Nar Phu language
Nar Phu, or ’Narpa, is a Sino-Tibetan variety spoken in the two villages of Nar and Phu, in the Valley of the Nar Khola in the Manang district of Nepal. It forms a dialect continuum with Manang and may be intelligible with it; however, the Nar and Phu share a secret language to confound Gyasumdo and Manang who would otherwise understand them.[1]
PhonologyVowels
The language lacks all middle vowels and the open mid vowel /ɔ/. Consonants
Comparatively to the English language, the /g/ is not in the language. TonesNar Phu distinguishes four tones: high falling, high level, low rising murmured, and mid/low falling murmured. Language PatternsNar-Phu has a different vowel system than other Tamangic languages, due to the amount of front vowels. Nar-Phu is a four-tone language. Tones 1 and 4 are falling; tones 3 and 4 are murmured. Tone 2 is distinguished by its clear, high quality. Nar-Phu has no formal gendered language system, but some suffixes are used to describe animals, even castrated male animals. Honorific Noun phrases are used when there is not a noun in place for said words. [1] Swadesh List
[1] References
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