Raji language

Raji is a small Sino-Tibetan language of Nepal and Uttarakhand, India. Speakers were until recently nomadic.

Raji
Region	Nepal, India
Native speakers	3,800 (2011 census)[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Raji–Raute Raji
Dialects	Barh Bandale Naukule Purbiya
Language codes
ISO 639-3	rji
Glottolog	raji1240
ELP	Raji

Distribution

Raji is spoken in the following areas of southwestern Nepal:^[1]

• Lumbini Province: Banke and Bardiya districts
• Karnali Province: Surkhet
• Sudurpashchim Province: Kailali and Kanchanpur districts

It is also spoken by Raji people of Uttarakhand, India, primarily living in Pithoragarh district.

In Pithoragarh district, Rastogi (2015)^[2] reports that Raji is spoken in the hamlets of Kimkhola, Bhogtirua, Ganagaon, Chipaltara, Madanbori, Kutachaurani, Altodi, Jamtadi, Khirdwari and Chakarpur.

Dialects

Khatri (2008)^[3] divides Raji into 3 main regional dialects, for which he also provides word lists.

• Barabandale: spoken in Jyotinagar, Katasi, Lalbojhi, Kuti, Bhuruwa, Solta, Khairehi, and Keodi of Kailali District; Sundarpur, Bandevi Sibir, Daiji, krishanpur and Chela Sibir of Kanchanpur District; and Rajigaun, Galfa, and Babiyachaur of Surkhet District.
• Purbiya: Shankarpur, Machhagadh, Baniyabhar, Rambhapur, Dhakela, Dhadhawar, Sanoshree, Gulariya Municipality and Phanphena of Bardiya District.Also Speak in Chhinchu of Surkhet District.
• Naukule : Spoken in Jhil and Kuchaini of Chaumala, Shankarpur of Masuriya, Jarahi of Sadepani, Dhangaghi Municipality and Manera. All are located within Kailali District.

Phonology

Consonants^[4]

		Labial	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	plain	p b	t d	ʈ ɖ	tʃ dʒ	k g
	aspirated	pʰ bʱ	tʰ dʱ	ʈʰ ɖʱ	tʃʰ dʒʱ	kʰ gʱ
Fricative			s			x	h
Nasal	plain	m	n	ɳ		ŋ
	preaspirated	ʱm	ʱn
Approximant	plain	w	l	r	j
	preaspirated		ʱl	ʱr	ʱj

Vowels^[4]

	Front	Central	Back
High	i ĩ		u ũ
Mid	e ẽ	ə ə̃	o õ
Low	ɛ ɛ̃	a ã