Rabha language
| Rabha | |
|---|---|
| Native to | India |
| Region | Assam, West Bengal |
| Ethnicity | 370,000 (1993)[1] |
|
Native speakers
|
170,000 (2001 census)[1] |
| Dialects |
Maituri
Rongdani
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | rah |
| Glottolog | rabh1238[2] |
Rabha is a Sino-Tibetan language of India. The two dialects, Maituri and Rongdani, are divergent enough to cause problems in communication. According to U.V. Jose,[3] there are three dialects, viz. Róngdani or Róngdania, Mayturi or Mayturia and Songga or Kocha (page ix). Jose writes that "the Kocha dialect, spoken along the northern bank of the Brahmaputra, is highly divergent and is not intelligible to a Róngdani or Mayturi speaker" (page ix). Jose also writes that "[t]he dialect variations between Róngdani and Mayturi, both of which are spoken on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra, in the Goalpara district of Assam and belong to the northern slopes of Meghalaya, are minimal" (pages ix-x). Jose concludes the paragraph on dialectal variation with: "The Róngdani-Mayturi dialectal differences become gradually more marked as one moves further west" (page x).
In 2007, U.V. Joseph published a grammar of Rabha with Brill in their series Languages of the Greater Himalayan Region.[4]
Geographical distribution
According to the Ethnologue, Rabha is spoken in the following areas of India.
- Darrang district, Goalpara district, and Kamrup district, western Assam
- Nagaland
- Jalpaiguri district and Alipurduar district, West Bengal
- Tufanganj subdivision, Koch Bihar district
- East Garo Hills district and West Garo Hills district, Meghalaya
See also
References
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