Kutang language

Kutang
Kuke
Native toNepal
EthnicityTamangs[citation needed]
Native speakers
29 (2011 census)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3ght
Glottologkuta1241

Kutang, also known as Kutang Ghale, Kuke, and Kukay, is a minor Tibeto-Burman language of Nepal. Anthropologist Geoff Childs notes that "the term Kukay literally means "Language of Kutang," but it has a double meaning in that the first syllable - ku, for Kutang - is a homonym of the first sylllbe of the Tibetan word for their, kuma. Therefore, Kukay is also interpreted to mean "stolen language," since it incorporates words and phrases from several neighboring languages, including Tibetan."[2]

  1. ^ Kutang at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Childs, Geoff (2004-09-27). Tibetan Diary: From Birth to Death and Beyond in a Himalayan Valley of Nepal. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-24133-6.