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Bahing language

Language spoken in Nepal

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Source updated June 14, 2026

Bahing is one of the ethnicities present in Nepal which consist of the following ancestors: Paiwa, Dungmowa, Rukhusalu, Waripsawa, Timriwa, Dhimriwa, Nayango, Dhayango, Khaliwa/Khaluwa, Rendukpa/Rendu, and Rungbu. These ancestors spoke the Bahing language. The Bahing language was recorded (census 2021) to be spoken by 14449 people of the Bahing ethnic group in Nepal. It belongs to the family of Kiranti languages, a subgroup of Sino-Tibetan.

The group Rumdali is also known as Nechali among some of them.

01Names

Ethnologue lists the following alternate names for Bahing: Baying, Ikke lo, Kiranti-Bahing, Pai Lo, Radu lo. Procha lo

02Geographical distribution

Bahing is spoken in the following locations of Nepal (Ethnologue).

Northeastern Okhaldhunga District, Sagarmatha Zone: Harkapur, Ragdip, Bigutar, Baruneswor, Okhaldhunga, Rumjatar, Barnalu, Mamkha, Ratmate, Serna, Diyale, and Bhadaure VDC's (Rumdali dialect)
Mid-southeastern Okhaldhunga District: Ketuke, Moli, Waksa, and Ubu VDC's (Tolocha dialect)
Southern tip of Solukhumbu District: Necha Batase and Salyan VDC's
Khotang District

03Dialects

According to Ethnologue, Bahing consists of the Rumdali, Nechali, Tolacha, Moblocha, and Hangu dialects, with 85% or above intelligibility among all dialects.

04Documentation

The Bahing language was described by Brian Houghton Hodgson (1857, 1858) as having a very complex verbal morphology. By the 1970s, only vestiges were left, making Bahing a case study of grammatical attrition and language death.

05Phonology

Bahing and the related Khaling language have synchronic ten-vowel systems. The difference of [mərə] "monkey" vs. [mɯrɯ] "human being" is difficult to perceive for speakers of even neighboring dialects, which makes for "an unlimited source of fun to the Bahing people".

Vowels

Vowel phonemes
	Front		Central		Back
	unrounded		unrounded		unrounded		rounded
	short	long	short	long	short	long	short	long
High	i ⟨इ⟩	iː ⟨इः⟩			ɯ ⟨उ़⟩	ɯː ⟨उ़ः⟩	u ⟨उ⟩	uː ⟨उः⟩
High-mid	e ⟨ए⟩	eː ⟨एः⟩			ɤ ⟨ओ़⟩	ɤː ⟨ओ़ः⟩	o ⟨ओ⟩	oː ⟨ओः⟩
Low-mid	ɛ ⟨ए़⟩		ʌ ⟨अ⟩	ʌː ⟨अः⟩
Low			ä ⟨आ⟩	äː ⟨आः⟩

Bahing language has no long vowel /ɛ/.

Consonants

Bahing consonant phonemes
			Bilabial	Dental	Apico- alveolar	Lamino- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal			m ⟨म⟩		n ⟨न⟩			ŋ ⟨ङ⟩
Plosive/ Affricate	implosive		ɓ ⟨ळ⟩
	voiceless	unaspirated	p ⟨प⟩	t̪ ⟨त⟩	t ⟨ट⟩	t͡s ⟨च⟩		k ⟨क⟩	ʔ
	voiceless	aspirated	pʰ ⟨फ⟩	t̪ʰ ⟨थ⟩	tʰ ⟨ठ⟩	t͡sʰ ⟨छ⟩		kʰ ⟨ख⟩
	voiced	unaspirated	b ⟨ब⟩	d̪ ⟨द⟩	d ⟨ड⟩	d͡z ⟨ज⟩		ɡ ⟨ग⟩
	voiced	aspirated	bʱ ⟨भ⟩	d̪ʱ ⟨ध⟩	dʱ ⟨ढ⟩	d͡zʱ ⟨झ⟩		ɡʱ ⟨घ⟩
Fricative					s ⟨स⟩				ɦ ⟨ह⟩
Trill					r ⟨र⟩
Lateral					l ⟨ल⟩
Approximant			w ⟨व⟩				j ⟨य⟩

Bahing has its unique sound /ɓ/ ळ.
Nowadays use ट, ठ, ड, ढ, have disappeared or are less used.

06Morphology

Hodgson (1857) reported a middle voice formed by a suffix -s(i) added to the verbal stem, corresponding to reflexives in other Kiranti languages.

Watch videos about Bahing languageExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Bahing language”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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