Inverse and pseudo-inverse prefixes in Kiranti languages: evidence from Belhare, Athpare, and Dungmali

• Main Author: Ebert, Karen H.
• Other Authors: University of Zurich
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2024
• Subjects: Arts and Humanities
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/179229
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Belhare, Athpare and Dungmali are small Rai languages located in the area between l3antawa to the West and Limbu to the East. Athpare is spoken in a few villages to the East and Southeast of Dhankuta. Belhare is the language of one small settlement on the slopes of the Belhara hill South of Dhankuta. Informants gave Athpare-Rai as the name of their language, but it differs considerably from Athpare both in grammar and in the lexicon and is definitely not a dialect of it. Although the number of speakers probably amounts to not more than 600 for Belhare and 2000 for Athpare. both languages are still regularly spoken in the villages. No further information is available about the situation of Dungmali. (Please see map p. 91.)