Gyalsumdo is a variety of Tibetan that is spoken in a cluster of villages in the lower Manang District of Nepal (Gandaki Zone, 22° 59’ N; 84° 22’ E). There is currently no ISO 639 code assigned to Gyalsumdo. Based on existing available literature, Gyalsumdo has very little prior documentation available on it aside from passing mention of Tibetan-speaking peoples in some Manang villages, and there is still question as to its specific placement/affiliation within lower levels of the Tibeto-Burman taxonomy. Based on comparative lexical information with Kyirong Tibetan, Nubri and Tsum (spoken in Gorkha District), Hildebrandt and Perry (2011) propose a distinct sub-grouping within Central Tibetan to which Gyalsumdo belongs, along with Kyirong and Nubri. The goal of this collection is to assemble a variety of texts, representing different genres, from different speakers of Gyalsumdo who either had been born and raised in one of the three main villages affiliated with Gyalsumdo people (Chaame, Danakyu/Bagarchhap, Thonce), or else who had migrated to other regions of Nepal. As there currently is no agreed-upon orthographic representation for Gyalsumdo community internally, the representation of the language is in IPA and the translations include English and Nepali (the contact language). These materials comprise a portion of a larger language documentation project taking place in Manang, Nepal (National Science Foundation DEL1149639 and Hans Rausing ELDP Small Grant SG0025). All materials were collected and are archived with speaker permission, and all recording practices confirm to standard Informed Consent protocols authorized by the institution hosting this language documentation project.

Selected References:

Hildebrandt, K.A. 2012. Acoustic and articulatory analysis of tone in four languages of Nepal. Paper presented at the 45th International Conferece on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, Singapore, October 26-28, 2012.

Hildebrandt, K.A., D.N. Dhakal, O. Bond, M. Vallejo and A. Fyffe. 2015. A sociolinguistic survey of the languages of Manang, Nepal: Co-existence and endangerment. NDFIN Journal 14.6: 104-122.

Hildebrandt, K.A. and J.J. Perry. 2011. Preliminary Notes on Gyalsumdo, an Undocumented Tibetan Variety in Manang District, Nepal. Himalayan Linguistics 10.1: 167-185.