Endangered Languages Project

Eastern and Western Gurung do not have adequate intelligibility to handle complex and abstract discourse. Daduwa town seems central linguistically. (Lewis 2009)

ALSO KNOWN AS		Gurung, Gurnung, Eastern, Gurung, Eastern
CLASSIFICATION		Sino-Tibetan, Tamangic
ORTHOGRAPHY		Devanagari script
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		ggn
VARIANTS & DIALECTS		Tamu Kyi Lamjung Gurung Gorkha Gurung
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS		The new ISO code change resulted in the inclusion of Eastern Gurung into Western Gurung (http://www-01.sil.org/iso639-3/cr_files/639-3_ChangeRequests_2015_Summary.pdf).

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Information from: “A sociolinguistic study of Gurung in Nepal” . Janel Swenson, Stephanie Eichentopf, and Jessica Mitchell (2015)

Threatened

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
325,000
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
522,000
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Numbers given here cover both Western and Eastern Gurung speakers.

"Despite regional differences in speech that may be found, Gurungs view themselves as having one homogenous ethnic identity. Those who have left their home area may no longer speak their Gurung language, but still identify themselves with the Gurung community and culture. They refer to their ethnic community as ‘Tamu’ and their language as ‘Tamu Kyi.’ Despite acknowledging dialectal differences in various Gurung-speaking regions, they consider ‘Tamu Kyi’ to be one language." (p.3)

DATE OF INFO: 2011 census

DOMAINS OF USE

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

"Overall, Gurung speakers have a positive attitude towards their language and have desires for development in their language. However, language vitality is declining. Gurung language use in the home, religious, village, and marketplace domains indicates younger and more educated speakers are using Gurung less than older and uneducated speakers. Nepali proficiency is reportedly high among all generations. The degree of intergenerational transfer of Gurung is low, especially by younger parents. The Gurung language is decreasingly being passed on to children and Nepali usage among even very young children is increasing. Gurung children are learning Nepali before they enter school and formal education is conducted in Nepali. These factors combined point to diminishing language vitality among the Gurung communities, especially among the younger generation." (p.47)

SPEAKER ATTITUDE

positive

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Nepali; English

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS

Younger generations and educated people use more Nepali than Gurung.

Scripts (Writing system)

Devanagari script

More on Orthography

"A variety of Gurung media exists with films, newspapers, magazines, poetry, and radio programs and the Gurung writing system uses the Devanagari script." (p.7)

PLACES: Nepal

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: the Gandaki zone

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
227,000
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
227,000 (2007), decreasing. 338,925 all Gurung languages in Nepal (2001 census)

DATE OF INFO: 2007

MORE ON VITALITY

decreasing

PLACES: Nepal

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
105,000
Native speakers worldwide

Endangered

60 percent certain, based on the evidence available
227,918
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
449,189
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
The speaker number given here covers both Western and Eastern Gurung speakers.

DATE OF INFO: 1991 census data

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

"All Gurung language communities are abandoning the language in favour of Nepali. Probably no young children are being raised in the language, so that all dialects of the language are likely to go extinct after the present generation of speakers expires." (p.310)

PLACES: Nepal

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
338,925
Native speakers worldwide

0199255911		2005	The World Atlas of Language Structures			Bernard Comrie and David Gil and Martin Haspelmath and Matthew S. Dryer	Oxford University Press	New York				2005. "The World Atlas of Language Structures." edited by Bernard Comrie et al. Oxford University Press.																			28.3333333333,84.3333333333
	16	2009	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)			M. Paul Lewis	SIL International	Dallas, TX		http://www.ethnologue.com/		Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)	ll_pub		227,000	2007	100000	227,000 (2007), decreasing. 338,925 all Gurung languages in Nepal (2001 census)						At risk (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)		decreasing			Nepal
		2015	A sociolinguistic study of Gurung in Nepal						SIL International & Linguistic Survey of Nepal, SIL Nepal & Tribhuvan University	http://www.sil.org/resources/archives/62050	Janel Swenson, Stephanie Eichentopf, and Jessica Mitchell	Janel Swenson, Stephanie Eichentopf, and Jessica Mitchell. 2015. A sociolinguistic study of Gurung in Nepal. SIL International & Linguistic Survey of Nepal, SIL Nepal & Tribhuvan University. http://www.sil.org/resources/archives/62050		522,000	325,000	2011 census	100000	Numbers given here cover both Western and Eastern Gurung speakers. "Despite regional differences in speech that may be found, Gurungs view themselves as having one homogenous ethnic identity. Those who have left their home area may no longer speak their Gurung language, but still identify themselves with the Gurung community and culture. They refer to their ethnic community as ‘Tamu’ and their language as ‘Tamu Kyi.’ Despite acknowledging dialectal differences in various Gurung-speaking regions, they consider ‘Tamu Kyi’ to be one language." (p.3)	many	Nepali; English	positive	Younger generations and educated people use more Nepali than Gurung.	all	Threatened (100 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	12	"Overall, Gurung speakers have a positive attitude towards their language and have desires for development in their language. However, language vitality is declining. Gurung language use in the home, religious, village, and marketplace domains indicates younger and more educated speakers are using Gurung less than older and uneducated speakers. Nepali proficiency is reportedly high among all generations. The degree of intergenerational transfer of Gurung is low, especially by younger parents. The Gurung language is decreasingly being passed on to children and Nepali usage among even very young children is increasing. Gurung children are learning Nepali before they enter school and formal education is conducted in Nepali. These factors combined point to diminishing language vitality among the Gurung communities, especially among the younger generation." (p.47)	12	12	Nepal	the Gandaki zone
		2007	South Asia and the Middle East	Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages	283-348	Christopher Moseley	London & New York: Routledge				George van Driem	George van Driem. 2007. "South Asia and the Middle East." In Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, edited by C. Moseley. 283-348. London & New York: Routledge.	HHOLD	449,189	227,918	1991 census data	10000-99999	The speaker number given here covers both Western and Eastern Gurung speakers.						Endangered (60 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	13	"All Gurung language communities are abandoning the language in favour of Nepali. Probably no young children are being raised in the language, so that all dialects of the language are likely to go extinct after the present generation of speakers expires." (p.310)			Nepal
	3rd	2010	Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger				UNESCO Publishing	Paris		http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas	Christopher Moseley (ed.)	Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)	ll_pub		338,925		100000							At risk (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)							28.275,84.1782
			World Oral Literature Project							http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.			105,000		100000							At risk (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)

Eastern Gurung

Language metadata

Language information by source

Threatened

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

325,000

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

227,000

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

105,000

Endangered

60 percent certain, based on the evidence available

227,918

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

338,925

Discussion

Eastern Gurung

Language metadata

Language information by source

Threatened

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

325,000

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

227,000

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

105,000

Endangered

60 percent certain, based on the evidence available

227,918

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

338,925

Discussion

Suggest information or improvement

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Sources of information

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