Tibeto-Burman language of Sikkim, Nepal and Bhutan
Lepcha
Róng ríng
ᰛᰩᰵᰛᰧᰵᰶ
The word 'Róng ríng' written in Lepcha (Róng) Script
Region
Sikkim, India; parts of Nepal and Bhutan
Native speakers
66,500 (2011-2013)[1][2]
Language family
Sino-Tibetan
Tibeto-Burman
Himalayish
Lepcha
Writing system
Lepcha script Tibetan script
Official status
Official language in
India
Sikkim
Language codes
ISO 639-3
lep
Glottolog
lepc1244
ELP
Lepcha
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This article contains Lepcha characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols.
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 the language, Lepcha has already effectively been lost everywhere in favour of Nepali.[citation needed] 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 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 the literature. Nevertheless, many important aspects of the Lepcha language and culture still remain undescribed.[citation needed]
There are very few remaining households where the younger generation actively speaks the language, and these households are few and far between. 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 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.[citation needed]
^"Lepcha". Ethnologue. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
^"Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
other symbols instead of the intended characters. The Lepcha (/ˈlɛptʃə/; also called Rongkup (Lepcha: ᰕᰫ་ᰊᰪᰰ་ᰆᰧᰶ ᰛᰩᰵ་ᰀᰪᰱ ᰛᰪᰮ་ᰀᰪᰱ, Mútuncí Róngkup Rumkup...
used by the Lepcha people to write the Lepchalanguage. Unusually for an abugida, syllable-final consonants are written as diacritics. Lepcha is derived...
Nepali Nepali Lepcha Lhokpu Kheng Gongduk Tshangla (Sharchop) There are two dozen languages of Bhutan, all members of the Tibeto-Burman language family except...
up lepcha in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Lepcha may refer to: Lepcha people, of eastern Nepal, Sikkim and Darjeeling district Lepchalanguage, of...
tea in Bhutan. They are called biryani aaku or bagharakku in Telugu. The Lepcha of Sikkim call them naap saor koong. They are often used in kumbilappam...
For example, the Róng script of Lepchalanguage uses ᰻ (U+1C3B "Lepcha Punctuation Ta-Rol") and ᰼ (U+1C3C "Lepcha Punctuation Nyet Thyoom Ta-Rol")...
had functional knowledge of Lepchalanguage and Nepali language. His name became Jerman from Germon, which in lepchalanguage means yellow by an error....
Tumlong (1793–1894) Gangtok (1894–1975) Official languages Chöke, Sikkimese Common languagesLepcha (early period), Dzongkha, Nepali (late period) Religion...
adjective because they both end in "-bo" or "-po". Bhutia people Lepcha people Lepchalanguage Indigenous peoples of Sikkim History of Sikkim Sikkimese at...
were speaking languages such as Sikkimese and Sherpa. Out of the 42,909 Lepcha there were only 38,313 speakers for the Lepchalanguage. As per the 2011...
land of poisonous flowers. The name derives from the Tibeto-Burman Lepchalanguage and translates as "the height of the poisonous plant" - in reference...
rarely used. includes supplementary vowels not in contemporary use Tibetan, Lepcha, Limbu, New Tai Lue, Thai and Lao scripts do not have independent vowel...
Indo-European languages, including Greek, and to Lepcha. Main modern theories try to link Japanese either to northern Asian languages, like Korean or...
yellow it called "second days flower" (दुसर्या दिवशीचे फळ) in Marathi. The Lepcha of Sikkim call it rung gaong koong. "Catunaregam spinosa (Thunb.) Tirveng...
as kal requires two aksharas to write. The Róng script used for the Lepchalanguage goes further than other Indic abugidas, in that a single akshara can...
(officially known as Manipuri) and Bodo as well as the non-scheduled languages like Karbi, Lepcha, and many varieties of several related Tibetic, West Himalayish...
Linguists have reached the conclusion that Yakthungpan resembles Tibetan and Lepcha. Before the introduction of the Sirijanga script among Limbu Kirats, the...
The origin of the name is unclear; stories suggest it comes from the Lepchalanguage word for "small orchid", kurson-rip because of the little white orchids...
An endangered language is a language that is at a risk of falling out of use, generally because it has few surviving speakers. If it loses all of its native...
the name Sandakphu itself, which derives from the (Tibeto-Burman) Lepchalanguage and translates as "the height of the poisonous plant". Such was the...
followed by Thami. The official languages of the state are Nepali, Sikkimese, Lepcha and English. Additional official languages include Gurung, Limbu, Magar...
Bornean and Austroasiatic languages. Lepcha substratum ("Rongic"). Many words of Austroasiatic origin have been noticed in Lepcha, suggesting a Sino-Tibetan...
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