The Chantyal language is spoken by approximately 2000 of the 10,000 ethnic Chantyal. The Chantyal live in the Baglung and Myagdi Districts of Nepal; the villages where the Chantyal language is spoken are all located in the eastern portion of the Myagdi District and include the villages of Mangale Khani, Dwari, Ghyans Kharka, Caura Khani, Kuine Khani, Thara Khani, Patle Kharka, Malampahar, and Malkabang, most of which are shown on the map above, though sometimes under slightly different spellings. The region is mountainous and lies just south of the Dhaulagiri massif.
The Chantyal language is a member of the Tamangic group [along with Gurung, Thakali, Manangba, Nar-Phu and Tamang]. Within the group, it is lexically and grammatically closest to Thakali. Assessment of the internal relations within the group is complicated by a number of factors, among which is the fact that shared innovations may be the product of geographic contiguity as much as shared genetic background. Chantyal, however, is in many respects the most deviant member of the group, lacking a tone system and having borrowed a large portion of its lexicon from Nepali. In addition, there appears to be a layer of Tibeto-Burman vocabulary that is not Tamangic.
I've been investigating the Chantyal language since 1989, when Bill Pagliuca and I started working with Ram Prasad Bhulanja, a native speaker from Mangale Khani. A picture of the village of Mangale Khani follows. The work has been supported by the National Science Foundation.
Below are some links to pages containing pictures of Chantyal people and the region in which they live.
A view of the interior of a Chantyal house |
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A woman placing beans on a roof to dry |
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A woman returning from fetching water |
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Old men dancing at the Khele Ghos festival |
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Kamis: untouchable blacksmiths |
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A woman with a child on her back |
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A woman posing in her finest |
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A group of kids |