![]() Instead, context is used to convey the exact meaning. Indeed, the language has few words implying anything negative. Bhojraj Gautam, a linguist with in-depth knowledge of Kusunda, describes one of the most peculiar: there is no standard way of negating a sentence. But all have failed to find any robust conclusions.Īlongside its mysterious beginnings, linguists have noted Kusunda's many rare elements. He explains that several studies have attempted to link it with other language isolates, such as Burushaski from north Pakistan and Nihali from India. ![]() Madhav Pokharel, emeritus professor of linguistics at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, has been overseeing the documentation of the Kusunda language over the last 15 years. Almost all stopped speaking their language.įor the Kusunda people, losing their language means losing a link to their past, and to their identity.įrom a linguistic point of view, it is a loss in other ways, too. Low numbers in the group and the disparate nature of their population meant they mostly married neighbouring ethnic groups. The Kusunda were forced to settle, turning to jobs in labouring and agriculture. Then, in the 1950s, the government nationalised great swathes of forests, presenting further obstacles to their nomadic life. While they are now settled in villages, they still call themselves the Ban Rajas, or kings of the forest.īut as Nepal's population grew and farming increasingly fragmented the jungles, pressure on the Kusundas' homeland increased. Originally semi-nomadic, the Kusunda lived in the jungles of west Nepal until the middle of the 20th Century, hunting birds and monitor lizards, and trading yams and meat for rice and flour in nearby towns. I think it is very important for me, and others, to protect this language." "I used to listen to other, like Tharus and Magars, speaking their language, and wonder what it would be like to converse in my mother tongue. "But I am proud to know Kusunda now, even though I didn't learn it from birth. "Before coming to school in Dang, I didn't know any Kusunda language," she says. She now is able to speak it at a basic level. ![]() Hima, originally from the rural Pyuthan district bordering Dang, has been learning Kusunda for two years. In the last decade, as the government of Nepal has launched schemes to help Nepal's indigenous groups, it has also begun paying for Hima and other Kusunda children from remote areas to board at Mahindra High School in Dang – sometimes as much as a 10-hour drive away – where they are also being taught their native language. It is here the Language Commission of Nepal has been running Kusunda classes since 2019 in an effort to preserve the language. Today, most live in west Nepal's Dang district, a sleepy region of yellow mustard fields and misty, wooded hills. The Kusunda are highly marginalised and impoverished within Nepali society. But only one woman, 48-year-old Kamala Khatri, is known to be fluent. According to the latest Nepali census data from 2011, there are 273 Kusunda remaining. ![]()
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