Aspects of the historical development of nominalizers in the Tamangic languages

This paper focuses on the form and function of nominalizations within Tamangic, a sub-group of Bodic (Tibeto-Burman). Nominalizations have played an important role in the grammar of Tamangic languages from the Proto-Tamangic stage until the present. The paper posits historical developments for nominalizers and addresses issues related to this development. It concludes that the basic features of the use of nominalizations have remained constant; however there have been significant innovations, largely induced by contact with the lingua franca, Nepali. Among these innovations are: the rise of new nominalizers, the loss of the genitive with nominalizations used adnominally, as well as the development in some Tamangic languages, Chantyal in particular, of nominalizations exhibiting tense distinctions, and the development of periphrastic constructions involving nominalized verbals in the verb complex.