Bugun, also known as Khowa, is a small possible language isolate spoken in Arunachal Pradesh state of India by the Bugun. They numbered about 1,700 in 2011.
Phonology
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Open | ä |
Consonants
Classification
Bugun is classified as a Kho-Bwa language in Blench & Post (2013), although Blench (2015)1 believes Bugun may actually be unrelated to the rest of the Kho-Bwa languages.
Dialects
Lieberherr & Bodt (2017)2 list the following Bugun dialects along with their numbers of speakers.
- Dikhyang (100 speakers)
- Singchung (680 speakers)
- Wangho (220 speakers)
- Bichom (630 speakers)
- Kaspi (80 speakers)
- Namphri (180 speakers)
Distribution
Bugun is spoken in the following villages in southern West Kameng District, Arunachal Pradesh (Dondrup 1990:iv).3 The total population numbered 800 in 1981. Names in parentheses are spellings as given in Ethnologue.
- Wanghoo (Wangho)
- Singchung
- Kaspi (New Kaspi)
- Lichini
- Ramo (Ramu)
- Namphri
- Chithu (Situ)
- Sachida (Sachita)
- Pani-Phu
- Ditching (Diching)
- Dikhiyang (Dikiang)
- Bicham (Bichom) (a recently founded hamlet)
Ethnologue also lists Mangopom village. These villages are located on the mountains on both sides of Rupa River.
References
Blench, Roger. 2015. The Mey languages and their classification. Presentation given at the University of Sydney. https://www.academia.edu/15108029/The_Mey_languages_and_their_classification ↩
Lieberherr, Ismael; Bodt, Timotheus Adrianus. 2017. Sub-grouping Kho-Bwa based on shared core vocabulary. In Himalayan Linguistics, 16(2). https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4t27h5fg ↩
Dondrup, Rinchin. 1990. Bugun language guide. Itanagar: Directorate of Research, Government of Arunachal Pradesh. ↩