Themes in Himalayan Languages and Linguistics.
Edited by Tej Ratna Kansakar and Mark Turin.
Heidelberg and Kathmandu: South Asia Institute and Tribhuvan University, 2003.
ISBN 9993354163
293 pages
Gwendolyn Lowes
Themes in Himalayan Languages and Linguistics contains 24 papers presented at the
fifth annual Symposium on Himalayan Languages, which was held in Kathmandu,
September 13-15, 1999. All proceeds of this book, jointly published by the South Asia
Institute, Heidelberg and Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, go toward supporting
fieldwork by Tribhuvan University graduate students.
Of the 24 papers, 19 are full articles while five are research notes. The first paper, an
introduction, opens with a discussion on the preservation and development of Himalayan
languages by Chura Mani Bandhu (pp. 1-10), including a useful appendix listing thelanguages of Nepal and the number of speakers for each. The papers that follow represent
a diverse sample of languages from Nepal, India, Tibet, China, which comprise the IndoEuropean, Tibeto-Burman and Mon-Khmer language families. While the papers havedifferent objectives and operate within different theoretical frameworks, they all rely
heavily on data to make their arguments.
The 19 articles are arranged in alphabetical order by author, with a heavy focus onmorphology and syntax, although a wide range of topics is represented. Two papers
examine tone. A paper by Brigitte Huber (pp. 65-80) describes the development of tone
in Kyirong Tibetan and comments on the differing pathways in which Tibetan dialects
have undergone tonogenesis. Stephen Watters (pp. 249-264) provides a thoroughexamination of tone in Lhomi via acoustic analysis.
Indo-Aryan and Mon-Khmer languages are represented by three articles. Jagdish
Chander Sharma (pp. 131-143) illustrates the split ergativity found in Western Paharilanguages. An article by Balaram Prasain (pp. 123-130) discusses the way in which
causatives in Bote provide evidence for complex predicates. The sole discussion of aMon-Khmer language is an article by Karumuri V. Subbarao and Gracious Mary Temsen(197-218) examining the formation and nature of wh-questions in Khasi.
The remainder of the articles focuses on Tibeto-Burman languages. A paper by KarenEbert (pp. 27-47) compiles forms in Kiranti languages which share the functions of‘conjunctive particles’. Rudra Laxmi Shrestha (pp. 145-162) provides an interesting
discussion of verbal morphology in the Badikhel Pahari dialect of Newar. Two papers
offer descriptions of grammatical phenomena in Tamang. A paper by Krishna Prasad
Chalise (pp. 11-19) describes the modality system while Bryan Varenkamp (pp. 219-232)
offers a thorough description of the Central Eastern Tamang nominalizer –ba. A sketch ofTangbe, also spoken in Nepal, is provided by Isao Honda (pp. 49-64).
Northeast India is also represented by a few contributions. Sushama Mukherji,Karumuri V. Subbarao and Dimple Walia (pp. 103-114) discuss lexical anaphors andblocking effects in Hmar and Karumuri V. Subbarao, Th. Geeta Devi and Th. Sarju Devi
Himalayan Linguistics. 2007.
© 2007. All rights reserved

Book Notice: Themes in Himalayan Languages and Linguistics(pp. 173-196) discuss embedded clauses in Manipuri. A contribution by P. Madhubala(pp. 97-102) offers an analysis of idioms in Meiteiron.
Sang Yong Lee (pp. 81-95) and N. Pramodini (pp. 115-121) offer sociolinguistic
studies. The former reports on a survey of language use amongst Sherpa speakers and thelatter examines the way in which terms of address in Meiteiron are shifting. An article byChugkham Yashawanta Singh’s (pp. 163-172) discusses borrowing among some of theNortheast’s languages. Marianne Volkart (pp. 233-248) provides an intriguing andthorough comparison of compounds in Written Tibetan with those in Sanskrit. In the onlyarticle devoted solely to historical classification, George van Driem (pp. 21-26) revisits
the Mahakiranti hypothesis.
The research notes also provide an eclectic mix of contributions. Karnakhar
Khatiwada (pp. 265-268) outlines pronominalization in Dhimal, a Tibeto-Burmanlanguage of Nepal. Complex predicates in Nepali are discussed by Ram Raj Lohani (pp.
269-274) and the use of gender is Boro and Rabha is addressed by Dipti Phukan Patgiri(275-278). A short paper by Lal Rapacha (pp. 279-286) examines semantic aspects ofSalāk(u), an oral religious text in Sunuwar. The final contribution is a discussion of somedifferences between Tibetan and Chinese by Zhijing Wang (pp. 287-293).

Gwendolyn Lowes
glow@uoregon.edu.

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