B. K. Rana

Linguistic Society of Nepal

email: bk_rana@hotmail.com

New Materials on Kusunda Language

( Presented to the Fourth Round Table International Conference on Ethnogenesis of South and Central Asia, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA. May 11 - 13, 2002 )

General Background

The Himalayan kingdom of Nepal is extremely rich and complex in cultural as well as linguistic diversity. The diversity as such is mainly because there live diverse ethnic groups of peoples since thousands of years, each of which has its own distinct language and culture. Kusunda is one of the ethnic groups of peoples whose language and culture are believed precious to the students of ethnology.

Kusundas are also known as one of the indigenous peoples of Nepal. They feel embarrassed having an introduction as the Kusundas. Therefore, they seem to have shifted to other languages and cultures apparently leaving an impression of their extinction. Their tribal name is myahq - ‘king of forests’. Before presenting anything about the Kusundas, I must extend my profound gratitude to Dr. Michael Witzel, Wales Professor of Sanskrit at Harvard, without whose constant guidance and encouragement for almost two years through electronic mediums, my presence to this prestigious conference would have been impossible. Meanwhile, I should also sincerely thank Professor Harold Fleming and Paul Whitehouse whose inspiring letters prompted me to continue my research on the Kusundas. Paul Whitehouse's article in Mother Tongue (1997) was also something new and important to me. And, his comments on my article in Janajati (2001) also inspired me to further work on the Kusundas.

I must also quote here then British Resident Representative to Nepal, Brian H. Hodgson's lines on Kusundas as "they were generally supposed to be autochthones, or primitive inhabitants of the country, were near to what is usually called the state of nature as anything in human shape can well be, deemed very precious by all the real students of ethnology. Their origin, condition and character are, in truth, ethnic facts of high value, as proving how tribes may be dislocated and deteriorated during the great transitional eras of society" (Hodgson 1857). This information is brief and sketchy but it has always induced me to go into Kusunda studies. Kusunda research is not yet completely accomplished. It will take sometime more and therefore, we are optimistic that our Kusunda informants will live long so that we will become able to reasonably finish with our studies on them. It is our sincere hope that the concerned authorities will also do something meaningful from their part to preserve Kusundas in the Himalayas.

Kusunda has also been cited as a dead language. My research data on Kusunda do not support this claim. It is a fact that Kusunda has quite a few speakers, who have shifted to other language groups, causing language attrition owing to marriage, migration and other soci-economic changes the societies have undergone. Under these circumstances, it may well be surmised that Kusunda is on the verge of extinction and may die out with the death of its remaining living speakers. It is, therefore, high time to document and analyze this language before it is lost into oblivion.

Kusunda Ethnicity and Population

Kusundas are also called Banarajas - Kings of the forests, because they used to live in the forests, called themselves *myahak[1] had a kind of taxation system over Rautes[2]. Kusundas were Kings and Rautes were their subjects. Generally Rautes run away if they happen to see a Kusunda from a distance. This can be noticed even today along the Raute track in the Surkhet district of Midwest Nepal. Kusundas had a foraging society. But, the case is different now; there is no left Kusunda who gathers and hunts in the wild. I have found 7 Kusundas, in the central and mid-western hills of Nepal, whom I believe ethnically pure by origin and two of them are younger females married to Chhetris, another ethnic group in the country. There are few other Kusundas of mixed origin; including them the Kusunda population in Nepal will not exceed fifty in total[3].

I believe, both 'Banaraja' and 'Kusunda' are names given to the 'myahq peoples' (Kusundas) by other communities. Kusundas are also said to be the offspring of 'Kusha' - Rama's second son born from 'kusha grass' in Valmiki’s Cottage. This story is well depicted in The Ramayana. Chepangs[4] also believe they are the offspring of Sita's first son Lohari or Lava who is also very famous in the Ramayana. Lohari and Kushari were two sons of Sita. The Kusundas believe that they are offspring of Kushari - Kusha. Later Lohari and Kushari became rivals. Then the Kusundas and Chepangs began to live separately. Some of the Chepang cognates have some similarity with that of Kusunda's. Both Kusunda and Chepangs are found in the hills of Nepal.

Kusunda Language

Kusunda culture is nonexistent now. But, there is their language which, I believe, originated in the Sino-Tibetan area; or it could be an earlier language in this area. However, a number of eminent linguists have written to me explaining that some of the present Kusunda cognates might be Tibeto-Burman borrowings. If it is to be believed, then Kusunda will be a ‘barren’ language without its own cognates for objects such as: *ing (sun), *ngsa (fish), *uyu (blood), *gepan (language), *un (trail), *langhai (village), *suta (thread), *mucha (banana), *kakchi (crab), *tu (snake), etc. So, it is a matter of thorough research. Robert Shafer (1954) was the first scholar to notice Kusunda as a language isolate. Professor H. Fleming as well as most other linguists also believe that this is a language isolate. Yet, it may also be argued that Indo-European, Tibeto-Burman as well as other languages also shared with Kusunda. It is a matter of serious study as to what is the genesis of Kusunda language in the Himalayas. The Kusunda people, their language and culture are very important to both linguists and anthropologists alike. Recently the Kusundas have undergone a drastic change in their life style, as the result of which they have completely forgotten their own ulture and tradition. Still, fortunately there is the language 'living' at the moment. This language has not yet been well studied for we have obtained only limited data so far.

Additionally, the SIL Ethnologue's mentioning of the death of the Kusunda language has also dispirited linguists to find other Kusunda speakers and study the language. Under the auspices of His Majesty's Government of Nepal, I could go for some research and find a few Kusundas who can speak the language fluently. A month ago, I have been informed again that there is yet another male Kusunda who can also speak the language. I hope to see him soon. Therefore, there are still ample opportunities for everyone of us to study the language and understand its importance.

Hodgson - Grierson Data

When talking of the Kusundas we happen to remember Hodgson. Having lived in Nepal for a long time in the early nineteenth century, Hodgson had been very fortunate to go into studies on languages, literatures and religions of Nepal and Tibet. He was much fascinated by ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity of the Himalayan region. His works on these areas are always great. But, as concern Kusundas he could not personally meet with them and has so admitted "During a long residence in Nepal, I never could gain the least access to the Kusundas, though aided by all the authority of the Durbar." (Hodgson 1957). In those days, Nepal was experiencing certain political changes – the Rana Regime was recently installed and lasted for 104 years; under them, there were no educational and other sorts of developments. It is therefore understandable that Hodgson’s assistants were people from other communities. It is also possible that those assistants were not even from the speakers’ neighbouring community and had very little knowledge of Kusunda as well as of Tibeto-Burman languages in Nepal. Needless to say therefore, some of the Kusunda data obtained that way now require verification.

Grierson drew on Hodgson’s vocabulary for the Linguistic Survey of India in 1909. Later scholars also have drawn from the latter's work. These data have to be independently verified again. Below is a comparative listing of Hodgson data, drawn from the Linguistic Survey of India:

English	New Data	Hodgson data
One	kasti	Goisang
Two	dukhu	Ghinga
Three	dahat	Daha
Four	pigo	Pinjang
Five	?	Pangang-jang
House	wohi	Bahi
Hand	nabi/amokh	Gipa
Child	ghichi	gitase/chyachi
tooth	ouhu	toho
eye	ining	chining
good	uhin	waiyaki
trail	ung	won
he	git/gina	gida

Reinhard-Toba Data:

John Reinhard and Sueyoshi Toba also worked on Kusunda some 32 years ago. Their data are the primary data recorded by Reinhard from the field, which were later analyzed by Toba in Kathmandu. But, the latter had not been able to see and speak with the Kusundas in person. Both of them were non-native researchers. I have found a number redundant data in Reinhard-Toba lists, nevertheless, it is a scientifically accomplished work. Reinhard has honestly admitted "this (Kusunda analysis) unfortunately was based on very little data, is incomplete and contains several errors; significant variants obtained from different informants have been listed. Several of these terms could not be checked and therefore the list should not be considered definitive" Reinhard (1976). Therefore, there are also some inevitable redundancies.

Similarities with Other Languages

Having found some sorts of similarities with a few indigenous languages of the Tibeto-Burman family, I therefore believe that Kusunda originated in the Sino-Tibetan area. Kusunda *mahi (water buffalo) and *mai (mother) are similar to Central Magar mahi and mai, with the same meanings; cf. also Sanskrit mahisha. Kusunda mai is quite close to Sanskrit *maataa meaning 'mother'. Some other Tibeto-Burman linguistic communities also have 'mai' for mother. In the same manner Kusunda and Magar say suta for 'thread' and its Prakrit is sutta and in Sanskrit it is suutra.

I have already mentioned above that some linguists differ with my view on the origin of Kusunda. They believe that Kusunda is a language isolate – not sharing recent common origin with any languages. But my recent findings confirm that Kusunda has noticeable affinities with a number of indigenous languages spoken across northern belt of Nepal. Therefore, it is possible that this language originated in the Sino-Tibetan area and other major language families also shared with it. Below are some sample cognates.

1. one

KUSUNDA: kasti; TIBETO-BURMAN: kat (Central Magar)

2. blood

KUSUNDA: uyu ; TIBETO-BURMAN : chyuhui (Baram), uyu (Chepang), hayu (Dura)

3. trail

KUSUNDA: ung; TIBETO-BURMAN: ungma (Baram)

4. fish

KUSUNDA: ngsa ; TIBETO-BURMAN: ngyasya (Western Magar), ngya (Chepang), dishya (Central Magar), dishya (Dura)

5. fire

KUSUNDA: za ; TIBETO-BURMAN: chhawo > warm/hot (Tibetan)

6. language

KUSUNDA: gepan ; TIBETO-BURMAN: ge+pang (Western Magar > ge = we/our, pang = language), ke-gepa (Tibetan: meaning 'you cry aloud').

7. banana

KUSUNDA: mucha ; TIBETO-BURMAN: mocha (Central Magar); moje, (Tamang), muja (Dura), mach (Gurung); also in Dravidian (Tulu mote etc.)

8. water buffalo

KUSUNDA: mahi; TIBETO-BURMAN: mahi (Central Magar), mai/maikha (Dura), mai (Gurung); cf. Skt. mahisha

9. village

KUSUNDA: langhai; TIBETO-BURMAN: langha (Central Magar)

10. sun

KUSUNDA: in/ing, TIBETO-BURMAN: nin/nim (Nymba), nima (Tibetan), nyam (Chepang)

11. bread

KUSUNDA: mangmi; TIBETO-BURMAN: mangmi (Bhote)

12. mother

KUSUNDA: mai; TIBETO-BURMAN: mai (Central Magar/Western Magar), INDO-EUROPEAN: maataa (Sanskrit)

13. forest

KUSUNDA: gelang : SINO-TIBETAN: bling

14. thread

KUSUNDA : suta: SINO-TIBETAN : suta (Central Magar) ; INDO-EUROPEAN : sutta ( Pali/Prakrit); suutra (Sanskrit)

15. crab

KUSUNDA: kakchi SINO-TIBETAN: khakre (Tamang)

16. snake

KUSUNDA: tu; SINO-TIBETAN: du (Bhote); pu (Kulung Rai)

17. egg

KUSUNDA: gwa; SINO-TIBETAN: wa-kun (Chepang); wadi (Kulung Rai)

18. monkey

KUSUNDA: guinyau (CN), haku (MWN); SINO-TIBETAN : laku (Dura)

19. nose

KUSUNDA: inau SINO-TIBETAN: nu (Dura)

20. Leg

KUSUNDA: yen/yeng SINO-TIBETAN: lung (Kulung Rai)

21. Louse

KUUNDA: kee SINO-TIBETAN: see (Kulung Rai)

22. goat

KUSUNDA: miza (CN), azaki (MWN), INDO-EUROPEAN: aja (Sanskrit)

The list above shows that Kusunda has some kind of relationship with other languages across Nepal. Therefore, this sort of relationship should not be taken as borrowings only. It is also a matter of deep study as to who borrowed from whom? Below I give some further explanation of the language:

(a) There is prominence of nasal 'h' sound in Kusunda language and one of the striking characteristics of Tibeto-Burman languages is that they have nasal 'h' prominently occurring in all distributions; for example, ngsa ‘fish’, ngyangdi ‘woman’, dimtang ‘beer’, langhai ‘village’, ung ‘trail’, gelang ‘forest’, ing ‘sun’, mangmi ‘bread’, sijang ‘beer’, etc. The Santhal language beloging to the Austro-Asiatic Munda family has 'yeh' prominently occurring in its major word classes.

(b) For ‘fish’ the Kusundas say ngsa' [h+sa], the Magars of the Karnali area say *ngya+sya, the Chepangs ngya or nga, the Barams nanga and the Magars of the Gandaki area [di+sya]. These segments [h+sa], [nga+sya] and [di+sya] have the same meaning and the formation of these words are also distinctly similar. The Kusunda [h+sa] has *n of nur or ngr for water and *sa for meat. Fish is ‘meat from water’. Therefore *ngsa is a Tibeto-Burman word.

(c) Concerning numerals in Kusunda there is 'kasti' for '1' and 'pigo' for '4'. In the Magar language of Central Nepal these are 'kat' and 'buli' respectively. In the Baram language 4 is called 'bi'. The Kusunda ‘pigo’, Baram ‘bi’ and Magar ‘buli’ have bilabial similarities. In Kusunda, counting does not exceed five: kasti for 1, dukhu for 2, dahat for 3, pigo for 4 and pangang-jang for 5. The case is very similar to the Magar language: Magars have 'kat' for 1, 'nish' for 2, 'song' for 3, ‘buli’ for 4, ' bang’ for 5.

Complex Pronominalization

Kusunda is a complex language. The problem lies in its pronominalization. The Hodgson-Grierson and Reinhard-Toba data, which most later day linguists have utilized have to be reanalyzed. Comparatively, the Reinhard-Toba data seem to have been obtained more scientifically than Hodgson- Grierson's. But the former's data have also been found to contain some flaws. My informants have given me comparatively different data. Therefore, we should also check other sources, along with these two, before we draw any conclusion. I understand that the Kusundas have a habit of answering someone's question just in one word or two, which is a most common feature in other languages of the Tibeto-Burman family. We do not find formal expressions in Tibeto-Burman languages. They are just spoken in one or two words. The same can be traced out in the Kusunda language also. For example :

	English	Kusunda
(I)	eat	taman
(I)	give	itanan
(It)	bites	kamaji

My stomach = chii chimat

Your stomach = nii nimat

His stomach = gidi gimat

I have been able to record some Kusunda sample sentences few months ago. These sentences are collected from two female Kusunda speakers of the Rolpa and Dang districts, in mid-west Nepal. One of the speakers' daughter, who is married to a Chettri, also can speak the language. While at home, mother and daughter converse in Kusunda language. I found Kusundas have a habit of speaking only one word or short phrases when speaking to others.

English	Kusunda
I eat rice		chi kadi gaman / kadi tamdi
I go home		chi woha / wohi tagai
I come home		chi waha / wohi tugun
He eats rice		git kadi gaman
You eat rice		nu kaji naman
(You) come here		taba aaga
(I) drink water		tang chongdi
I go along this way		taun chahan
I live at home		wohi sahan
I live in(side) the home		aawa sahan
It rained		tang ugun (tãun)
It rained yesterday		pene tang ugun
The sun rose		ing ugi
A hard sun !		ing haap !

Comparative Study of Kusunda with the Magar Language of the Karnali Area[5]

Both the Kusunda and the Magar languages of the Karnali area have distinct similarities; however, we can find a number of Kusunda cognates that are similar to other Tibeto-Burman languages like Shauka, Baram, Chepang, Tamang, Thaksya, Bhote, Bhujel etc. The Magars of the Karnali area call the languages of others’, including Nepali, the state language of Nepal, 'rangpang' and call their own language 'gepang'. Kusundas also call their own language 'gepang'. Both 'gepangs' have striking syntactic similarities:

Kusunda Gepan	Western Magar Gepang
chi kadi gaman (I rice eat)	nga yai/kang jyonga (I rice eat)
git kadi gaman (He rice eats)	wola yai/kang jyowa (He rice eats)
nu kadi naman (You rice eat)	nanga yai/kang jyona (You rice eat)

In the Kusunda sentences given above there are pronominalized verbal prefixes, and in Western Magar sentences we can see pronominalized verbal suffixes. Have prefixes and suffixes different functions in the process of word formation? Below I give a few more pronominalized sentences and phrases from the Magar language of the Karnali area in Kusunda structure:

Western Magar Gepang	English
nga ri ngawoje	I water drink.
nang ri nawoje	You water drink
ge ri gewoje	We water drink
nga ngalijjya	I (here) am
nang nalijjya	You (there) are
ge gelijjya	We (here) are
nga ngado	I (it) do
nang nado	You (it) do
Ge gedo	We (it) do.

The above examples indicate that Kusunda is not a language isolate. It is quite similar to the Kham Magar language of the Karnali area, which shows that Kusunda has some sort of affinity with Tibeto-Burman. Unfortunately, Hodgson-Grierson and Reinhard-Toba do not seem to have made any effort to compare Kusunda with other Tibeto-Burman languages found in Nepal. Had they been able to study the Western Magar language, they would have categorized Kusunda as having originated in the Sino-Tibetan area.

Comparison with Kulung Rai Language

The eastern part of Nepal is primarily inhabited by the Rai and Limbu ethnic groups. These peoples speak their own languages belonging to the Tibeto-Burman family. Kulung Rai is also a pronominalized language. Below I give a few words and sentences of Kulung Rai language:

Kulung Rai Words

I = kong	he = nako	we = keika
kaska = we two	snake = pu	waas = play
sun = namchhoba	stone = lung	egg = wadi
leg = lung	water = kaw	tree = seechho

Kulung Rai Counting

one = ibum	two = nichi
three = supchi