Cover not available

In:Nominal Classification in Asia and Oceania: Functional and diachronic perspectives
Edited by Marc Allassonnière-Tang and Marcin Kilarski
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 362] 2023
► pp. 58–112

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Chapter 4
Gender marking in Shumcho

 | Austrian Academy of Sciences |
Published online: 1 December 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.362.04hub
Abstract
Grammatical gender generally does not play a prominent role in Tibeto-Burman languages. Apart from lexical differentiation, the natural gender of a nominal with an animate referent can be specified by sex-indicating formatives but pronouns, adjectives or determiners are typically neutral in this respect and no agreement takes place. The West Himalayish languages, a subgroup of the Tibeto-Burman family, have borrowed a large number of lexical items from neighbouring Indo-Aryan languages, which have elaborate gender systems. Some of them have adopted a number of gendered terms in their masculine as well as feminine form. One such language is Shumcho, which is spoken in the district Kinnaur of the State of Himachal Pradesh in North India. The present chapter discusses all hitherto attested marking patterns in Shumcho and, where possible, presents potential cognates or sources of a loan.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Organization of the chapter
    • 1.2The language
    • 1.3Demonstratives, pronouns, agreement: Some preliminaries
  • 2.Kinship terms and breeding animals
  • 3.Gender marking
    • 3.1Prefixes
    • 3.2Suffixes
    • 3.3Interim synthesis and discussion
  • 4.Agreement
    • 4.1Agreement with nouns denoting human entities
    • 4.2Agreement with nouns denoting non-human or inanimate entities
      • 4.2.1Objects
      • 4.2.2Animals
    • 4.3Interim synthesis and discussion
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (53)
References
Bailey, Thomas Grahame. 1908. Linguistic studies from the Himalayas, being studies in the grammar of twenty-six Himalayan dialects. (Asiatic Society Monographs 12.) London: The Royal Asiatic Society. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
. 1909. A brief grammar of the Kanauri language. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 63. 661–687. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
Bailey, Thomas Grahame. 1911. Kanauri vocabulary in two parts. (Asiatic Society Monographs 13.) London: The Royal Asiatic Society. Online at: [URL] (Part I) and [URL] (Part II) (both: last accessed September 2023).
Bailey, Thomas Grahame. 1920. Linguistic studies from the Himalayas, being studies in the grammar of fifteen Himalayan dialects. (Asiatic Society Monographs 18.) London: The Royal Asiatic Society. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
Beyer, Stephan V. 1992. The Classical Tibetan language. (SUNY series in Buddhist Studies.) New York: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bielmeier, Roland, Felix Haller, Katrin Häsler, Brigitte Huber & Marianne Volkart. 2008. Comparative dictionary of Tibetan dialects: Nouns. (Preprint September 2008.) Bern: University of Bern.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Census of India. 2011. Population finder. New Dehli: Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
Cunningham, Alexander. 1854. Ladák, physical, statistical, and historical; with notices of the surrounding countries. London: Wm. H. Allen and Co. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cunningham, Joseph Davey. 1844. Notes on Moorcroftʼs Travels in Ladakh, and on Gerardʼs Account of Kunáwar, including a general description of the latter district. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 13. 172–253. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
Gerard, Alexander. 1842. A vocabulary of the Koonawur languages. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 11. 478–551. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
Gilchrist, John Borthwick. 1796. A grammar, of the Hindoostanee language, or part third of volume first, of a system of Hindoostanee philology. Calcutta: Chronicle Press. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
Grierson, George Abraham (ed.). 1909. Linguistic survey of India. Vol. 3: Tibeto-Burman family. Part 1: General introduction, specimens of the Tibetan dialects, the Himalayan dialects, and the North Assam group. Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
(ed.). 1916. Linguistic survey of India. Vol. 9: Indo-Aryan family, central group. Part 4: Specimens of Pahāṛī languages and Gujurī. Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
Grimes, Barbara F. (ed.). 2000. Ethnologue. Vol. 2: Maps and indexes, 14th edn. Dallas, TX: SIL International.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Huber, Christian. 2007. Researching local languages in Kinnaur. In Julia Ahamer & Gerda Lechleitner (eds.), Um-Feld-Forschung: Erfahrungen – Erlebnisse – Ergebnisse (Mitteilungen des Phonogrammarchivs 93), 249–266. Vienna: Verlag der ÖAW. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
. 2008. Erforschung undokumentierter Sprachen in Upper Kinnaur – Zur Präzisierung der Sprachsituation in Upper Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh, Indien). Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011. Some notes on gender and number marking in Shumcho. In Gerda Lechleitner & Christian Liebl (eds.), Jahrbuch des Phonogrammarchivs der ÖAW 2, 52–90. Göttingen: Cuvillier.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2013. Subject and object agreement in Shumcho. In Thomas Owen-Smith & Nathan W. Hill (eds.), Trans-Himalayan linguistics: Historical and descriptive linguistics of the Himalayan area (Trends in Linguistics, Studies and Monographs 266), 221–274. Berlin: de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2014. The verbal plural marker in Shumcho. In Ludmila Veselovská & Markéta Janebová (eds.), Complex visibles out there (Olomouc Modern Language Series 4), 193–216. Olomouc: Palacký University. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
. 2019. Progressivity and habituality in Shumcho. STUF – Language Typology and Universals 72(1). 83–132. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Joshi, Tika Ram. 1909. A dictionary and grammar of Kanâwari, the language of Kanâwar, in the Bashahr State, Punjab. (Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Sciety of Bengal 5, Extra No. 1.) Calcutta: The Baptist Mission Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1911. A dictionary of the Pahâri dialects as spoken in the Punjab Himalayas. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal N.S. 7. 119–275. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
Konow, Sten. 1905. On some facts connected with the Tibeto-Burman dialect spoken in Kanawar. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 59. 117–125. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
Mamgain, M. D. (ed.). 1971. Himachal Pradesh district gazetteers: Kinnaur. Shimla: Quick Printers. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
Martin, Dan. 1983–2018. Tibetan proper name index. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
Martinez, Philippe Antoine. 2021. A corpus-based account of morphosyntactic evidentiality in discourse in Chhitkul-Rākchham. London: SOAS University of London dissertation. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Masica, Colin P. 1993. The Indo-Aryan languages. (Cambridge Language Surveys.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Montaut, Annie. 2004. A grammar of Hindi. (LINCOM Studies in Indo-European Linguistics 2.) Munich: Lincom.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Neethivanan, Jekatican. 1976. Survey of Kanauri in Himachal Pradesh. (Census of India 1971 Monograph 3.) Calcutta: Office of the Registrar General. Online at: [URL] (last accessed September 2023).
Ratia, Alpo. 1998. Tibetan Buddhist canon holdings in India: Preliminary notes on extant Kanjur and Tanjur collections. East and West 48(1/2). 135–149.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Riaboff, Isabelle. 2005. Ethnonymy in a multiethnic context: A note on Kinnaur. European Bulletin of Himalayan Research 28. 43–53. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
Saxena, Anju. 1992. Finite verb morphology in Tibeto-Kinnauri. Eugene, Oregon: University of Oregon dissertation.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1995. Finite verb morphology in Kinnauri. Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale 24(2). 257–282. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1997. Internal and external factors in language change: Aspect in Tibeto-Kinnauri. (Reports from Uppsala University Linguistics 32.) Uppsala: Department of Linguistics, Uppsala University. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
. 2017. Sangla Kinnauri. In Graham Thurgood & Randy J. LaPolla (eds.), The Sino-Tibetan languages, 2nd edn., 756–772. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sharma, Banshi Ram. 1976. Kinnar lok sahitya [Kinnar folk literature]. Bilaspur: Lalit Prakashan. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
Sharma, Devi Datta. 1982. Studies in Tibeto-Himalayan linguistics: A descriptive analysis of Paṭṭani (A dialect of Lahaul). (Panjab University Indological Series 28.) Hoshiarpur: Vishveshvaranand Vishva Bandhu Institute of Sanskrit and Indological Studies, Panjab University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1988. A descriptive grammar of Kinnauri. (Studies in Tibeto-Himalayan Languages 1.) Delhi: Mittal Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1989. Tibeto-Himalayan languages of Uttarakhand. Part 1. (Studies in Tibeto-Himalayan Languages 3.1.) Delhi: Mittal Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1992. Tribal languages of Himachal Pradesh. Part 2. (Studies in Tibeto-Himalayan Languages 2.2.) Delhi: Mittal Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sharma, Suhnu Ram. 2001a. A sketch of Rongpo grammar. In Yasuhiko Nagano & Randy J. LaPolla (eds.), New research on Zhangzhung and related Himalayan languages (Senri Ethnological Reports 19, Bon Studies 3), 195–270. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
. 2001b. A sketch of Byangsi grammar. In Yasuhiko Nagano & Randy J. LaPolla (eds.), New research on Zhangzhung and related Himalayan languages (Senri Ethnological Reports 19, Bon Studies 3), 271–241. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
Shukla, Shaligram. 2001. Hindi morphology. (Lincom Studies in Indo-European Linguistics 15.) Munich: Lincom Europa.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Singh, Jogishwar. 1989. Banks, gods, and government: Institutional and informal credit structure in a remote and tribal Indian district (Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh) 1960–1985. (Beiträge zur Südasienforschung 129.) Stuttgart: Steiner-Verlag Wiesbaden.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Takahashi, Yoshiharu. 2001. A descriptive study of Kinnauri (Pangi dialect): A preliminary report. In Yasuhiko Nagano & Randy J. LaPolla (eds.), New research on Zhangzhung and related Himalayan languages (Senri Ethnological Reports 19, Bon Studies 3), 97–119. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
. 2007. On the deictic patterns in Kinnauri (Pangi dialect). In Roland Bielmeier & Felix Haller (eds.), Linguistics of the Himalayas and beyond (Trends in Linguistics, Studies and Monographs 196), 341–354. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2009. On the verbal affixes in West Himalayan. In Yasuhiko Nagano (ed.), Issues in Tibeto-Burman historical linguistics (Senri Ethnological Studies 75), 21–49. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
Thomas, Frederick W. 2011. Research notes on the Zhangzhung language at the British Library. (Ed. by Tsuguhito Takeuchi, Burkhard Quessel & Yasuhiko Nagano.) (Senri Ethnological Reports 99. Bon Studies 14.) Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology. Online at: [URL] (last accessed September 2023).
Turner, Ralph Lilley. 1962–1966. A comparative dictionary of Indo-Aryan languages. London: Oxford University Press. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
van Driem, George. 2001. Languages of the Himalayas. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Werner, Karel. 1997. A popular dictionary of Hinduism. Revised edn. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Willis, Christina Marie. 2007. A descriptive grammar of Darma: An endangered Tibeto-Burman language. Austin, Texas: University of Texas at Austin dissertation. Online at: [URL] (last accessed July 2023).
Zoller, Claus Peter. 1983. Die Sprache der Rang Pas von Garhwal (Raṅ Pɔ Bhāsa), Grammatik, Texte, Wörterbuch. (Neuindische Studien 8.) Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Baló, Márton A. & Zuzana Bodnárová
2023. Gender reduction in contact. Diachronica 40:5 ► pp. 578 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 6 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue