The Kusunda language of Nepal is one of those mysterious languages that has been classified as a language isolate. Kusunda / Kusanda / Ban Raja / mihaq is also known as gilɐngdəy məhyɐq gipən / ‘language of the kings of the forest’. It is spoken by less than 100 people as of 2014.
- टिक सवट्टै नु प्रतिष्ठा कफेरा अधिकार ककेजे जिबेजी अगन्जी । गिना ग्याओ चिय कफेरा मागभया नाङ्टे अङी । ṭik sawaṭṭe nu pratiṣṭhā kapherā adhikār kakeje jibejī aganjī. ginā gyāo ciy kapherā māgbhayā nāṅ’ṭe aṅī. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
B. K. Rana (2002) proposes that Kusunda is technically a Tibeto-Burman language. In other proposals it has been linked to Munda (Watters 2005); Yeniseian (Gurov 1989); Burushaski and Caucasian (Reinhard and Toba 1970), and the Nihali isolate in central India (Fleming 1996, Whitehouse 1997).
Is Kusunda a Tibeto-Burman i.e. Oriental language? It does certainly have an Oriental frequency to it. It originated in the Sino-Tibetan area. But is it simply Orientalescent or fully Orientalesque?
Is it rather related to the Munda/Kolarian languages, today spoken by around nine million people in India and Bangladesh? The Munda languages are closely related and they are classified as a branch of Austroasiatic languages, further related therefore to languages like Mon, Khmer and Vietnamese. This would make Kusunda a “Blockful” tongue.
মুণ্ডরি / मुण्डरि / ମୁଣ୍ଡରି / Muṇḍari / Mundari is a Munda language spoken by about 1.17 million people mainly in northeastern India, in northern Bangladesh and eastern Nepal. Mundari is also known as Colh, Horo, Kolh, Mandari, Mondari or Munari.
- soben hoɽoko ke manaraŋɡa oɽoo akt̪iaːra ko reʔ pait̪i-baːbat̪a re d͡ʑanama d͡ʑoroŋɡʔet̪e ahɖaːnaɖa oɽoo baraːbariː namaː kanaː. inku ke seŋɽãː oɽoo-d͡ʑiː peɽeː, d͡ʑiːu reʔ enemako namaː kanaː oɽoo inku looːt̪e haɡeaː-woaː lekaː d͡ʑaɡara bakara laɡaːt̪ŋɡʔ. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Bhumij is a Munda language spoken by about 100,000 people mainly in the Indian states of West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand, considered a dialect of Mundari by most people.
- Joto hoṛoko ke mān ār ôdhikār reyā pāīṭī re jônmôjug āte nôwārī oḍoô bārābārī nām ākānā. Ājke buddhi oḍoô ôntôr ātmā āte nām ākānā oḍoô soṅgere ājke dādā bhāī rūpte māntī dôrkār. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Ho / हो जगर / hōō jagara is a Munda language spoken in the Indian states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Assam, and Bangladesh. As of 2001 there were just over a million speakers of Ho. Also known as ho kaji, ho: basa, or ho haram. The word Ho (𑣙𑣉𑣉) means “human being”.
- sɐbin mʌnmi koɐː hijʌt̪iŋ ənɖoː ekt̪ijɐɾ ko ɾejɐː mʌmle re ɟonomeeː t̪eɡe d̪ɐnʌmul ənɖoː bɐɾɐbɐɾi ɾejɐː nɐmʌ kənʌ. iniku budwi ənɖoː ɟibon bit̪ɐɾ ɾejɐː enem nɐmʌ kənʌ ənɖoː ɐko ɐko ɾe hɐɡejʌ bohɐjʌ ɾejɐː ɟibon uɖuː t̪eko ɟʌnʌɡɐɾ t̪ejɐː doɾkɐr. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Kusunda heritage has been remarkably astutely formed. Yet there is some palpable Austroasiatic / Blockful influence here. Is Kusunda indeed a Blockful i.e. “Contrastive” Tongue?
Watters (2005) argued that Kusunda is a language isolate, as is commonly accepted. It appears not just genealogically but also lexically, grammatically, and phonologically distinct from its neighbors. This would supposedly imply that Kusunda is a remnant of languages spoken in northern India before the influx of Tibeto-Burman and Indo-Iranian peoples.
Meanwhile, Kusunda culture looks to be a product of a great love story at some point in prehistory between a charismatic Blockful leader and perhaps an Orientalesque/Orientalescent woman.
The Himalayan kingdom of Nepal is supremely rich and complex in cultural and linguistic diversity. The Kusundas are one of Nepal’s precious indigenous peoples. The tribal name of the Kusundas is myahq – “king of forests”. They have been shifting to other languages and languages, giving the impression of impending extinction. Kusunda has been cited as a dead language. It is indeed on the verge of extinction. Kusundas are also called Banarajas ‘kings of the forests’, because they used to live in the forests. They called themselves *myahak. They presided over a kind of system of taxation system over Raute nomadic gypsies. Rautes were thus like subjects of Kusunda kings. Rautes are still afraid of the Kusunda. The Kusundas had a foraging society. They are said to be the offspring of Kusha/Kushari, the deity Rama’s second son born from ‘kusha grass’ in Valmiki’s Cottage. Indeed, Kusunda heritage is sadly fading, despite much effort expended in its preservation.
But is Kusunda a Blockful language or a full-on language isolate?
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