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Yolmo (Hyolmo), or Helambu Sherpa, is a Tibeto-Burman language of the Hyolmo people of Nepal. Yolmo is spoken predominantly in the Helambu and Melamchi valleys in northern Nuwakot District and northwestern Sindhupalchowk District. Dialects are also spoken by smaller populations in Lamjung District and Ilam District, and also in Ramecchap District (where it is known as Syuba). It has a very high level of similarity with Kyirong Tibetan, and weaker but still observable similarities to Standard Tibetan and Sherpa.

Language Name

Yolmo is both the name of the language (glottonym), and the ethnic group of people who speak the language (ethnonym). Yolmo is also written Hyolmo, Yholmo or Yohlmo. The 'h' in all of these spellings marks that the word has low tone. Sometimes the language is referred to as Yolmo Tam, tam is the Yolmo word for 'language'.

The language is also referred to as Helambu Sherpa. This usage was common in the 1970s (see, for example, Clarke's work from the early 1980s). This name appears to have been an attempt by Yolmo speakers to align themselves with the widely recognised and prosperous Sherpas of the Solu-Khumbu district. While there are many cultural affinities between the two groups, the Sherpa language is not mutually intelligible with Yolmo. With a growing recognition of Nepal's ethnic minorities (Janajati), Yolmo people have moved away from associating themselves with the Sherpas in recent decades.

Language Family

Yolmo is part of the family of languages called Kyirong-Kagate. The languages of this family are located along the Himalayan hills and mountains mostly on the Nepal side of the border, although Kyirong is in the Tibet Antonymous Region. Along with Yolmo, Kyirong and Syuba, other languages in the family include Tsum, Nubri and Gyalsumdo.

The language family is better considered be Kyirong-Yolmo. Yolmo has far more speakers (at least 10,000) than Kagate (Syuba) (1,500), Yolmo speakers are found in multiple districts, including Melamchi, Lamung and Ilam, while Kagate speakers are based in Ramechhap. Also, Kagate is an exonym, and speakers now prefer the endonym Syuba, which carries less pejorative stigma than the caste-associated term Kagate ('papermaker).

This is part of a larger cluster of Tibetic languages, which all have their roots in the language that was the basis for Classical Tibetan.

History

For more on the history of Yolmo speakers, see the Yolmo people page.

Yolmo speakers traditionally reside in the Helambu and Melamchi Valley region. Yolmo speakers migrated to the area across the Himalaya from the Kyriong, in what is now Southwest Tibet, over 300 years ago. This migration appears to have occurred slowly over multiple generations, rather than one large migration event. Main villages where Yolmo speakers reside include Melamchi Ghyang, Tarke Ghyang, Nakote, Kangyul, Sermathang, Norbugoun, Timbu, and Kutumsang. Melamchi Ghyang, Tarke Ghyang, and Sermathang.

Yolmo speakers are Buddhist of the Nyingma school. Yolmo Lamas are called upon to perform religious rituals for the Tamang-speaking communities that live in villages below the Yolmo-inhabited areas. This has created a strong socio-cultural link between the two groups that is reflected in traditional marriage practice where Tamang women marry into Yolmo villages. There is also a tradition of bon shaman practice in the Yolmo area. This practice appears to be evolving to change to fit with the modern focus on Buddhism among Yolmo people. For example, blood sacrifices are no longer performed as commonly.

Traditionally Yolmo people were yak herders and traders. They currently practice a combination of mixed agriculture involving livestock herding, hotel management, restaurants, and trading. Although outward migrants would often return to village life, speakers of Yolmo are increasing settling in Kathmandu, or moving overseas, which has an effect on transmission of the language as speakers move towards dominant languages of formal education such as Nepal and English.

Dialects

Hari documented the variety of Yolmo mostly spoken around the villages of Sermathang and Chhimi. She also encountered speakers from other areas in the Melamchi and Helambu valleys, and suggested there are two dialects across this area mostly distinguished by vocabulary, the 'western' (mostly in Nuwakot district) and 'eastern' dialects. While discussing these dialects Hari also observes that the variety spoken around Tarkeghyang is again different, suggesting there may be more than two dialects spoken in the area. There are also varieties of Yolmo spoken in other areas of Nepal, thanks to migration in recent centuries, including in Lamjung and Ilam. There are also closely related languages that should be considered when discussing Yolmo, including Kagate (Syuba) and Langtang.

Melamchi Valley Yolmo

The variety of Yolmo documented by Anna Marie Hari is mostly spoken in the Melamchi Valley area. Hari produced a Yolmo-Nepali-English dictionary of the language with Chhegu Lama, and a sketch grammar.Hari's also translated the New Testament of the Bible into Yolmo. Original cassette recordings of her work have been digitised and archived with PARADISEC. Unless otherwise stated, all discussion of the grammar of Yolmo on this page is drawn from the work on Melamchi Valley Yolmo.

Langtang

Northwest of the Yolmo-speaking areas in the Langtang valley of the Rasuwa District are three villages that speak a language that is mutually intelligible with Yolmo. This language also shares features with Kyirong and is likely part of a dialect continuum between Yolmo and Kyirong.

Lamjung Yolmo

Lamjung Yolmo is spoken by around 700 people in five villages of the Lamjung District of Nepal. Yolmo speakers have been residing in this area for over a century. Gawne has written a sketch grammar and a Lamjung Yolmo-Nepali-English dictionary. There is also a digital archive of Lamjung Yolmo recordings archived with PARADISEC.

Ilam Yolmo

A dialect of Yolmo is reportedly spoken in the Ilam District of far east Nepal, although there is very little documentation of this variety. It is mutually intelligible with Syuba, and recordings from the dialect are available as a subset of an online collection of Syuba materials archived with PARADISEC.

Syuba (Kagate)

Although Syuba has a distinct name, and a separate ISO 639-3 code, linguistically it can be considered a dialect of Yolmo. Syuba speakers say their families migrated to the area more than a century ago. Hari, who worked on both Yolmo and Syuba observes that "to quite a large extent they are mutually intelligible dialects". The lexical similarity between Syuba and Melamchi Valley Yolmo is at least 79%, with the similarity between Syuba and Lamjung Yolmo even higher (88%). There is a higher level of similarity between Yolmo and Syuba than there is between either of these languages as Kyirong. This all suggests that the separated dialects may have more in common with each other than with the main dialect area.

Language Vitality

The vitality of the language varies depending on the location. In the Melamchi Valley area the language is spoken mostly by older adults. The younger generations having largely shifted to Nepali, though the language is being maintained for religious practices. The shift towards Nepali for younger speakers has also been observed in Lamjung, as this is the language used in schools. The Syuba variety in Ramechhap is currently still spoken across all generations, including children. There is insufficient data on the Ilam variety to assess its vitality at this stage.

Orthography

Yolmo does not have a written tradition although there are incipient attempts in Nepal to develop an orthography based on Devanagari, as seen in the publication of two dictionaries. Syuba speakers also settled on a Devanagari orthography for their dictionary. All of these dictionaries also present the languages in Roman orthographies as well.

Devanagari

The modifications to Devanagari are minor, and are intended to ensure that all sounds in the language can be represented. None of the orthographies use the 'inherent schwa vowel', meaning that a consonant without an overt vowel is not treated as having an implied vowel. Consonants remain the same as in the existing Devanagari tradition, with the use of joined digraphs to represent additional sounds in the language, such as the combination of क (k) and य (y) for the palatal stop क्य ( 'kh'), स (s) and य (y) for the palatal fricative स्य ( 'sh'), र and ह for the voiceless liquid र्ह ( 'rh'), and ल and ह for the voiceless lateral ल्ह ( 'lh').

Vowel length is unmarked in the Syuba dictionary, in the two Yolmo dictionaries the standard Devanagari length distinctions are made, with the addition of a small diacritic below the 'a' vowel ( ा) to indicate a longer vowel. The Hari & Lama and Gawne dictionaries both use ह (h) after the vowel to mark low tone (e.g. टाह ʈà 'pheasant'), while in (the Syuba orthography a colon represents the low tone (टाः ʈà 'pheasant'). High tone is left unmarked.

Roman

All three dictionaries also make use of variations on a Romanised orthography, although this does not appear to be used or preferred by Yolmo speakers, and is intended for the English-speaking audience of the dictionaries. Consonants predominantly take the form from the International Phonetic Alphabet, with some exception where there is a more common preference in English, such as digraphs for the palatal stops ( 'ky', 'khy', 'gy') and non-superscript for aspiration (e.g. phá 'pig). This is represented in the Consonant chart in the Phonology section below.

The vowels in Yolmo follow the International Phonetic Alphabet, except for which uses 'o' for ease of representation. Long vowels are represented by double characters, e.g. 'two' represented as ɲíi, except in the Syuba dictionary where vowel length is not indicated in either the Devanagari or Roman scripts. For tone Hari uses a 'h' after the vowel to represent low tone, (e.g. toh 'stone') with high tone unmarked, Gawne uses the International Phonetic Alphabet convention of using accents over the vowel to mark high and low tone (e.g. tó 'rice' and tò 'stone'), while the Syuba dictionary uses a superscript at the start of the syllable to mark low tone (e.g. to 'stone') with high tone unmarked.

On this page the orthography mostly follows Hari's transcription, as outlined in the phonology. Unlike Hari, representation of tone follows the International Phonetic Alphabet, with accents to mark high and low tone (e.g. tó 'rice' and tò 'stone' respectively). This avoids Hari's use of 'h' to represent both low tone and the sound .

Grammatical Overview

The sections below contain an overview of the key features of the grammar of Yolmo. Information is mostly drawn from Hari's grammar of the language, supplemented by the Yolmo-Nepali-English dictionary she co-wrote with Chhegu Lama. Differences between this variety and other documented dialects are indicated where relevant. Links to other related languages will also be made where relevant.

All example sentences are presented with an interlinear gloss. This breaks down the words on a morpheme-level, giving information about the meaning of each morpheme using a standard set of glossing abbreviations. All examples are cited back to the original publication they are drawn from. Some glossing has been changed or added where it was not included in the original.

Phonology

Consonants

There are 36 consonants in Yolmo, which are summarized in the table below. The form is given in IPA and then to the right in brackets is given the form more frequently used in Roman orthography if different.

	Labial	Apico-Dental	Lamino-post-alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Voiceless stop	p	t		ʈ	c (ky)	k
Aspirated stop	pʰ (ph)	tʰ (th)		ʈʰ (ʈh)	cʰ (khy)	kʰ (kh)
Voiced stop	b	d		ɖ	ɟ (gy)	ɡ
Voiceless fricative		s	ɕ				h
Voiced fricative		z	ʑ
Voiceless affricate		ts	tɕ
Aspirative affricate		tsʰ (tsh)	tɕʰ (tɕh)
Voiced affricate		dz	dʑ
Nasal	m	n			ɲ	ŋ
Voiceless liquid		r̥ (rh)
Voiced liquid		r
Voiceless lateral		l̥ (lh)
Voiced lateral		l
Semivowel	w				j (y)

Not all consonants are equally prominent. In particular , and are not particularly frequent, nor are vowel-initial words.

Vowels

There are five places of articulation for vowels. There is a length distinction at each place of articulation. The form of each vowel is given in IPA and then to the right in brackets is given the form more frequently used in Roman orthography if different.

	Front	Mid	Back
High	i iː (ii)		u uː (uu)
Mid	e eː (ee)		ɔ (o) ɔː (oo)
Low		a aː (aa)

Below are some minimal pairs that demonstrate the vowel length distinction:

tɕí	'one'
tɕíi	'what'
tó	‘rice (cooked)'
tóo	'be hungry'

Vowel-length distinctions are not common across Tibetic language, but they are also attested in Syuba (although Syuba speakers do not consider them salient enough to encode in the orthography) and in Kyirong for open syllables.

Unlike many other Tibetic languages, including Kyirong, and Standard Tibetan, Yolmo does not have a front rounded . This is true for all dialects of Yolmo documented to date, including Syuba. Langtang does have this vowel.

Tone

Like other Tibetic languages, Yolmo has tone, which is located on the first vowel of a word. Hari presents a four tone contrast of Melamchi Valley Yolmo; high level, high falling, low level and low falling. Acoustic evidence from Lamjung Yolmo and Kagate indicates that there is only acoustic evidence for a contrast between two tones; low and high. Below are some examples of tone minimal pairs:

pú	'body hair'
pù	‘son’
kómba	‘thirsty’
kòmba	‘temple’

Low tone words can be marked with breathy voice, but this is not always the case. Some Roman orthographies indicate low tone with a 'h' following the vowel, which indicates the breathy property of the low tone. The high tone is then left unmarked. In the first example above that would be pu 'body hair' and puh 'son'. The complication of this system is that is also a consonant in the language.

Tone is predictable in some environments. It is always high following aspirated stops, aspirated affricates and voiceless liquids (which speakers treat as equivalent to aspirated). Examples of all of these include:

pháa	'pig'
thí	'ruler (for measuring)'
ʈháa	'blood'
khyá	'you, plural'
khá	'mouth'
tshá	'salt'
tɕhá	'pair'
rhílmu	'round'
lhá	'god'

Tone is always low following voiced stops, voiced fricatives and voiced affricates. Examples of all of these include:

bù	'insect'
dà	'arrow'
ɖù	'grain'
gyàa	'place'
gùri	'cat'
dzàdi	'nutmeg'
dʑùbu	'huge/much'
zà	'rainbow'
ʑèe	'udder'

The only prefixes in the language are the negator prefixes mà- and mè-. Both have low tone, however if the following root has high tone it will not change tone because of the preceding low suffix.

Syllable structure

Yolmo has the syllable structure (C)(C)V(C). This means that the minimum a syllable needs is a vowel. Syllables can also have up to two consonants before the vowel and one after the vowel.

C	òo	'there'
VC	ùr	'fly'
CV	pù	'son'
CVC	pùp	'keep warm'
CCV	prù	'write'
CCVC	prùl	'snake'

All consonants and vowels can occur word-initial, with a restricted set able to occur in the second syllable. The set of syllable initial consonant clusters includes /pr, br, kr, py, phy, sw, kw, thw, rw/.

All vowels can occur syllable-final, and final consonants include voiceless unaspirated bilabial /b/ and velar stops /k/, voiced liquids /l,r/, the voiced labio-velar /w/ and all nasals except the palatal /m, n, ng/.

Morphophonemic processes

There is a regular process by which the suffixes undergo a change depending on the nature of the verb that they are attached to. Suffixes that begin with a voiceless stop, such as the non-past -ke, the imperative -toŋ or the hortative -ka, all undergo regular morphophonological processes. If they occur after a syllable with a final sound that is voiced they will also be voiced, if they occur after an unvoiced final sound, or an /r/ the start of the suffix will be unvoiced. The examples below are with the non-past -ke:

tá-ge	watch-non.pst
tén-ge	show-non.pst
zàp-ke	dress.up-non.pst
mùr-ke	chew-non.pst

The only forms that cannot be predicted by this process is if the suffix is after /i/ or /e/, both of which are high front vowels. The voicing cannot be predicted in this context, and the suffix is sometimes voiced and sometimes unvoiced. Below are examples of verbs with both /i/ and /e/:

pí-ge	pull.out-non.pst
ɕí-ge	die-non.pst
ɕé-ke	tell-non.pst
kyé-ke	give.birth-non.pst

Word order

Yolmo has the basic word order of Subject-Object-Verb.

ŋà=ki	tó	sà-sin
1sg-erg	rice.cooked	eat-pst
'I ate rice'

Nouns/Nominals

The noun phrase in Yolmo includes either a noun or a pronoun. The noun phrase with a noun can also include a determiner, adjective and number marker, while the options are more limited with a pronoun or proper noun. Noun suffixes include case markers, plural marker and numeral classifiers.

The order of the noun phrase is (Determiner) Noun=Plural(-Focus Marker)(=Case) (Numeral Classifier) (Number) (Adjective).

Determiners

The Yolmo definite determiner is dì the same as the third person inanimate pronoun 'it/this'. It occurs before the noun:

dì	pèza
det	child
'the child' (Hari 2010: 31)

The indefinite is marked using the numeral tɕíi 'one', which comes after the noun, as per other numbers:

mì	tɕíi
person	one
'a person' (Hari 2010: 91)

Pronouns

	Singular	Plural
First person	ŋà	òraŋ/ùu (inclusive) ɲì (exclusive)
Second person	khyé	khyá
Third Person	(masc.) khó (fem.) mò (inanimate) dì	khúŋ (inanimate) dìya
Reflexive	ràŋ

The first person plural òraŋ is more commonly found in the Western dialects of Melamchi and Helambu Valley Yolmo, as well as Lamjung Yolmo, while ùu is more common in the Eastern dialects. It is possible to create a dual form by adding ɲíi to the plural form (e.g. khyá ɲíi 'you two'), although this is optional.

The third person plural khúŋ can also be used as a polite form for a single third person.

Pronouns do not take determiners, number, or adjectives.

Interrogative pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used to form questions. Yolmo has the following attested interrogative pronouns:

sú	'who'
nàm	'when'
kàla	'where'
tɕípe, tɕíle, tɕí mée	'why'
tɕí	'what'
kàndi	'which one'
súgi	'whose'
súla	'whom'
kànɖu, kànmu	'how'

Hari gives both kà and kàla (kà with the dative suffix) as forms for 'where' in Melamchi Valley Yolmo, but only kàla is attested in Lamjung Yolmo. There are also a number of forms for 'why', tɕípe and tɕíle are attested in both Melamchi Valley Yolmo and Lamjung Yolmo, but only tɕí mée in Melamchi Valley Yolmo. This is because it uses the verb mée 'say' as part of the construction, which is not in Lamjung Yolmo (see the section on reported speech, as well as the word list). The kànmu form of 'how' is attested in Lamjung Yolmo, while kànɖu is used in Melamchi Valley Yolmo, with an optional -mu suffix to make kànɖu-mu. Hari and Lama also note the form kànɖu-bar in the Western regions.

Note that the words súgi and súla are complex forms, súgi is sú 'who' with the genitive case suffix, and súla is sú with the dative case suffix.

For more on the structure of interrogative clauses, see the section on interrogatives.

Proper Nouns

Proper nouns include people's names, place names and the names of deities. They do not take determiners, number, or adjectives.

Plural

The plural marker in Melamchi and Lamjung Yolmo is =ya.The plural is treated as a clitic as it occurs after an adjective if there is one:

kháŋba	tɕímbu	tɕhímbu=ya
house	big	big-pl
'the big houses' (Hari 2010: 28)

Plural marking is optional if an overt number is used with the noun, or if the number is clear from context:

pèmpiʑa	súm	dù
women	three	cop.pe
'there are three women' (Gawne 2016: 55)

The plural form in Syuba is =kya, which is more similar to the Kyirong form, suggesting the Yolmo =ya is an innovation.

Focus marker

Yolmo has a nominal focus marker -ti. The focus marker gives prominence to the noun it is attached to. In the example below, the older brother is singled out, contrasted with other relatives who perhaps did not obtain such wealth:

áda-di	ɲìma	ɲèdzen	tɕhúkpu	kàl-di	oŋ-sin	dù
older.brother-foc	day	every	rich	went-pfv	come-pst	cop.pe
'The older brother became richer every day.' (Hari & Lama 2004: 271)

Hari also notes for Melamchi Valley Yolmo that there is a focus marker -ka, which is used specifically to mark something as contrary to expectation.

kháŋba	tɕhímbu	tɕhímbu-ya-la-ga	'teh-ku	dù
house	big	big-pl-loc-foc	reside-ipfv	cop.pe
'I realize that they are living in big houses' (Hari 2010: 27)

Nouns can also take the emphatic suffixes -ni and -raŋ, which are also used for other parts of speech (see Lexical emphasis).

Case marking

Yolmo uses post-positional suffixes to mark the case of nouns. Similar to other Tibetic languages, Yolmo uses a single case form for multiple functions. Clitics come at the end of the whole noun phrase, rather than directly attaching to only the noun, which is why they are treated as clitics. Below the cases are listed with their functions:

Case marker	Function
=ki	genitive, ergative, instrumental
=la	locative, allative, dative
=le(gi)	ablative

The case markers are phonologically bound, with the =ki form becoming voiced in some environments, it is also reduced to =i in some environments.

Where there is also a plural the case marker comes after the plural, as in the example below:

tɕàmu=ya=gi	kòŋa	tɕu	thál	kyée	dù
hen=pl=erg	egg	ten	num.clf	lay	cop.pe
'the hens laid ten eggs' (Hari 2010: 23)

Ergative case

Yolmo has optional ergative case-marking. Ergative marking means that subjects of intransitive verbs are unmarked, the same as objects of transitive verbs. Subjects of transitive verbs are distinguistshed from both of these with the =ki marker (in contrast with nominative-accusitive languages like English, where the subjects of both intransitive and transitive verbs are marked in contrast with objects of transitive verbs).

Below is an intransitive sentence, with the subject ŋà taking no marking:

ŋà	ŋù-sin
1sg	cry-pst
'I cried'

In contrast with this ergative-marked transitive, where the subject ŋà is marked with the ergative:

ŋà=gi	ɕò	úp-sin
1sg=erg	yoghurt	cover-pst
'I covered the yoghurt' (Hari 2010: 39)

Speakers do not always use the ergative case:

ŋà	tó	sà-ke
1sg	rice.cooked	eat-non.pst
'I eat rice' (Gawne 2016: 69)

Ergative marking is more common for past tense, non-habitual actions. There also appears to be some effect of animacy, and a appears to be used as a strategy in discourse to mark agentivity. This form of optional ergativity is common across the Tibeto-Burman family.

Dative case

Dative case is typically used to indicate, broadly, the noun to which something is given. The Yolmo dative has this function, but it also has a function in 'dative subject' constructions. The dative subject occurs with a small set of intransitive verbs, and denote personal, and usually internal, states.

The use of dative subjects is common in languages of this area, and is also attested more broadly.

Number

As can be seen in the examples above, cardinal numbers can be used in noun phrases. A list of numbers in Yolmo is given in the section on numbers below.

Numeral classifiers

Yolmo also has an optional numeral classifier thál. This is used to emphasise number. In the example above, the speaker is emphasising that the hens laid a large number of eggs.

Lamjung Yolmo also has the classifier mènda which can only be used with humans.

Adjectives

Adjectives occur within the noun phrase. Adjectives usually come after the noun so 'small child' would be pìʑa tɕháme (lit. 'child small').

Adjectives can also occur before the noun, especially in casual speech.

Verbs

There are three main types of verbs in Yolmo, lexical verbs, auxiliary verbs and copula verbs. The lexical verbs inflect for tense, aspect, mood and evidence and can take negation. The infinitive form of verbs takes the suffix -tɕe. The infinitive is used in a number of constructions, including the habitual.

Copula verbs

The copula verbs and their functions are given in the table below. Copulas are not inflected for person, number or politeness level and many do not distinguish tense:

	Egophoric	Dubitative	Perceptual	General Fact
Equation	yìn/yìngen/yìmba	yìnɖo
Existential	yè/yèba yèken/yèba (past tense)	yèʈo	dù dùba	òŋge

Equation copulas are used to link to noun phrases, while existential copulas are used for functions of existence, location, attribution and possession. The egophoric and perceptual are evidential distinctions, while the dubitative is used for reduced certainty. The general fact form is used for uncontroversial and universally known facts. Different varieties of Yolmo prefer different forms of the egophoric as the default; In Helambu they prefer yìn, in Lamjung yìmba and Ilam yìŋge. yèken/yèba are past tense forms of the existential. Some copula verbs can also be used as verbal auxiliaries, where they contribute evidential, tense or epistemic information.

Lexical verb stems

The Melamchi and Helambu Valley varieties of Yolmo exhibit verb stem alterations in the context of some verb structures.

Verb stems with short front vowels have their vowels lengthened (e.g. /i/→/ii/), short back vowels are fronted and lengthened (e.g. /o/ or /a/→/ee/, /u/→/i/). These changes occur mostly with perfective structures and imperatives. Below are some examples of this alternation using the verb má- 'say':

ŋà	má-ke
1SG	say-NON.PST
'I say'

ŋà	mée-di yè
1SG	say-PFV COP
'I have said'

mée-doŋ

say-IMP

'say it!'

When these structures are negated, the negative prefix is lengthened rather than the verb stem, which maintains the vowel change (this does not occur in the imperative).

ŋà	màa-mé yè
1SG	say-PFV COP
'I have not said'

These alterations do not occur in Lamjung Yolmo or Syuba.

Auxiliary verbs

There is a small set of auxiliary verbs in Yolmo. The auxiliary tè- is the same as the lexical verb tè- 'sit' and is used to add imperfective aspect:

mò	sà	tè-ku	dù
she	eat	aux-ipvf	AUX
'she is eating'

A subset of the copulas can also be used as verbal auxiliaries; yìn, yè, yèken and dù. These contribute evidential information and for yè/yèken also some tense information. As you can see in the example above the dù copula is being used as an auxiliary, so they can co-occur with the other auxiliaries.

Tense

Yolmo has a major tense distinction between past and non-past. These are marked with suffixes on the lexical verb, -sin is the past tense marker and -ke or -ken is the non-past marker.

Past Tense

The past tense form is -sin.

ŋà=gi	ɕò	úp-sin.
1sg=erg	yoghurt	cover-pst
'I covered up the yoghurt.' (Hari 2010: 23)

Melamchi Valley Yolmo also has a past tense for -kyo that Hari refers to as the 'main-point past/ telling past’, this form is not found in Lamjung Yolmo.

There is also the form -pa, which Hari says is always used in question structures. In Lamjung Yolmo there are some examples where it is used in declaratives rather than questions.

Non-past Tense

The non-past tense is used for both present and future constructions. Hari gives the forms -ke and -ken for Melamchi Valley Yolmo, but only -ke is attested in Lamjung Yolmo.

ŋà-la	hé	kà-en
1sg-dat	potatos	like-non.pst
'I like potatos.' (Hari 2010: 42)

Hari refers to this form as the 'intentional present' but it can also be used in future constructions:

dì	kyée-di	ɲì-ti	pèza	ɕi	ɖò-en
this	be.born-perf	2pl-emph	child	four	go-non.pst
'After this one is born we will have four children.' (Hari 2010: 53)

Aspect

There are a number of verb suffixes that are used to mark aspect, these broadly fall into categories of imperfective and perfective, as well as habitual. When an aspect form is used, a copula verb is also used.

Imperfective

The imperfective is used for events that are ongoing or not complete. The -ku suffix is attested in both Melamchi Valley and Lamjung Yolmo. It can only be used with the dù copula verb.

tìriŋ	kháwa là	thóŋ-gu	dù
today	snow mountains	be.seen-impf	cop
'today the snow mountains can be seen.' (Hari 2010: 43)

The imperfective form -teraŋ can be used with either the dù or yè copula verb. In Lumjung Yolmo some speakers pronounce it as -tiraŋ. Hari refers to the -teraŋ construction as the 'perfect continuous aspect', because it can be used to refer to something that was ongoing until a particular point, as per this first example:

tànda	samma-ni	ɖìbu	tér-teraŋ	yè
now	until-foc	money	give-impf	cop
'Up to now he has been giving money.' (Hari & Lama 2004: 278)

Gawne describes it as an imperfective, as it does not appear to have this perfect aspect function in Lamjung Yolmo, as per this second example:

mò	kòlela	tè-teraŋ	dù
3sg.f	slowly	sit-impf	cop
'she is slowly sitting down.' (Gawne 2016: 109)

The auxiliary verb tè can also be used to mark an imperfective construction. Neither -ku nor -teraŋ are used if the negative prefix is on the main verb. The auxiliary verb can be used in negative constructions, and takes the negative prefix, rather than the main verb. In the example below, the -teraŋ imperfective is used as the negative prefix is on the auxiliary:

ŋà	lèn-diraŋ	mà-tè	yè
1sg	sing-impf	neg.pst-aux	cop
'I was not singing.' (Gawne 2016: 111)

Perfective

The perfective aspect suffix is used for events that can be described as whole, without reference to the duration in the way we say with the imperfective. The perfective form in Yolmo is -ti.

mèŋgaŋ-la-ni	thóola	tɕhám	tɕhímbu	káp-ti	yè
cooking.shed-loc-foc	above	board	large	cover-pfv	cop
'The cooking shed was covered with large boards.' (Hari & Lama 2004: 270)

Mutliple verbs with perfective aspect can be used together to create a clause chaining structure. It is distinct from the nominal focus suffix -ti.

Habitual

Habitual aspect marks that an event is usual, customary or frequent. There is no specific habitual aspect suffix for Yolmo. Speakers will either use a verb with an infinitive, or with no suffix.

ŋà	ɲìma	ʈàŋmaraŋ	khúra	sà	yè
1sg	day	every	bread	eat	cop
'I eat bread every day.' (Gawne 2016: 112)

Mood

Mood is marked in Yolmo with a set of verb suffixes. The main mood suffixes are given in the table below

Particle	Function
-toŋ	Imperative
-ka or -tɕo/tɕu	Hortative
-ɲi	Optative
-ʈo	Dubitative

It is worth noting that there is a small class of irregular imperatives; sà- 'eat' becomes sò.

Imperative

The polite imperative suffix is -toŋ (voiced as -doŋ after voiced codas and some vowels). An overt subject is not used, and the same imperative form is used regardless of person or number:

mée-doŋ!

speak-IMP

'Speak!' (Hari 2010: 46)

The less polite form of the imperative is consists of an unmarked verb stem:

mée!

speak.IMP

'Speak!' (Hari 2010: 46)

There are also a small number of irregular imperatives that are used without the verb stem, particularly sò 'eat!'

If there is an honorific form of the verb it can be used, unmarked, as the most polite form of the imperative:

ɕè

eat.HON

'Please eat' (Hari 2010: 113)

The negative form of the imperative (the prohibitive) uses the mà- form of the negator prefix with the verb stem. The imperative suffix is not included.

mà-má!

NEG-speak

'Don't speak!' (Hari 2010: 46)

Hortative

Gawne notes two verbal suffix forms in Lamjung Yolmo, a -ka and a -tɕo.

The -ka form is used with all persons except first person singular.

òraŋ	sà-ka
1PL.INCL	eat-HORT
‘let’s eat!’ (Gawne 2016: 114)

The suffix remains in negated horatitves

ɲì	mà-tɕhám-ka
1PL.EXCL	NEG-dance-HORT
‘let’s not dance!’ (Gawne 2016: 114)

The -tɕo form is used with first person singular, as well as with other persons. It also remains in negative constructions.

ŋà	khím=ki	lè	pè-tɕo
1PL.EXCL	house=GEN	work	do-HORT
‘let me do the house work!’ (Gawne 2016: 114)

-tɕo appears to be less strong, and tends to be used more frequently. Hari gives the form as -tɕo (she also calls it an optative, but it appears to be a hortative)

tìriŋ	khó	dèla-raŋ	tè-tɕu
today	3SG	here-EMPH	sit-HORT
‘let him stay here today’ (Hari & Lama 2004: 174)

Optative

Hari does not list an optative suffix. Gawne gives the optative -ɲi in Lamjung Yolmo.

ŋà	ɲàl-ɲi	tè-ku	dù
1SG	sleep=OPT	AUX-IPFV	COP
‘I want to sleep.’ (Gawne 2016: 115)

Hari & Lama (2004: 146) list ɲi as a verb that expresses a 'strong wish’, clearly linking to the Lamjung Yolmo form.

Dubitative

Hari describes the dubitative as probable future, indicating the sense of decreased certainty that the dubitative mood marks. The forms -ʈo, -ɖo and -ro are found in Melamchi Valley Yolmo, but the -ro form is not found in Lamjung Yolmo.

khúŋ-gi	sèn	sà-ro
3PL-ERG	corn.mash	eat-DUB
'they will probably eat corn mash’ (Hari & Lama 2004: 237)

This verb suffix is related to the dubitative form of the copula.

Negation

Negation is marked on lexical verbs by prefix. There are two prefix forms, mè- is for negation in non-past tense (present and future), while mà- is used for past tense, as well as negation of imperatives (mà-tàp! 'don't fall'!).

ŋà	mè-tàp
1SG	NEG.NON.PST-fill
'I do not/will not fall' (Hari 2010: 132)

ŋà	mà-tàp
1SG	NEG.PST-fill
'I did not fall' (Hari 2010: 132)

The negated forms of copulas are slightly irregular. They are listed in the table below in brackets underneath the regular forms:

	Egophoric	Dubitative	Perceptual	General Fact
Equation	yìn/yìngen/yìmba (mìn/mìngen/mìmba)	yìnɖo (mìnɖo)
Existential	yè/yèba (mè/mèba) yèken/yèba (past tense) (mèke/méba)	yèʈo (mèʈo)	dù (mìndu) dùba (mìnduba)	òŋge (mèoŋge)

Clause structure

This section outlines some of the main features of the structure of clauses in Yolmo.

Nominalisation

Adverbials

An adverbial structure modifies the verb in some way. There are a some major adverbial types in Yolmo.

Temporal adverbial subordination

Temporal adverbs can create subordinated clauses.

sà-kandi	tòŋla	ŋà	làkpa	ʈhú-ke
eat-NMLZ	before	1SG	hand	wash-NON.PST
‘I wash my hands before eating.’ (Gawne 2016: 130)

Below is the list of temporal adverbs observed in Yolmo to date, some are independent words, and others are verbal suffixes:

nàm	'when'
gàrila	'at the time'	Nepali loanword
bèlala	'at the time'	Nepali loanword
-kamu	'at the time'	only attested in Lamjung Yolmo
tòŋla	'before'
tíŋla	'after'
-tile	'after'
-timaraŋ	'after'
yìndʑu	'since'	only attested in Melamchi Valley Yolmo

Manner adverbs

Manner adverbs create a subordinated clause that expresses the manner of an action. The manner adverb lèemu (lìmu in Lamjung) is attested in all varieties.

khúŋ	tábu	límu	gyùbu	tɕóŋ-ku	dù
3PL	house	like	fast	run-NMLZ	COP
‘he runs fast like a horse.’ (Gawne 2016: 129)

The forms tíle and dènmu are also found in Lamjung Yolmo, but not yet attested in other varieties.

Conditional

Conditional constructions are formed through the use of the suffix -na on the verb in the protasis clause (the 'if' clause). Speakers will either use the -na suffix directly on the verb, or leave the verb unmarked at attach the -na suffix to the verb meaning ‘say’ (mée in Melamchi Valley Yolmo, làp in Lamjung Yolmo).

nám	mà-kyap	làp-na	ŋà	phíla	ɖò-ke
rain	NEG.PST-fall	say-COND	1SG	outside	go-NON.PST
‘if it doesn’t rain I will go outside.’ (Gawne 2016: 130)

Complementation

A complement clause is a clause that functions as an argument of another clause. In Yolmo the embedded complement clause takes the infinitive suffix -tɕe.

ɲì=la	yìgi	prù-tɕe	ʈèmba sàl-toŋ
1PL.EXCL=DAT	letter	write-INF	remember-IMP
‘Remember to write us a letter!’ (Gawne 2016: 134)

The optative mood suffix -ɲi in Yolmo can also be said to be acting as a complementiser.

Relativisation

A relative clause is depended on a main clause. Different relativising strategies are used in the two described varieties of Yolmo. In Melamchi Valley Yolmo the non-past tense form -ken(-gi) is used for non-past constructions, and the past tense form -kyo(-gi) is used for past tense constructions (for each the -gi is optional). Similarly, in Lamjung Yolmo, -ke-ki can be used for non-past relativised clauses and -pa-ki for past relativised clauses. This difference reflects the fact that the past tense form -kyo is not found in Lamjung Yolmo.

òze	bèle	aʑi=gi	gòo	thóo-la	tɕáŋ-gyo-gi	làawor	phók	taŋ-sin	'du	ló
that	time	sister=gen	head	above-loc	hang-rel	mill.stone	intensifier	send-pst	cop	rs
'At that moment (the monster) swiftly loosened the mill stone which was hanging just above the head of the elder sister.' (Hari 2010: 76)

khyá=ki	prù-prù-pa-ki	yìgi
2pl=gen	write-write-rel	letter
'The letter that you wrote.' (Gawne 2016: 134)

In Lamjung Yolmo, the nominaliser -kandi can be used to make a relative clause:

khím	sáŋma	pè-kandi	mì	nà-sin	dù
house	clean	do=nmlz	person	ill-pst	cop
'The person who cleans the house is ill.' (Gawne 2016: 135)

Clause chaining

The perfective suffix -ti is used to chain clauses together. Verbs with this suffix are chained together.

tɕádzuŋma	tɕíi	òŋ-ti	ʈúu-ti	khér-sin
bird	one	come-pftv	pick.up-pftv	carry.away-pst
'A bird came, picked up (a fish) and took (it) away.' (Gawne 2016: 136)

Question formation

Word order does not change to form questions in Yolmo. Rising intonation at the end of the utterance can indicate it is a question. A set of interrogative pronouns are used for open content questions.

The -pa suffix, which was introduced in the section on past tense is used in question structures.

khé	tó	sà-pa
2sg	rice.cooked	eat-q
‘did you eat cooked rice?’ (Gawne 2016: 139)

The reply would be with the regular past tense, and not the -pa suffix:

ŋà	tó	sà-sin
1sg	rice.cooked	eat-pst
‘I ate rice.’ (Gawne 2016: 139)

The copula form used in a question matches the form the question-asked anticipates the question-answerer will use in their answer. That is, if they anticipate the answer will use the perceptual evidential dù, this is the form they will use in asking the question.

Reported speech

Yolmo has two strategies for reporting speech, the first is using the lexical verb má or làp 'say', the second is using the clause final evidential particle ló.

Lexical verb

In Melamchi Valley Yolmo the main lexical verb of saying is má, in Lamjung Yolmo it is làp. Hari and Lama note that làp is found in Melamchi Valley Yolmo, but in restricted use.If the speaker, and the person the speech is directed at are overtly marked, these usually proceed the reported content (although they are frequently not overt in natural speech). The 'say' verb prototypically occurs after the reported content, although if the reported content is quite long the verb may occasionally come before it.

khó-ni	níŋdʑi	ɕóŋ-gen-gi	pèza-raŋ	mìmba	áma-gi	mì	pò-la	má-en
3sg-foc	love	feel	child-emph	cop.neg.emph	mother-erg	people	near-dat	say-non.pst
'Mother says to people nearby, "He is not a lovable child!"' (Hari & Lama 2004: 383)

The lexical verb 'say' is also used in a number of other constructions, including conditionals.

Reported speech evidential

The reported speech particle also indicates that the speaker is reporting a prior utterance, but has a different focus. The reported speech particle does not account for who the speaker way, but instead primarily serves to focus on the fact the information is reported, and not directly witnessed by the speaker. In the example below from Syuba, it is not made explicit if the report comes from Maila, or another person. The reported speech evidential occurs frequently in narratives.

tíriŋ	Maila	tóm	phré-si	ló
today	Maila	bear	meet-PST	RS
‘Today Maila met a bear.’ (Höhlig 1978: 22)

Lexical emphasis

There are two emphatic suffixes that can be used on a number of word classes. This is in contrast to the emphatic form -ti, which is only used with nouns. The first is -ni, and the second is -raŋ, which Hari & Lama note is a frequently used emphatic marker in informal speech. The distinction between all of these forms is unclear, although Hari refers to the -ni form as used for 'moderate focus', so it is perhaps less emphatic for nouns than the -ti suffix.

Clause final particles

Yolmo has a series of sentence final particles that can be used to achieve a range of effects. The table below gives some of the particles in Yolmo and a brief description of their function.

Particle	Function
ló	reported speech
nà	emphasis/insistence
yàŋ	emphasis/focus
làa	polite
lé	pleading
lò	friendly/encouraging
óo	invoking/encouraging

The reported speech marker ló is an evidential form, as it indicates the source of the information as someone else. This structure is described in the section on reported speech. This is part of the wider evidential system of Yolmo, which is also found in the copula verbs above.

Honorifics

Yolmo has a subset of honorific vocabulary which is used when talking to, or about, people of higher social status, particularly Buddhist Lamas. Honorific lexicon includes nouns, verbs and adjectives. The table below gives some examples, including the regular word, the honorific form, and the English.

Regular form	Honorific form	English
tér	nàŋ	'give'
ɲí lòo	zìm	'sleep'
sà	ɕè	'eat'
ába	yàp	'father'
áma	yùm	'mother'
káŋba	ɕàp	'foot/leg'
gòo	ú	'head'
ɕìmbu	ɲéebu	'tasty'

The use of honorifics in Ilam and Lamjung is not as common, although some speakers still recognise and use these forms.

100 Word Swadesh List

Below is a 100 word Swadesh list in Yolmo. The Yolmo forms are taken from Hari and Lama, who note some variation between the Eastern (E) and Western (W) varieties in the Melamchi and Helambu Valley area. Where the form is different in other varieties this is indicated in the right-hand column of the table. This variation shows that the Lamjung variety and Syuba have more in common with each other lexically than they do with the Melamchi Valley variety.

Swadesh item	English	Yolmo	Variation
1.	I	ŋà
2.	thou	khyá
3.	we	ɲì
4.	this	dì
5.	that	òo	òodi in Lamjung Yolmo and Syuba
6.	who?	sú
7.	what?	tɕí
8.	not	mè-, mì-
9.	all	thámdʑi	dzàmma in Lamjung Yolmo, támdze in Syuba
10.	many	màŋbu
11.	one	tɕíi
12.	two	ŋyíi
13.	big	tɕhímbu, tɕhómbo	only tɕómbo reported in Lamjung Yolmo and Syuba
14.	long	rìŋbu
15.	small	tɕhéemu	tɕéemi in Lamjung YOlmo
16.	woman	pìihmi	pèmpiʑa in Lamjung Yolmo and Syuba
17.	man	khyówa	kyópiʑa in Lamjung Yolmo and Syuba
18.	person	mì
19.	fish	ɲà
20.	bird	tɕà-tɕìwa	tɕádzuŋma in Lamjung Yolmo and Syuba
21.	dog	kyíbu, khyí	khí in Lamjung Yolmo and Syuba
22.	louse	kiɕíkpa, kyíɕi	ɕí in Lamjung Yolmo and Syuba
23.	tree	tòŋbo, tùŋbu	only tòŋbo reported in Lamjung Yolmo and Syuba
24.	seed	sén
25.	leaf	làpti, lòma
26.	root	tsárkyi, tsárŋyi, tsárnɲe
27.	bark	páko, phíko, kóldaŋ	phába in Lamjung Yolmo
28.	skin	páaba (E), páko (W)	gòoba in Lamjung Yolmo and Syuba
29.	lesh	ɕá
30.	blood	ʈháa
31.	bone	rèko, rìiba (E)	ròko in Lamjung Yolmo and Syuba
32.	grease	khyákpa tɕháa
33.	egg	tɕàmu kòŋa
34.	horn	ròwa	rùwa in Syuba
35.	tail	ŋáma, ŋéma	ŋámaŋ in Lamjung Yolmo
36.	feather	ʈò (E), ʈòo (W)	ɕókpa in Lamjung Yolmo
37.	hair	ʈá
38.	head	gòo
39.	ear	námdʑo
40.	eye	míi
41.	nose	náasum (E), nárko (W)	only náasum reported in Lamjung Yolmo and Syuba
42.	mouth	khá
43.	tooth	só
44.	tongue	tɕéle	tɕé in Lamjung Yolmo and Syuba
45.	fingernail	sému
46.	foot	káŋba
47.	knee	káŋba-tshíi	tshíiŋgor in Lamjung Yolmo, pìmu in Syuba
48.	hand	làkpa
49.	belly	ʈèpa
50.	neck	dzìŋba
51.	breast	òma
52.	heart	níŋ
53.	liver	tɕìmba
54.	drink	thúŋ-
55.	eat	sà-
56.	bite	kàp-, áa táp-
57.	see	tá, thóŋ-
58.	hear	thée-, ɲìn-	thée-, ɲèn in Lamjung Yolmo and Syuba
59.	know	ɕée-
60.	sleep	ɲí lòo-	ɲàl- in Lamjung Yolmo and Syuba
61.	die	ɕí-
62.	kill	sé-
63.	swim	tɕál kyàp-
64.	fly	ùr-
65.	walk	ɖò-
66.	come	òŋ-
67.	lie	ɲàl-
68.	sit	tè-
69.	stand	làŋ-di té-
70.	give	tér-
71.	say	má-, làp-	only làp- in Lamjung Yolmo and Syuba
72.	sun	ɲìma
73.	moon	dàwa, dàyum	dàgarmu in Lamjung Yolmo and Syuba
74.	star	kárma
75.	water	tɕhú
76.	rain	nám kyàp-
77.	stone	tò
78.	sand	pèma
79.	earth	sása, thása, sáʑa, sáptɕi	sébi in Syuba
80.	cloud	múkpa
81.	smoke	tìpa, tèpa	only tìpa reported in Lamjung Yolmo and Syuba
82.	fire	mè
83.	ash	thála
84.	burn	tìi-, bàr-, tshíi-
85.	path	làm
86.	mountain	kàŋ
87.	red	màrmu, màrpu
88.	green	ŋòmbo, ŋùmbu
89.	yellow	sérpu
90.	white	kárpu, kármu
91.	black	nàkpu
92.	night	kùŋmu
93.	hot	ʈòmo	ʈòmbo in Lamjung Yolmo and Syuba
94.	cold	ʈàŋmu
95.	full	kàŋ
96.	new	sámba
97.	good	yàabu
98.	round	kòrmu (circular), rhílmu (spherical)
99.	dry	kámbu
100.	name	mìn	Unlike almost all other Tibetic languages, this word is mìn and not mìŋ

Numbers

Yolmo has a base-20 counting system.

The Yolmo number system is very similar to that of Standard Tibetan and other Tibetan varieties. In the table below is the Yolmo number, taken from Hari's dictionary, alongside the Standard Tibetan in both the Tibetan script and a Romanisation for those unfamiliar with Written Tibetan.

In Lamjung Yolmo, the base-20 system is only used by a small number of older speakers, with others using a base-10 system. For example, 'twenty' is ɲídʑu, 'thirty' is súmdʑu, 'forty' is ɕíptɕu, etc. Even then, once people reach 20 the usually switch to counting in Nepali.

Ordinal numbers are formed by addition of the suffix -pa, or alternatively with the suffix -pu for ordinals relating to people, in Melamchi Yolmo. Ordinals are typically only formed up to 20.

Yolmo	Written Tibetan	Tibetan (Roman)	English		Yolmo	Written Tibetan	Tibetan (Roman)	English		Yolmo	Written Tibetan	Tibetan (Roman)	English
tɕíi	གཅིག་	chig	1		khál tɕíi tɕíi	ཉི་ཤུ་རྩ་གཅིག་	nyishu tsa ji	21		ʑìpkha	བརྒྱ་བཞི་	kya zhi	400
ɲíi	གཉིས་	nyi	2		khál tɕíi ɲíi	ཉི་ཤུ་རྩགཉིས་	nyishu tsa nyi	22		ŋápkya	བརྒྱ་ལྔ་	kya nyi	500
súm	གསུམ་	sum	3		khál tɕíi súm	ཉི་ཤུ་རྩགསུམ་	nyishu tsa sum	23		ʈùpkya	བརྒྱ་དྲུག་	kya drug	600
ʑì	བཞི་	zhi	4		khál tɕíi ʑì	ཉི་ཤུ་རྩབཞི་	nyishu tsa zhi	24		tìngya	བརྒྱ་བདུན་	kya dün	700
ŋá	ལྔ་	nga	5		khál tɕíi ŋá	ཉི་ཤུ་རྩ་ལྔ་	nyishu tsa nga	25		kyèkya	བརྒྱ་པརྒྱད་	kya kyed	800
ʈùu	དྲུག་	drug	6		khál tɕíi ʈúu	ཉི་ཤུ་རྩདྲུག་	nyishu tsa drug	26		kùpkya	བརྒྱ་དགུ་	kya ku	900
tìn	བདུན་	dün	7		kál tɕíi tìn	ཉི་ཤུ་རྩབདུན་	nyishu tsa dün	27		tóŋra	སྟོང་	tong	1000
kyèe	བརྒྱད་	gyed	8		khál tɕíi kyèe	ཉི་ཤུ་རྩཔརྒྱད་	nyishu tsa gyed	28
kù	དགུ་	gu	9		khál tɕíi kù	ཉི་ཤུ་རྩདགུ་	nyishu tsa gu	29
tɕú	བཅུ་	chu	10		khál tɕíi tɕú	སུམ་ཅུ	sum cu	30
tɕúuʑi	བཅུ་གཅིག་	chugchig	11		khál ɲíi	བཞི་བཅུ	ship cu	40
tɕíŋii	བཅུ་གཉིས་	chunyi	12		khál tɕú	ལྔ་བཅུ	ngap cu	50
tɕúusum	བཅུ་གསུམ་	choksum	13		khál súm	དྲུག་ཅུ	trug cu	60
tɕúpɕi	བཅུ་བཞི་	chushi	14		khál súm tɕú	བདུན་ཅུ	dün cu	70
tɕéeŋa	བཅོ་ལྔ་	chonga	15		khál ʑì	བརྒྱད་ཅུ	gyed cu	80
tɕíiru	བཅུ་དྲུག་	chudrug	16		khál ʑì tɕú	དགུ་བཅུ	gup cu	90
tɕúptin	བཅུ་བདུན་	chubdun	17		khál ŋá	བརྒྱ་	kya	100
tɕápkye	བཅོ་བརྒྱད་	chobgyed	18		khál tìn tɕú	ཁལ་ལྔ་དང་གཅིག	kya tang ngap cu	150
tɕúrku	བཅུ་དགུ་	chudgu	19		khál tɕú	བརྒྱ་གཉིས་	kya nyi	200
khál ɕíi	ཉི་ཤུ།་	nyishu	20		khál tɕéeŋa	བརྒྱ་གསུམ་	kya sum	300

See Also

• Kyirong–Kagate languages
• Kyirong language
• Kagate language
• Tibetic languages

External Resources

• Open access digital collection of Anna Marie Hari's cassette recordings of Melamchi Valley Yolmo from the 1970s and 1980s at PARADISEC.
• Digital collection of Lauren Gawne's documentation of Lamjung Yolmo (2009-2016) at PARADISEC (partly open access)
• Three open access collections of Syuba, a dialect closely related to Yolmo, MH1 digitised from 1970s recordings, SUY1 documentation by Lauren Gawne (2009-2016), MTC1 a 2013 BOLD documentation by the Mother Tongue Centre Nepal.

Key References

• Clarke, Graham E (1980). "A Helambu History". Journal of the Nepal Research Centre. 4: 1–38.
• Clarke, Graham E. (1980). "Lama and Tamang in Yolmo." Tibetan Studies in honor of Hugh Richardson. M. Aris and A. S. S. Kyi (eds). Warminster, Aris and Phillips: 79-86.
• Gawne, Lauren (2011). Lamjung Yolmo-Nepali-English dictionary. Melbourne, Custom Book Centre; The University of Melbourne.
• Gawne, Lauren (2016). A sketch grammar of Lamjung Yolmo. Canberra: Asia Pacific Linguistics.
• Hari, Anna Maria & Chhegu Lama (2004). Dictionary Yolhmo-Nepali-English. Kathmandu: Central Department of Linguistics, Tribhuvan University.
• Hari, Anna Maria (2010). Yohlmo Sketch Grammar. Kathmandu: Ekta books.
• Hedlin, Matthew (2011). An Investigation of the relationship between the Kyirong, Yòlmo, and Standard Spoken Tibetan speech varieties. Masters thesis, Payap University, Chiang Mai

References

1. Yolmo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. ^ Hedlin, Matthew (2011). An investigation of the relationship between the Kyirong, Yòlmo, and Standard Spoken Tibetan speech varieties (unpublished MA thesis). Chiang Mai, Thailand: Payap University.
3. ^ Hari, Anne Marie (2010). Yolmo Sketch Grammar. Kathmandu: Ekta Books.
4. ^ Gawne, Lauren (2013). "Notes on the relationship between Yolmo and Kagate". Himalayan Linguistics. 12(2): 1–27.
5. ^ Hari, Anne Marie; Lama, C. (2004). Yolmo-Nepali-English Dictionary. Kathmandu: Central Dept. of Linguistics, Tribhnvan University.
6. ^ Clarke, Graham E. (1980). "A Helambu History". Journal of the Nepal Research Centre. 4: 1–38.
7. Desjarlais, Robert (2003). Sensory biographies : lives and deaths among Nepal's Yolmo Buddhists. Berkeley, CA.: University of California Press. p. 8. ISBN 9780520936744. OCLC 52872722.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
8. N. Tournadre (2005) "L'aire linguistique tibétaine et ses divers dialectes." Lalies, 2005, n°25, p. 7–56
9. Gawne, Lauren (2013). "Notes on the relationship between Yolmo and Kagate". Himalayan Linguistics. 12(2): 1–27.
10. Tournadre, Nicolas (2014). "The Tibetic languages and their classification". In Owen-Smith, Thomas; Hill, Nathan W. (eds.). Trans-Himalayan Linguistics: Historical and Descriptive Linguistics of the Himalayan Area. De Gruyter. pp. 103–129. ISBN 978-3-11-031074-0. (preprint)
11. Pokharel, Binod (2010). "Adaptation and Identity of Yolmo". Occasional Papers. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
12. Clarke, Graham E. (1980). "Lama and Tamang in Yolmo". In Richardson, Hugh; Aris & Phillip, Michael; Aung San Suu Kyi (eds.). Tibetan Studies in honor of Hugh Richardson. Warminster: Phillip. pp. 79–86.
13. Torri, Davide. Il Lama e il Bombo : sciamanismo e buddhismo tra gli Hyolmo del Nepal. Rome: Sapienza Sciamanica. ISBN 9788868123536. OCLC 903903900.
14. Bishop, Naomi H. (1989). "From zomo to yak: Change in a Sherpa village". Human Ecology. 17(2): 177–204.
15. Bishop, Naomi H. (1993). "Circular migration and families: A Hyolmo Sherpa example". South Asia Bulletin. 13(1&2): 59–66.
16. Hari, Anna Maria; Lama, Chhegu (2004). Yolmo-Nepali-English Dictionary. Kathmandu: Central Dept. of Linguistics, Tribhnvan University. p. 702.
17. Hari, Anna Maria (2010). Yohlmo grammar sketch. SIL International. Kathmandu: SIL International and Central Department of Linguistics, Tribhuvan University. p. 4. ISBN 9789937101080. OCLC 707486953.
18. ^ Gawne, Lauren (2016). A sketch grammar of Lamjung Yolmo. Canberra: Asia Pacific Linguistics. ISBN 9781922185341. OCLC 961180469.
19. ^ Thokar, Rajendra (2009). "Linguistic fieldwork in Jhapa and Ilam districts". Paper presented at the Linguistics Society of Nepal Annual Conference, Kathmandu, Nepal.
20. Hari, Anna Maria (2000). Good news, the New Testament in Helambu Sherpa. Kathmandu: Samdan Publishers.
21. Hari, Anna Maria (1980). "Hyolmo songs, stories and grammar drills". Paradisec. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
22. ^ Kvicalova, Radka; Slade, Rebekha; Gawne, Lauren (2017). "BOLD documentation of the Langtang language (Rasuwa)". Nepalese Linguistics. 32: 33–39.
23. ^ Gawne, Lauren (2013). "Report on the relationship between Yolmo and Kagate" (PDF). Himalayan Linguistics. 12 (2): 1–27.
24. ^ Gawne, Lauren (2010). Lamjung Yolmo - Nepali - English Dictionary. Melbourne: Custom Book Centre, The University of Melbourne.
25. Gawne, Lauren (2009–2016). "Yolmo (also known as Helambu Sherpa, Nepal)". Paradisec. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)CS1 maint: date format (link)
26. ^ Gawne, Lauren (2017). "Syuba (Kagate)". Language Documentation and Description. 13: 65–93.
27. "Kagate (Nepal)". Paradisec. 2016. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
28. ^ Höhlig, Monika; Hari, Anna Maria (1976). Kagate phonemic summary. Kathmandu: Summer Institute of Linguistics Institute of Nepal and Asian Studies.
29. Gawne, Lauren (2010). "Lamjung Yolmo: a dialect of Yolmo, also known as Helambu Sherpa". Nepalese Linguistics. 25: 34–41.
30. ^ Gawne, Lauren (2016). A sketch grammar of Lamjung Yolmo. Canberra: Asia Pacific Linguistics. pp. 5–6. ISBN 9781922185341. OCLC 961180469.
31. Mitchell, Jessica R. & Stephanie R. Eichentopf (2013). Sociolinguistic survey of Kagate: Language vitality and community desires. Kathmandu: Central Department of Linguistics Tribhuvan University, Nepal and SIL International.
32. ^ SIL International and HIS Nepal (2015). Syuba-Nepali-English Dictionary. Kathmandu: Himalayan Indigenous Society Nepal.
33. Huber, Brigitte (2005). The Tibetan dialect of Lende (Kyirong) : a grammatical description with historical annotations. Bonn: VGH Wissenschaftsverlag. pp. 20–21. ISBN 3882800690. OCLC 60613565.
34. ^ Hari, Anna Maria; Lama, Chhegu (2004). Yohlmo-Nepali-English Dictionary. Kathmandu: Central Department of Linguistics. p. 710.
35. Gawne, Lauren (2016). A sketch grammar of Lamjung Yolmo. Canberra: Asia Pacific Linguistics. pp. 66–68. ISBN 9781922185341. OCLC 961180469.
36. Chelliah, Shobhana L.; Hyslop, Gwendolyn (2011). "Introduction to Special Issue on Optional Case Marking in Tibeto-Burman". Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area. 34(2): 1–7.
37. Gawne, Lauren (2016). "Questions and answers in Lamjung Yolmo". Journal of Pragmatics. 101: 31–53. doi:10.1016/j.pragma.2016.04.002. ISSN 0378-2166.
38. ^ Gawne, Lauren (2015). "The reported speech evidential particle in Lamjung Yolmo". Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area. 38 (2): 292–318. doi:10.1075/ltba.38.2.09gaw. ISSN 0731-3500.
39. Höhlig, Monika (1978). Grimes, Joseph E. (ed.). "Speaker orientation in Syuwa (Kagate)". Papers on discourse. 50. Kathmandu: Summer Institute of Linguistics: 19–24.
40. Hari, Anne Marie (2010). Yolmo Sketch Grammar. Kathmandu: Ekta Books.
41. Tournadre, Nicolas; Dorje, Sangda (2003). Manual of Standard Tibetan: Language and civilization. Ithaca, N.Y.: Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 1559391898. OCLC 53477676.

• Languages of Nepal
• South Bodish languages
• Languages of Sikkim
• Languages of Tibet