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This article, a case study in one group of communities of Nepal, considers minority language education in the face of increasing encroachment of the dominant and national language Nepali. Our over-arching research question asks, in the context of local education, what we can observe about the perceived value, use of, and competition between two local languages (Gurung, Gyalsumdo) and also between these languages and Nepali (the national language of Nepal) in the Manang District. We find persistent divisions amongst residents and educators about the current and future role of local languages. 

This is an account of the forms and semantic dimensions of spatial relations in Manange (Tibeto-Burman, Tamangic; Nepal), with comparison to sister language Nar-Phu. Topological relations (“IN/ON/AT/ NEAR”) in these languages are encoded by locative enclitics and also by a set of noun-like objects termed as “locational nouns.” In Manange, the general locative enclitic is more frequently encountered for a wide range of topological relations, while in Nar-Phu, the opposite pattern is observed, i.e. more frequent use of locational nouns. While the linguistic frame of reference system encoded in these forms is primarily relative (i.e. oriented on the speaker’s own viewing perspective), a more extrinsic/absolute system emerges with certain verbs of motion in these languages, with verbs like “come,” “go,” and certain verbs of placement or posture orienting to arbitrary fixed bearings such as slope. This account also provides some examples of cultural or metaphorical extensions of spatial forms as they are encountered in connected speech. 

This paper has two aims. One aim is to consider non-structural (language attitude and use) variables as valid in the field of dialect and linguistic geography in an inner Himalayan valley of Nepal, where four languages have traditionally co- existed asymmetrically and which demonstrate different degrees of vitality vs. endangerment. The other aim is an application of modified spatiality as it aligns with speaker attitudes and practices amidst recent and ongoing socio-economic and population changes. We demonstrate that variation in self-reported attitudes and practices across languages in this region can be explained as much with adjusted spatial factors (labeled ‘social space’) as with traditional social factors (e.g. gender, age, formal education, occupation, etc.). As such, our study contributes to a dis- course on the role and potential of spatiality in sociolinguistic analyses of smaller language communities. 

With over one hundred languages from four major families (and at least one isolate), and a similarly high number of caste-clan and ethnic groupings, Nepal is a country of undisputed ethno-linguistic diversity (CBS 2012; Kansakar 2006; Gurung 1998). It is also a country of increasingly rapid social, cultural, political and economic change with ensuing geographic movement and language displacement (Angdembe 2013; Rai 2013; Tumbahang 2012). The purpose of this study is to examine the intersection of traditional language practices and cultural diversity with these modern changes as they are relevant for a group of four languages spoken inside of the political boundaries of Manang, Nepal.