Rongpo language

Rongpo (also known as Rangpo^[1] and Rang Po Bhasa^[2]) is a West Himalayish language spoken in Uttarakhand, India. George Abraham Grierson originally called the language the Garhwal dialect of one of the Tibetic languages, but is now considered its own independent language.^[2]

Rongpo
Rangpo[1]
/r~øpø/[2]
Native to	India
Region	Uttarakhand
Ethnicity	Rongpo people
Native speakers	7,500 (2001)[3]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Tibeto-Kanauri (?) West Himalayish Rongpo–Almora Rongpo
Dialects	Marcha Tolcha †
Language codes
ISO 639-3	rnp
Glottolog	rong1264
ELP	Rongpo
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Geographical distribution

Rongpo is spoken in the following locations of Uttarakhand, India (Ethnologue).

• Niti Valley, Joshimath tehsil, Chamoli District, Garhwal Division, Uttarakhand (in Niti, Gamshali, Bampa, and Malari villages)
• Mana valley, Joshimath tehsil Chamoli District, Garhwal Division, Uttarakhand: Mana, Indradhara, Gajkoti, Pathiya-Dhantoli, Hanuman Chatti, Benakuli, and Aut.

Dialects

The two different dialects of Rongpo are called the Marcha (Marchha) and the Tolcha (Tolchha) dialect,^[1] Both dialects only have a difference in the phonetic level and are written in the same way.^[2]

Marcha

Marcha dialect is spoken in Mana and Niti valleys.^[2]

Tolcha

Tolcha
Tolchha[1]
Native to	India
Region	Niti Valley
Ethnicity	Tolcchas
Extinct	since the 1950s[4]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Tibeto-Kanauri (?) West Himalayish Rongpo–Almora Rongpo Tolcha
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Linguist List	rnp-tol
Glottolog	tolc1238
ELP	Rongpo

There are a few Tolchha dialect speakers in Niti valley. Tolcha is usually considered its own independent and separate language from Rongpo.^[5][6] Tolcha has been considered extinct by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger since the 1950s.^[4]