ʼOle language


ʼOle, also called ʼOlekha or Black Mountain Monpa, is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by about 1,000 people in the Black Mountains of Wangdue Phodrang and Trongsa Districts in western Bhutan. The term ʼOle refers to a clan of speakers.

Locations

According to the Ethnologue, ʼOlekha is spoken in the following locations of Bhutan.
Dialects are separated by the Black Mountains.

Varieties

Black Mountain Monpa is spoken in at least 6 villages. The variety spoken in Rukha village, south-central Wangdi is known as ʼOlekha. Out of a population of 100-150 people in Rukha village, there is only one elderly female fluent speaker and two semi-fluent speakers of ʼOlekha.
George van Driem reports a Western dialect and Eastern dialect.

History

ʼOle was unknown beyond its immediate area until 1990, and is now highly endangered, and was originally assumed to be East Bodish. George van Driem described ʼOle as a remnant of the primordial population of the Black Mountains before the southward expansion of the ancient East Bodish tribes.
More recently, Gwendolyn Hyslop, agreeing with van Driem, has suggested that ʼOle is an isolate branch of the Sino-Tibetan family that has been heavily influenced by East Bodish languages. Because of the small number of cognates with East Bodish languages once loans are identified, Blench and Post provisionally treat ʼOle as a language isolate, not just an isolate within Sino-Tibetan.

External relationships

ʼOle forms a distinct branch of Sino-Tibetan/Tibeto-Burman. it is not closely related to Tshangla language of eastern Bhutan, also called "Monpa" and predating Dzongkha in the region, which belongs to a different branch of the family.
Gerber notes that Black Mountain Mönpa has had extensive contact with Gongduk before the arrival of East Bodish languages in Bhutan. The following comparative vocabulary table from Gerber compares Gongduk, Black Mountain Mönpa, and Bjokapakha, which is a divergent Tshangla variety.
GlossGongdukBlack Mountain MönpaBjokapakha
hair θɤmguluŋtsham
tonguedəliʼliːlɪ
eyemikmek ~ mikmiŋ
earnərəŋnaktaŋnabali
toothɤnʼaː ~ waːsha
bonerukɤŋɦɤtphok ~ yöphokkhaŋ-
bloodwiniʔkɔkyi
hand/armgurlɤk ~ lokgadaŋ
leg/footbidɤʔdɤkpɛŋ ~ tɛ̤kɛŋbitiŋ
faeceskicokkhɨ
waterdɤŋlicö, kheri
rainwɤghöŋamtsu
dogokicüla ~ khulakhu
pigdonpɔkphakpa
fishkuŋwənye̤ŋa
lousedɤrθæːkshiŋ
bearbekpələwɤm ~ womomsha
sonledəbæθaːza
housekiŋmhiː̤ ~ mhe̤ːphai
firemi’aːmik ~ ’aːmitmɨ
to hearlə yu-goː-nai tha
to seetɤŋ-tuŋ-thoŋ-
to lookməl- ~ mɤt-mak-gotto
to sitmi- ~ mu-buŋ- ~ bæŋ-laŋ-
to diekomθ-θɛː- ~ θɛʔ-shi-
to killtɤt-θüt- ~ θut- ~ θit-she-
1sg pronounðəköjaŋ
2sg pronoungiiŋnan
3sg pronoungonhoʔma ; hoʔmet dan
1pl pronounðiŋɔŋdat ; anak ai
2pl pronoungiŋiŋnaknai
3pl pronoungonməhoʔoŋdai

Vocabulary

Hyslop notes that ʼOlekha has borrowed heavily from East Bodish and Tibetic languages, but also has a layer of native vocabulary items. Numerals are mostly borrowed from East Bodish languages, while body parts and nature words are borrowed from both Tibetic and East Bodish languages. Hyslop lists the following ʼOlekha words of clearly indigenous origin.
The pronouns and lexical items for all foraged plants are also of indigenous origin. Additionally, the central vowel /ɤ/ and voiced uvular fricative /ʁ/ are only found in non-borrowed words.
Words whose origin is not certain are: