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
FrontCentralBackClose MidOpen
Consonants
Labial Coronal Retroflex Palatal Velar Post-velar Glottal Nasal Stop voiceless voiced breathy Affricate voiceless voiced breathy Fricative voiceless voiced Approximant Rhotic
Classification Bugun is classified as a Kho-Bwa language in Blench & Post (2013), although Blench (2015)Blench, Roger. 2015. The Mey languages and their classification. Presentation given at the University of Sydney. believes Bugun may actually be unrelated to the rest of the Kho-Bwa languages.
Dialects Lieberherr & Bodt (2017)Lieberherr, Ismael; Bodt, Timotheus Adrianus. 2017. Sub-grouping Kho-Bwa based on shared core vocabulary. In Himalayan Linguistics, 16(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).Dondrup, Rinchin. 1990. Bugun language guide. Itanagar: Directorate of Research, Government of Arunachal Pradesh. 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 () 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
Further reading