Lamo language


Lamo is an unclassified Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Tshawarong, Zogang County, Chamdo Prefecture, Tibet. It was recently documented by Suzuki & Nyima. sMad skad, a closely related language variety, is also spoken in Tshawarong.
Suzuki & Nyima document the Kyilwa 格瓦 variety of Dongba Township 东坝乡.

Names

Lamo is referred to by the Changdu Gazetteer as Dongba 东坝话, as it is spoken in :zh:东坝乡 |Dongba Township 东坝乡, Zogang County.
Khams Tibetan people refer to Lamo speakers as mBo or mBo mi. Traditionally, Lamo speakers also referred to themselves as Po mi, although this autonym is not known by all Lamo speakers. They refer to their own language as Lamo. Some Lamo speakers also refer to their town language as ˊmbo hkə.
Lamo autonyms by location :
LanguageAutonymLocation
LamoDongba Township 东坝乡, Dzogang County
LamoZhonglinka Township 中林卡乡, Dzogang County
gSerkhuShangchayu Town 下察隅镇, Dzayul County

Demographics

Lamo is spoken by about 4,000 speakers, with 2,000 in Dongba Township, and 2,000 in Zhonglinka Township. Both townships are located along the Nujiang River in Dzogang County.
Lamo and gSerkhu villages by township:
LanguageTownship, CountyVillages
LamoDongba Township 东坝乡, DzogangJunyong 军拥村, Gewa 格瓦村, Puka 普卡村, Bazuo, and Jiaba 加坝村
LamoZhonglinka Township 中林卡乡, DzogangShizika 十字卡村, Luoba 洛巴村, Ruoba 若巴村, Wadui 瓦堆村, and Wamei 瓦美村
gSerkhuShangchayu Town 上察隅镇, DzayulBenzhui 本堆村, Muzong, Cuixi 翠兴村, and Sangba

Dialects

There are two dialects:
There are 5 Lamo-speaking village clusters in Dongba Township, which are Kyilwa, Phurkha, Gewa, Gyastod and Gyasmed. The remaining village clusters, out of a total of 13 village clusters in Dongba Township, are Khams Tibetan-speaking villages.
Lamei is spoken by 1,500 to 2,000 people in 5 village clusters in is spoken in Zhonglinka Township. Sitrikhapa, Wangtod, Wangmed, Rongba, and Laba village clusters have only Lamei speakers. Woba, Pula, and Zuoshod village clusters have both Lamei and Khams Tibetan speakers.
gSerkhu is a variety of Lamo, with which it is mutually intelligible. Khams Tibetan speakers refer to the language as Sikhu. gSerkhu is spoken by about 400 people in 4 villages of the gSerkhu Valley, which are Benzhui, Muzong, Cuixi, and Sangba, all located in Shangchayu Town, Dzayul County. Dzayul County also has Khams Tibetan speakers who had originally migrated from the Lamo-speaking area of Dongba Township, Dzogang County.

Classification

Suzuki & Nyima suggest that Lamo may be a Qiangic language. Guillaume Jacques suggests that mBo is a rGyalrongic language belonging to the Stau-Khroskyabs branch.
Suzuki & Nyima note that Lamo is closely related to two other recently documented languages of Chamdo, eastern Tibet, namely Larong and Drag-yab.
Lamo compared with Written Tibetan and Proto-Tibeto-Burman :
GlossLamoWritten TibetanProto-Tibeto-Burman
oneˉdəgcig*tyak ~ *g-tik
fourˉlə̰bzhi*b-ləy
sevenˉn̥ibdun*s-ni-s
tenˉʁɑbcu*tsi ~ *tsyay
youˉnəkhyod*na-ŋ
horseˊrerta*s/m-rang
bloodˉsekhrag*s-hywəy-t
urineˉqogcin*kum

Lexicon

Suzuki & Nyima list the following Lamo words.
GlossLamo
onedə˥
twona˥
threesɔ̰̃˩
fourlə̰˥
fiveɴʷɚ̰˥
sixtɕi˩
sevenn̥i˥
eightʱdʑə˥
nineᵑɡo˥
tenʁɑ˥
hundredʱdʑi˥
1.SG pronounŋa˥
2.SG pronounnə˥
3.SG pronounkə˥
bloodsa˥
urineqo˩
meattɕʰi˥
ironʰtɕɑ˥
needleʁɑ˩
fishɲɛ˩
pigpʰo˥ ɦu
horsere˩
skynɑ˥
landsɛ˥ tɕʰɛ
sandɕe˩ mɛ
hillsideɴɢa˥
snowjʉ˥
roadtɕɯ˥
watertɕə˥
eatwə˥-
sleepnə˥-

Morphology

Directional prefixes in Lamo:
Directional prefixes with le ‘come’ in Lamo: