[[Image:Nepal ethnic groups.png|250px|right|thumb|Selected ethnic groups of Nepal;
Bhotia, Sherpa, Thakali

Gurung

Kirant, Rai, Limbu

Nepal Bhasa

Pahari

Tamang]]


Tamang (Devnagari:तामाङ) is a term used to collectively refer to a dialect cluster spoken in parts of Nepal and Sikkim. It comprises Eastern Tamang, Northwestern Tamang, Southwestern Tamang, Eastern Gorkha Tamang, and Western Tamang. Lexical similarity between Eastern Tamang (which is regarded as the most prominent) and other Tamang languages varies between 81% to 63%; lexical similarity between Spanish and Portuguese, for instance, is estimated at 89% .

Dialects

The Tamang language has further been subdivided into the following dialects-

• Eastern Tamang: 759,257 in Nepal (2000 WCD). Population total all countries: 773,257;
• Western Tamang: 322,598 (2000 WCD);
• Southwestern Tamang: 109,051 (1991 census);
• Northwestern Tamang: 55,000 (1991 census);
• Eastern Gorkha Tamang: 3,977 (2000 WCD).

Tamang language is the largest Tibeto-Burman language in Nepal.

Grammar

Some grammatical features of Tamang languages are

• SOV
• postpositions;
• genitives after nouns;
• question word medial;
• ergative;
• CV, CVC, CCV, V, CCVC;

Phonetically Tamang languages are tonal.

Writing system

Tamang languages use Tam-Yig which is similar to Tibetan scripts and Devanāgarī. In many situations, however, Tamang is written in Devanāgarī proper.

See also

Tamang (ethnic group)

Gurung (ethnic group)

External links

• Counting in Tamang
• Ethnologue
• Tamangs.com