Sunwar, Sunuwar, or Koinch (कोइँच; kõich; other spellings are Koinch and Koincha), is a Kiranti language of the Sino-Tibetan language family spoken in Nepal and India by the Sunuwar people. It was first comprehensively attested by the Himalayan Languages Project. It is also known as Kõits Lo (कोइँच लो ; kõica lo), Kiranti-Kõits (किराँती-कोइँच ; kirā̃tī-kõich), Mukhiya (मुखिया ; mukhiyā). The Sunwar language is one of the smaller members of the Tibeto-Burman language family. About 40,000 speakers are residing in eastern Nepal.

Names

The language is commonly known as Koic, for many ethnic Sunwar and Sunwar speakers also refer to the language as “Sunuwar, Koinch , Koinch or Koincha (कोइँच); Kõits Lo (कोइँच लो), Kiranti-Kõits (किराँती-कोइँच) or Mukhiya (मुखिया).” Moreover, most Sunwar speakers have the surname (सुनुवार), Sunuvār in Latin script.

Geographic distribution

The Sunuwar language is commonly spoken in a cluster of Sunuwar villages, located around the region of the core spoken language. These villages are scattered alongside the river banks of Likhu Khola, in two bordering central-eastern districts of Nepal, distant from the main Nepalese road system: in the Okhaldhū۠ngā District (part of Koshi Province), around the village of Vacul; and in the Rāmechāp District (part of Bagmati Province), around the villages of Pahare and of Kũbhu Kãsthālī for a smaller group of Sunwar speakers. The majority of the Sunwar speakers live on the southern border area of this region, between the villages of Pahare and Vacul. Located 1,800 meters above sea level, their fields aren’t all fallow from year round cultivation (Borchers, 2008). Therefore, many Sunwar households are farmers, own a small lot of land and livestock. Moreover, each village often visits their neighboring village markets to purchase inaccessible goods such as spices, sugar, tea, and salt. In the winter, they experience no snow but freezing temperatures. In warmer weather, they experience a lot of rainfall, in the summer, monsoon rainfall. Especially between June and August, it is when they experience the most rain, more so monsoon rainfall. According to Borchers, there are other villages located outside of the core region. The Surel are claimed to be Sunwar speakers however there are no certainties that it is true.

Written language

Sunuwar (or Koĩts) native alphabet in Nepal & Sikkim, India

Sunuwar speakers from Nepal and Sikkim, northeastern India, use the Sunuwar alphabet (ISO 15924 script code: Sunu ) for printed materials such as newspapers and literature. The alphabet, also known as Sunuwar alphabet, Sunuwar Lipi, Koĩts Lipi, was promoted in 1932 by Karna Bahadur Sunuwar (1926-1991), and got official recognition in Sikkim and Eastern Nepal where it is taught in schools. The Sunuwar script, is unrelated to any other scripts (even if some letter shapes have some resemblance to Latin and Limbu letter forms with similar phonetic value), and behaves like an alphabet with 35 base letters, written left-to-right, with syllabic features, extended with combining diacritics. The script also features its own set of decimal digits. Unlike other Indic scripts derived from Brahmic, the Sunuwar alphabet includes no combining vowel signs: the script was initially a pure alphabet and the base consonants initially did not have any inherent vowel. But a second version of the script modified the orthographic rules to imply its presence, where the inherent vowel would be altered when appending any independent vowel letters, or suppressed by using a virama (or halant) sign in some consonant clusters or for consonants in final position of syllables. The independent letter form for the inherent vowel is now removed in most cases from the normal orthography in the middle of words, only used in isolation (i.e. no longer written when following a leading consonant, unless it is at end of words). A number of glyphic forms (conjuncts using consonants in half forms) were added to the script after this orthographic change for more easily writing consonant clusters, instead of writing multiple consonants with virama signs.

Devanagari-based abugida for the Sunwar language in Nepal

Although Sunwar has no traditional written language in Nepal, most literate speakers use the Devanagari abugida, also used for writing Nepali.

Tikamuli native abugida (since 2005)

In 2005, another syllabic alphabet or abugida was developed for Sunuwar; it is known as Tikamuli.

Phonology

Sunwar phonology is significantly influenced by the language of Nepali.

Consonants

The Sunwar language has a mid-sized arrangement of thirty-two consonantal phonemes:

Vowels

According to Borchers, there are eleven vowel phonemes in Sunwar: ⟨a⟩ [aɑ], /ā / [aː], /e/ [eɛ], /i/ [i], /o/ [o], /u/ [u], / ū/ [uːy], /ã/ [ãɑ̃], /ã̄/ [ãː], /ẽ/ [ẽ~ɛ̃], /ĩ/ [ĩ]

Diphthongs

There are a total of eight diphthongs in Sunwar: /ai/ [aɪ], /aĩ/ [aɪ̃], /au/ [au], /eu/ [eu], /oi/ [oi], /oĩ/ [oĩ], /ui/ [ui], /uĩ/ [uĩ] According to Borchers, a principled way to distinguish diphthongs from a sequence of two monophthongs does not exist in the Sunwar language. As exemplified by Borchers, this table consists of examples of contrasts between diphthongs:

Syllable structure

Syllable Structure of Sunwar: C(C)V(V)(C)(C)

Morphology

Markers

Case-marking suffixes

According to Borchers, “all case markers in the Sunwar language are suffixes.” As exemplified by Borchers, this table consists of the noun case markers.

Dual marker

A dual marker can be associated with dual/pair or the cardinal number ‘two’. Example of dual marker by Borchers: iciṅā āl.niʃi chan Now child.DU exist-NPT.3P Now I have two children.

Plural marker

In the Sunwar language, both nouns and pronouns can be marked as dual or plural. In addition items in a group can be marked plural. Examples of the plural marker used to point at items in a group by Borchers: pujā dum pachi rãga po.paki sai.ni.mī worship happen after buffalo pig.PL kill.NPT-23D/-P.3P/SVI After worship, they kill the buffalo, pig and so on. sāg.paki acā.paki ho.ʃa.ṅāmin ʃam cai thupro dum.ba thupro tu.ni.miิ sāg.PL pickle.PL keep.PF.then beer SNG much happen.NPT+3S much drink.NPT-23D/-P.3P/SVI Having stored away sāg (green leafy vegetable) and so on and pickle and so on and, there has to be much beer, they drink a lot.

Absent marker

According to Borchers, the Sunwar language does not have a zero morpheme, but it can still indicate the number amount of something through verbal agreement markers or numerals. Example of the absent marker by Borchers: go khame jāʔi.na.sku I rice eat.NPT-1D.1D Wed eat rice.

Suffixes

Possessive suffix: ⟨-ke⟩ (Animate Agent)

According to Borchers, the possessive suffix ⟨-ke⟩ is attached to a human or animate agent to indicate a possessive relationship. Examples of the possessive ⟨-ke⟩ by Borchers: nāso.ke dui.ta dhol bā.ba dhanu.kan nāso.ke bā.ba priest.POSS two.piece drum stay.NPT+3S bow.arrow priest.POSS stay.NPT+3S The priest has two drums. The priest has bow and arrow. ne ʃo.ke bhāg ho nose face.POSS part be-NPT.3S The nose is part of the face.

Possessive suffix: ⟨-ke⟩ (inanimate subject)

According to Borchers, inanimate subjects are marked with the possessive suffix ⟨-ke⟩ to indicate what it is "made of". Example of possessive ⟨-ke⟩ indicating what it is "made of" by Borchers: jasi.ke bā.b meko jasi ā.kilā Jasi.POSS stay.NPT+3S that Jasi its.peg It is made of Jasi wood. This is a peg made of Jasi wood. (Jasi is the tree Bauhinia variegata)

Quantifiers

Quantifiers in the Sunwar language are loaned from Nepali. Quantifiers are used for amounts or masses. As exemplified by Borchers, this table consists of quantifiers; including some that are loaned from Nepali. Examples of quantifiers that indicate amounts or masses by Borchers: go ʃūʃ ma.jai.nu.ṅ I much NEG.eat.NPT+1S.1S I don’t eat much. disā matrei tui.nu.ṅ tomorrow only know.NPT+1S.1S I won’t know until tomorrow.

Syntax

Adjectives: ⟨-ʃo⟩

According to Borchers, adjectives can belong to the verbal noun form, with an attached ⟨ʃo⟩. In the Sunwar language, some adjectives are borrowed from Nepali.

Adjectives: Color forms

Borchers also notes that adjectives can belong to the form/term color. As exemplified by Borchers, this table consists of the color form/terms.

Adjectives: Non-verbal nouns without ⟨-ʃo⟩ attached

The Sunwar language has a category for adjectives under the form ‘others’, that are not verbal nouns. In addition, some adjectives may be interchangeable as an adverb. As exemplified by Borchers, this table consists of the adjectives that are not verbal nouns ending in ⟨-ʃo⟩ form/terms. Examples of adjectives that are not verbal nouns ending in ⟨-ʃo⟩ by Borchers: ɓak besā.n wan cha water very-much.REIN far exist-NPT.3S Water is far away. go umcili thiẽ bara bars.ṅā I small exist-PT.1S twelve year.GEN I was small, twelve years old. nepāli.puki ʃūʃ choto bā.ni.m Nepali.PL very small stay.NPT-23D/-P.3P/SVI Nepalese people are very small.

Particles

As exemplified by Borchers, this table consists of particles in correlation to various relationships.

Postpositional particles

According to Borchers, the Sunwar language borrows particles from Nepali that indicate the relationship between clauses. Examples of postpositional particles by Borchers:

My stomach v.s. your stomach

Example by Borchers: iิ koʔj your stomach your stomach ā koʔj my stomach my stomach

Order: Subject-object-verb

Examples of order: Subject/Object/Verb by Borchers. kuṣulanoʔbam.mī pani pher.ni.m shoemaker.INS/LOC shoes sew.NPT-23D/-P.3P subject object verb Shoemakers make shoes. Kocombo.mī buʔs sāʔī.b mongoose.INS/LOC snake kill.NPT+3S subject object verb The mongoose kills a snake.

Vocabulary

Seu+wa+la (Sewala)

Language structure

In linguistic typology, a subject+object+verb (SOV) language is one in which the subject, object, and verb of a sentence always or usually appear in that order. If English were SOV, "Sam oranges ate" would be an ordinary sentence, as opposed to the actual Standard English "Sam ate oranges". (A Grammar of Sunwar) Go khamay jainu I rice eat subject object verb "I eat rice." Sunwar people called "Khangsa" sign language with voice and direct action, for foreign people who don't understand a sunuwar language.

Numerals (Devanagari)