Tibetan language.

Tibetan language--Social aspects.

Boundaries--Social aspects.

Boundaries.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (216 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press, 2022.

Summary:

<i>Bordering Tibetan Languages: Making and Marking Languages in Transnational High Asia</i> examines the complex interactions between state, ethnic, and linguistic borders in the Himalaya. These case studies from Bhutan, China, India, and Nepal show how people in the Himalaya talk borders into existence, and also how those borders speak to them and their identities. These 'talking borders' exist in a world where state borders are contested, and which is being irrevocably transformed by rapid social and economic change. This book offers a new perspective on this dynamic region by centring language, and in doing so, also offers new ways of thinking about how borders and language influence each other.

Contents:

Cover

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

About the Cover Image

1 Introduction: Bordering Tibetan Languages

Making and Marking Languages in Transnational High Asia

Gerald Roche

2 Playing with Language Boundaries

Heteroglot Standard Language Ideology and Linguistic Belonging among Amdo Children

Shannon Ward

3 The Role of Classical Tibetan (Chöke) on the Development of Kurtöp, a Language of Bhutan

Gwendolyn Hyslop

4 Reimagining Rongring without Tibetan Buddhist Influence

Charisma K. Lepcha

5 Glottonyms, Identity, and Language Recognition in the Eastern Tibetosphere

Hiroyuki Suzuki

6 On the Yak Horns of a Dilemma

Diverging Standards in Diaspora Tibetan

Dirk Schmidt

7 Changing Identity and Linguistic Practices in Nubri

Veiled Language Endangerment in the Nepalese Tibetosphere

Cathryn Donohue

8 Borderline Dominance

Transnational Tibetan Language Politics in the Himalayas

9 Borders: In Conclusion

Tibetan Language Summaries

Index

List of Figures and Tables

Figures

Figure 3.1 Map of East Bodish Area

Figure 3.2 Internal phylogeny of East Bodish

Figure 6.1 A map showing the twelve largest Tibetan languages, as given by Tournadre (2003). Circles show rough locations and relative population sizes of these dialect families.

Figure 6.2 A map of the Tibetan settlements established by the CTA's Home Department dotting India, Nepal, and Bhutan (based on Asfuroglu, 2012)13

Figure 6.3 A map showing the extent of the Tibetan Empire in the eighth and ninth centuries (based on Kapstein, 2006)

Figure 6.4 Traditional nomads, farmers, and monastics from Tibetan-speaking China move to secular education or small business opportunities in the diaspora (BBG &amp

Gallup, 2012).

Figure 6.5 A satirical comic (from WeChat) is an example of these perceptions and prejudices: The new arrival (a Tibetan from Tibet, གསར་འབྱོར་པ་) is doing all the work for the Tibetan language (བོད་སྐད་ཡིག), while dragging the diaspora speakers up the h

Figure 6.6 Plotting reading levels versus grade levels in diaspora speakers (Esukhia, 2016). There is no significant correlation

grade level's R2 = 0.03.

Figure 6.7 A survey shows Literary Tibetan is used far more by Tibet-born speakers (Esukhia, 2016). This higher use is predictive of higher reading levels (R2 = 0.43). Note the effect of language anxiety: a full third of diaspora-born speakers report th

Figure 6.8 High vocabulary levels (left) and reading levels (right) correlate more strongly with being born and raised in Tibetan-speaking China than the diaspora (Esukhia, 2016).

Figure 7.1 Location of Tibetic languages in Nepal, showing Nubri. Kathmandu is marked with a star2

Figure 7.2 Ethnic identity (left) and linguistic affiliation (right) in the Nubri region

Figure 7.3 Areas of the Nubri Valley where Nubri is spoken

Figure 7.4 Languages spoken in the Nubri Valley: Samdo (Kyirong) is spoken in the north near the border with Tibet

Sama, Lho, and Prok varieties of Nubri are spoken within the valley

Kuke predominates in the Kutang area

Figure 7.5 Bar chart of perceived prestige of different varieties spoken in the Nubri Valley

Figure 7.6 Bar chart of reported intelligibility (in %, y-axis) for each Nubri variety (as shown on the x-axis) by speakers from the different villages (indicated by the label of each cluster along the top)

Figure 7.7 Nepali exerting a greater influence in southern Nubri

Figure 7.8 The influence of Tibetan is strongest in upper Nubri

Tables

Table 3.1 East Bodish languages

Table 3.2 Sound changes within East Bodish,.

Table 3.3 East Bodish Body Part Terms

Table 3.4 East Bodish Animals

Table 3.5 East Bodish Colors

Table 3.6 East Bodish Nouns

Table 3.7 East Bodish Temporal Words

Table 3.8 Grain terms in East Bodish languages

Table 3.9 Dairy terms in East Bodish languages

Table 3.10 East Bodish Numerals

Table 3.11 East Bodish Verbs

Table 3.12 East Bodish Pronouns

Table 3.13 East Bodish Question Words

Table 3.14 Comparative East Bodish Bound Morphology

Table 3.15 Some PEB forms in comparison with Tibetan

Table 3.16 Some Kurtöp and Tibetan religious terms

Table 3.17 Some additional Kurtöp borrowings from Chöke

Table 3.18 Kurtöp grammatical forms borrowed from Tibetan

Table 6.1 Textual evidence showing a spelling change that reflects pronunciation

Table 6.2 Textual evidence showing a 'frozen' spelling that no longer reflects pronunciation

Table 6.3 Modern pronunciations across Tibetan varieties

Table 6.4 Contrasting descriptions and features of literary Tibetan (H) and the Tibetan vernaculars (L)

Table 6.5 Language prestige in the Tibetan context

Table 6.6 Directly comparing standard features of literary Tibetan with Central Tibetan

Table 6.7 Distinguishing Diaspora Tibetan from Central Tibetan

Table 6.8 A comparison between the features of traditional and modern reading

Table 6.9 The path to literacy and the roadblocks in Standard Tibetan

Table 7.1 Perceived prestige of different varieties spoken in the Nubri Valley

Table 7.2 Reported Intelligibility between Nubri Varieties

Table 7.3 Preferred language of communication in Nubri.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 24 Nov 2022).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-003-69177-3

90-485-5271-0

9781003691778

OCLC:

1346215342