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31-659: The village is known locally as Shasima ( Sharsingma ) to the Tibetans, believed to be a Lepcha name. During the British Raj era, it was called Yatung, the name having been transferred from another location called "Yatung" in the valley between the Jelep La and Rinchengang . The original location later came to be called Old Yatung . The Chinese administration of Tibet uses the name Yatung (often transliterated "Yadong" in Chinese pinyin) for

62-511: A head-noun. Verbs may also be nominalized by a combination of suffixes. For example, zo ' eat ' may be suffixed to produce zo-shang-re ' eating ' . Many intransitive verbs incorporate a causative -y- infix , sometimes followed by a -t suffix, to take a transitive sense: Verbs are followed by grammatical suffixes and particles. Verbal particles indicating sureness, polite requests, authoritativeness, dubiousness, and other nonlexical information follow clauses. Below

93-486: A now-extinct branch of Austroasiatic that he calls "Rongic". Lepcha is a non- tonal Sino-Tibetan language, although it does have phonemic stress or pitch that may be marked in the Lepcha script . Much of its lexicon is composed of monosyllabic elements. Notably, words that are commonly considered obscene or taboo in other languages are not treated as such by native speakers. The Lepcha script (also known as "róng")

124-709: A simultaneous /ʔ/ : for example, /k/ becomes [ʔk̚] . According to Plaisier (2007), Lepcha has eight vowels: The phoneme denoted by ⟨í⟩ is shortened and appears in closed syllables; ⟨i⟩ is longer and appears in open syllables. The phoneme /e/ is realized as [e] in open syllables and in closed syllables before /ŋ/ or /k/ . Closed syllables ending in /p/ , /m/ , /l/ , /n/ , /r/ , and /t/ show free variation between [e] , [ɛ] , and even [ɪ] . Distinctions between /o/ and /ɔ/ are often lost among non-literate speakers, particularly those highly fluent in Nepali language , which does not contrast

155-555: A word is of Tibetan origin. To distinguish this retroflex sound in Lepcha script , a dot may be written underneath: ᰀᰥ᰷ , ᰝᰥ᰷ , and ᰃᰥ᰷ . Native instances of non-retroflex ᰀᰥ kr , ᰝᰥ hr , and ᰃᰥ gr may either be pronounced as written or as ⟨tr⟩ , ⟨thr⟩ , and ⟨dr⟩ . For example, tagrikup , ' boy ' , may be said either [ta ɡri kɯʔp̚] or [ta ɖi kɯʔp̚] . Lepcha has three glide consonants that may occur after certain initial consonants: /r/ , /j/ , and /l/ . When

186-505: Is Rinchengang , which is regarded as a market town for cross-border trade. The road to Nathu La and Jelep La passes on the Sikkim border takes off from Pipitang/Chema. The Tibetans of Chumbi Valley (referred to as "Tromowa") used to use this route to reach Kalimpong in British India, which was a major trading centre. Prior to 1904, there was a small village called Yusa on the bank of

217-563: Is a syllabic script featuring a variety of special marks and ligatures . Its genealogy is unclear. Early Lepcha manuscripts were written vertically, a sign of Chinese influence. Prior to the development of the Lepcha script, Lepcha literary works were composed in the Tibetan script . Lepcha language is romanized according to varying schemes, the prevailing system being that of Mainwaring (1876). Most linguists, including Plaisier (2007), whose system

248-477: Is a chart of such verb- and clause-final suffixes and particles largely following Plaisier (2007): Verbs are negated by a circumfix , ma-⟩...⟨-n(e) , e.g., khut ' to be able ' becomes ma-khut-ne ' to be unable ' . These are some sample words published in Renato Figuerido's Lepcha dictionary. David MacDonald (trade agent) David MacDonald (born Darjeeling )

279-445: Is occasionally realized as [ɦ] . Under the influence of Nepali , some Lepcha speakers have lost the distinction between /pʰ/ and /f/ , and between /v/ and /w/ . Of the above phonemes, only /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /k/, /t/, /p/, /r/ , and /l/ may be syllable-final. Native speakers tend to neutralize the difference between final /n/ and /ŋ/ . In syllable-final position, stops are realized as an unreleased stop, usually pronounced with

310-473: Is used in this article, have followed modified versions of Mainwaring's system. Other linguists and historians have used systems based on European languages such as English, French, and German. Lepcha consonants appear in the chart below, following Plaisier (2007): Retroflex phonemes /ʈ/, /ʈʰ/, and /ɖ/ are written in Lepcha script as ᰀᰥ kr , ᰝᰥ hr , and ᰃᰥ gr , respectively. Most, though not all, instances of retroflex consonants indicate

341-465: The Lepcha script syllabic ⟨sâ⟩ , e.g., ᰠᰲᰶ sâr ' goat ' , ᰠᰶᰛᰤᰨᰮ sâryom ' otter ' , ᰠᰶᰜᰩᰭ sâlók ' rhinoceros ' , and ᰠᰝᰪ sâhu ' monkey ' . Other noun classes include ⟨sâ⟩ and ⟨ka⟩ for plants, and ⟨pe⟩ or ⟨pâ⟩ for snakes and bamboo products. Lepcha verbs generally function as predicates or, in relative clauses , as modifiers before

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372-541: The Mahakiranti languages , a subfamily of the Himalayish languages . Lepcha is internally diverse, showing lexical influences from different majority language groups across the four main Lepcha communities. According to Plaisier (2007), these Nepali and Sikkimese Tibetan influences do not amount to a dialectal difference. Roger Blench (2013) suggests that Lepcha has an Austroasiatic substratum , which originated from

403-645: The Nathu La pass on the Sikkim border. Another provincial highway S208 goes via Khambu to Gyantse and beyond. There were reports of plans for extending the Lhasa-Shigatse Railway to Yatung. Lepcha language Lepcha language , or Róng language ( Lepcha : ᰛᰩᰵᰛᰧᰵᰶ ‎ ; Róng ríng ), is a Himalayish language spoken by the Lepcha people in Sikkim , India and parts of West Bengal , Nepal , and Bhutan . Despite spirited attempts to preserve

434-455: The 1911 Xinhai Revolution , and the Chinese garrisons at Yatung and Gyantse became mutinous. Their commander, General Chung Ying, overthrew the amban and declared himself the successor, claiming to act on behalf of the new Republic . The amban's officials then sought refuge from the British trade agent. But the troops were out of control and the Tibetans in open rebellion. Soon, the troops, and then

465-643: The Amo Chu river. During the Younghusband Expedition , the British troops camped on the vacant high ground above the Yusa village. Younghusband named the location " New Chumbi ", treating it as an outpost of Chumbi , which was then the most prominent town in the lower Chumbi Valley. He also had a bungalow house constructed at New Chumbi. During the three years of British administration of the Chumbi Valley (1904–1908),

496-536: The British administrator lived in the house and it came to function as the administrative headquarters of the Chumbi Valley. A trade market, a hospital and a post-and-telegraph office (PTO) also came to be located here. During this period, the location was called simply "Chumbi", and treated as an extension of the Chumbi town. After the Chumbi Valley was transferred back to Tibet in 1908, the British government in London ruled that

527-407: The British official in the Chumbi Valley would thereafter function as the "British Trade Agent at Yatung", thereby imparting the name Yatung to this location. It was called Yatung–Shasima or New Yatung to distinguish it from the original Yatung. But, over time, "Yatung" came to mean the new location. From 1905 onwards, Yatung functioned as a trade agency for traders from British India, taking over

558-584: The General, fled Tibet, through Yatung and Sikkim. British India gave them safe passage to China. David MacDonald , a British officer with Lepcha heritage, worked as the trade agent at Yatung from 1909 to 1924. The post was combined with that of Gyantse trade agency till 1936, after which British India appointed Norbu Dhondup. Sonam Tobden Kazi took up the post in 1942 and served till the end of British Raj in 1947. The China National Highway 265 connects Yatung to Phari , Gyantse and Shigatse . It also extends up to

589-718: The Renjóngmú of Sikkim ; the Támsángmú of Kalimpong , Kurseong , and Mirik ; the ʔilámmú of Ilam District , Nepal ; and the Promú of southwestern Bhutan . Lepcha-speaking groups in India are larger than those in Nepal and Bhutan. The Indian census reported 50,000 Lepcha speakers, however the number of native Lepcha speakers in India may be closer to 30,000. Lepcha is difficult to classify, but George van Driem (2001) suggests that it may be closest to

620-544: The county, and the name Shasima for the town. Yatung is at the confluence of the Khambu Chu ( Tibetan : ཁམ་བུ་མ་ཆུ , Wylie : kham bu ma chu ) and Tromo Chu (or Machu, Chinese : 麻曲 ; pinyin : Má qū ) rivers, which join here to form the Amo Chu river before it flows into Bhutan. Downstream along Amo Chu are further villages of Chumbi , Pipitang and Chema , within four miles distance. A further village after them

651-615: The functions of Old Yatung, which was never used by the British again. Chinese customs office was still at Old Yatung and goods coming via Jelep La were checked there. Scholars note that the new trade agency did not bring any significant improvements to trade, which remained at roughly Rs. 30,000 level. The Chinese amban in Lhasa posted a deputy at Yatung, who is said to have been obstructive of trade relations. In 1910, China's assistant amban at Chamdo, Zhao Erfeng , arranged an effective Chinese invasion of Tibet. The Dalai Lama escaped from Lhasa in

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682-522: The indigenous languages of the area in which it is spoken. Unlike most other languages of the Himalayas, the Lepcha people have their own indigenous script (the world's largest collection of old Lepcha manuscripts is kept in Leiden, with over 180 Lepcha books). Lepcha is the language of instruction in some schools in Sikkim. In comparison to other Tibeto-Burman languages, it has been given considerable attention in

713-478: The language, Lepcha has already effectively been lost everywhere in favour of Nepali. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) lists Lepcha as an endangered language with the following characterization. The Lepcha language is spoken in Sikkim and Darjeeling district in West Bengal of India. The 1991 Indian census counted 39,342 speakers of Lepcha. Lepcha is considered to be one of

744-429: The literature. Nevertheless, many important aspects of the Lepcha language and culture still remain undescribed. There are very few remaining households where the younger generation actively speaks the language. The entire Lepcha area is bilingual. Revitalization efforts are minimal and have had no major impact in conserving the language where it was indigenously spoken. Dwindling population and culture loss have rendered

775-586: The nick of time and made his way to Yatung, where he received British protection. Chinese officials came here to negotiate with the Dalai Lama. But he declined their entreaties and moved on to Sikkim , where he stayed until the Chinese power was exhausted in Tibet. Chinese garrisons were posted at Yatung and other key locations of Tibet, and the powers of the Tibetan officials were stripped. Not long afterwards, China underwent

806-419: The noun morphologically: the definite article -re and the dative case marker -m . All other noun markers, including for example the genitive marker, are actually invariable postpositions. A series noun markers may follow a single noun. Together, these cases and postpositions are: Plurals are marked differently according to whether they are human ( -sang ) or non-human ( -pong ) nouns. Notably,

837-563: The noun. Lepcha is an ergative language , where the ergative case indicates transitivity and completedness of the event. There is no grammatical agreement between different parts of speech (i.e. verb conjugation). Adjectives follow nouns they modify, function as predicates, or stand independently as nominal heads. Adverbs generally directly precede verbs, and reduplication is generally productive for adverbs of time (e.g. nám ' year ' → nám-nám ' yearly ' ). According to Plaisier (2007), Lepcha has only two true " cases " that modify

868-561: The phoneme /r/ operates as a glide, it can combine with /j/ as a double-glide: ᰕᰥᰤᰩᰮ mryóm , ' to spread over the ground, creep ' . Notably, syllables with the glide /l/ are given their own independent forms in the Lepcha script . Velar consonants /k/ and /ɡ/ preceding front vowels /i/ or /e/ are palatalized as [kʲ] and [ɡʲ] , respectively. Fricatives /s/ and /ʃ/ are merged before /i/ . Lepcha speakers tend not to distinguish between /z/ and /ʒ/ , pronouncing both as [z] ~ [dz] ~ [ʒ] . Additionally, initial /ŋ/

899-470: The plural is not used when the noun is followed by a number. According to Plaisier (2007), Lepcha personal pronouns are as follows: Oblique forms appear in parentheses above. Lepcha personal pronouns can refer only to humans; otherwise demonstratives are used. Personal pronouns may take the definite article -re . Many Lepcha nouns can be grouped into one of several classes based on associated characteristics. For example, many animal names begin with

930-474: The sounds. Lepcha grammar features nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs. Word order is typically subject–object–verb (SOV). Lepcha morphology is somewhat agglutinative , though most bare Lepcha lexicon is made up of one- or two-syllable words. Nouns are arranged into either head-first or head-last noun phrases. Relative clauses and genitive phrases precede nouns, whereas markers for demonstratives, definiteness, number, case, and other particles follow

961-591: The use of Lepcha superficial and its importance has remained confined to cultural and ceremonial activities where it is required as a part of a tradition that has endured. Lepcha is spoken by minorities in the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal , as well as parts of Nepal and Bhutan . Where it is spoken, it is considered to be an aboriginal language, pre-dating the arrival of the Tibetan languages ( Sikkimese , Dzongkha , and others) and more recent Nepali language . Lepcha speakers comprise four distinct communities:

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