Nar Phu language
# Nar Phu language

Nar Phu, or ’Narpa, is a Sino-Tibetan variety spoken in the two villages of Nar and Phu, in the Valley of the Nar Khola in the Manang district of Nepal. It forms a dialect continuum with Manang and may be intelligible with it; however, the Nar and Phu share a secret language to confound Gyasumdo and Manang who would otherwise understand them.

## Phonology

### Vowels

| | Front | Back |
| - | - | - |
| Close | i | u |
| Close-mid | e | o |
| Open-mid | ɛ | |
| Low | a | ɑ |

The language lacks all middle vowels and the open mid vowel /ɔ/.

### Consonants

| | | Bilabial | Dental | Retroflex | Alveolo-palatal | Velar |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Plosive | unaspirated | p | t | ʈ | | k |
| Plosive | aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | ʈʰ | | kʰ |
| Affricate | unaspirated | | ts | | tɕ | |
| Affricate | aspirated | | tsʰ | | tɕʰ | |
| Fricative | Fricative | | s | | ɕ | |
| Nasal | Nasal | m | n | | ɲ | ŋ |
| Lateral | voiced | | l | | | |
| Lateral | voiceless | | l̥ | | | |
| Rhotic | voiced | | r | | | |
| Rhotic | voiceless | | r̥ | | | |
| Approximant | Approximant | w | | | j | ɰ |

Comparatively to the English language, the /g/ is not in the language.

### Tones

Nar Phu distinguishes four tones: high falling, high level, low rising murmured, and mid/low falling murmured.

## Language Patterns

Nar-Phu has a different vowel system than other Tamangic languages, due to the amount of front vowels. Nar-Phu is a four-tone language. Tones 1 and 4 are falling; tones 3 and 4 are murmured. Tone 2 is distinguished by its clear, high quality. Nar-Phu has no formal gendered language system, but some suffixes are used to describe animals, even castrated male animals. Honorific Noun phrases are used when there is not a noun in place for said words.

## Swadesh List

* čhipruŋ - Nar
* ŋêe min - my name is
* cɦecuke - children
* tɦosor - happy/happier/happiness
* læ̂se/yarcʌkômpʌ - Yarsagompa
* šiŋ - wood
* kɦêpɛ - eighth month
* ɦyâŋi - yaks
* momori - momo
* kɦeskʌ - gas
* læ̂pa - cup
* bɦaʈʈi - hotel
* eki - again
* mɦi - dies
* molompapɛ - religious books
* molom - worship

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