A sketch grammar of Lamjung Yolmo.

Abstract

This book provides the first grammatical description of the Lamjung variety of Yolmo, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Nepal. The volume outlines key ethnographic information about the speakers of Lamjung Yolmo, including an account of the historical migration from the Melamchi Valley to low hills in the Lamjung District. The relationship to other Yolmo varieties, including that spoken by the main population in the Melamchi Valley, and the Syuba variety spoken in Ramechhap, is outlined, as well as its place within the Central Bodic branch of Tibeto-Burman. The focus of the volume is the grammatical description, which encompasses the major features of the language. The chapter on phonetics and phonology includes discussion of the vowel and consonant inventories, as well as the lexical tone system. The parts of speech chapter includes argumentation for the existence of word classes including nominals, verbs, adjectives, adverbs postpositions, interjections, discourse markers and honorifics. The chapter on the noun phrase includes discussion of pronominal forms, articles and case-marking. The verb phrase chapter includes discussion of tense, aspect and modality, including the evidential distinctions made in the language. The final chapter looks at features of clause structure, including relative clauses, complement clauses, nominalisation, clause combining questions and reported speech. A collection of interlinearised texts is also included.