Kho-Bwa language of Arunachal Pradesh, India
Bugun, also known as Khowa, is a small possible language isolate spoken in Arunachal Pradesh state of India by the Bugun. They numbered about 1,700 in 2011.
Classification
Bugun is classified as a Kho-Bwa language in Blench & Post (2013), although Blench (2015)[2] believes Bugun may actually be unrelated to the rest of the Kho-Bwa languages.
Dialects
Lieberherr & Bodt (2017)[3] list the following Bugun dialects along with their numbers of speakers.
- Dikhyang (100 speakers)
- Singchung (680 speakers)
- Wangho (220 speakers)
- Bichom (630 speakers)
- Kaspi (80 speakers)
- Namphri (180 speakers)
Distribution
Bugun is spoken in the following villages in southern West Kameng District, Arunachal Pradesh (Dondrup 1990:iv).[4] The total population numbered 800 in 1981. Names in parentheses are spellings as given in Ethnologue.
- Wanghoo (Wangho)
- Singchung
- Kaspi (New Kaspi)
- Lichini
- Ramo (Ramu)
- Namphri
- Chithu (Situ)
- Sachida (Sachita)
- Pani-Phu
- Ditching (Diching)
- Dikhiyang (Dikiang)
- Bicham (Bichom) (a recently founded hamlet)
Ethnologue also lists Mangopom village. These villages are located on the mountains on both sides of Rupa River.
References
- ^ Bugun at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Blench, Roger. 2015. The Mey languages and their classification. Presentation given at the University of Sydney.
- ^ Lieberherr, Ismael; Bodt, Timotheus Adrianus. 2017. Sub-grouping Kho-Bwa based on shared core vocabulary. In Himalayan Linguistics, 16(2).
- ^ Dondrup, Rinchin. 1990. Bugun language guide. Itanagar: Directorate of Research, Government of Arunachal Pradesh.
