The Dhimalish languages, Dhimal and Toto, are a small group of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Nepal, Bhutan, and the Jalpaiguri division of West Bengal, India.
Classification Hammarström, et al. note in Glottolog that Dhimalish is best considered to be a separate Sino-Tibetan branch rather than as a subgroup of Brahmaputran (Sal), and consider Dhimalish as failing to show sufficient Brahmaputran diagnostic vocabulary. Sotrug (2015)Sotrug, Yeshy T. (2015). Linguistic evidence for madeskā kirãntī. The phylogenetic position of Dhimalish. Bern: University of Bern Master’s Thesis, 22 June 2015. considers Dhimalish to be particularly closely related to the Kiranti languages rather than to the Sal languages.
Grollmann & Gerber (2017)Grollmann, Selin and Pascal Gerber. 2017. Linguistic evidence for a closer relationship between Lhokpu and Dhimal: Including some remarks on the Dhimalish subgroup. Bern: University of Bern. consider Lhokpu to have a particularly close relationship with Dhimal and Toto.
Gerber & Grollmann (2018)Pascal Gerber; Selin Grollmann (2018). What is Kiranti? A Critical Account. Bulletin of Chinese Linguistics 11 (2018) 99–152. group Dhimal, Toto, and Lhokpu within Central-Eastern Kiranti.
Comparative vocabulary Sanyal (1973:77–81) provides a comparative word list of Toto from Sunder (1895)Sunder, D. H. E. 1895. Survey and Settlement of Western Duars in the District of Jalpaiguri, 1889–1895. and George Abraham Grierson's Linguistic Survey of India,Grierson, George A. 1909. Linguistic Survey of India (Vol. III, Part I, Tibeto-Burman Family: Tibetan Dialects, the Himalayan Dialects and the North Assam Group). Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing, India. and Dhimal from Brian Houghton Hodgson.Hodgson, Brian. 1874. Essays on the Languages, Literatures, and Religion of Nepal and Tibet. London: Truebner and Co.Hodgson, Brian Houghton. 1880. Miscellaneous Essays relating to Indian Subjects (2 vols.). London: Trübner & Co.
English gloss Toto (Sunder) Toto (Grierson) Dhimal (Hodgson) Page no. air bingah – – 77 ass – pangbu – 77 brother eh apu; e yolla 77 belly – pa-ma hemang 77 back – ju-ma gandi 77 brinjal bengini – – 77 bird – bakhi jiha 77 behind – no – 77 blood viti – – 77 beat – sapu – 77 before – dongangta – 77 bullock pekah-dambe – – 77 cat minki minki dankha-menko 77 cock odangpa keka dhangai-kai 77 come quickly to-to-wa-wang le-le dhi-dhi 77 cow – pika mahani-pia 77 daughter memi-cheng chai-me chamdi 77 devil – jishang – 77 duck hangsa hangsa hangs 77 die – sipuna sili 77 dog kia kia khia 77 down – lijuing – 77 door lafoong – duar 77 eat – char chabi 77 eye michu – mi 77 eyebrow mimu – – 77 elephant hati – – 77 elder sister anna – – 77 evening jilong – – 78 ear nanoong – naha-thong 78 far – hinda-mina – 78 fire meh megue mau 78 forehead ting-ang – – 78 foot tang-ba – kokoi 78 father appa apa aba 78 of father – apak – 78 two fathers – apa-nisa – 78 fish ngya – – 78 fever haina – – 78 good – entana – 78 give – picha – 78 girl chame – – 78 god – iswal – 78 go north enta-vatu – – 78 go east nuta-vatu – – 78 go south leta-vatu – – 78 go west dita-vatu – – 78 go vatu; hatu chhapur hadeli 78 hair puring puring poshom 78 he – – wa 78 he-goat edang – – 78 horse onyah aia – 78 high – hinda-nina – 78 hand kooe kui khur 78 his uko – oko, wang 78 head pudung pudang purin 78 house – sa sa 78 I kug-ve kate ka 78 iron – chaka chir 78 jackfruit dangse – – 79 jungle bamboo – – – 79 lips megoe – – 79 leg kok-koi – khokoi 79 lime churai – – 79 man – deya waved 79 mother aeu aio amma 79 mouth noohgung – – 79 monkey nokka – – 79 milk yoti – – 79 moon tari tari tali 79 morning habkong – – 79 nose nabboh – – 79 nails kushing – – 79 near – abeto – 79 night lishong – – 79 no – ma-koe – 79 orange santra – – 79 our kongo – king 79 pig pakka – – 79 pan leaf parai – – 79 plantain eungpi – – 79 plantain tree eungpi – – 79 paddy mabe – – 79 river tihana – – 79 rain vathi – – 79 rice unku – – 79 rice-beer eu – – 79 run – tui – 79 rupee tanka – – 79 sister – ing rima 79 sun sani chhani bela 79 son chung chao, chaoa chau 79 stand – lo-lo – 79 star puima – – 79 salt ngi – – 80 sit – iyung yongli 80 tiger koogah – – 80 thigh vybe – – 80 thou – na-ga – 80 tree singe – – 80 tooth shitang – sitong 80 tongue lebek – detong 80 up – jujuntaye – 80 water ti ti chi 80 we – na-te kyel 80 woman – mem-bi beval 80 wife – me be 80 who – ha jeti-siti 80 why – ha-ranga haipali 80 younger sister ing – – 80 yes – ke he 80 you naga – nye 80 1 eoo che e-long 80 2 nih-hu ne gne-long 80 3 soongu sung sum-long 80 4 diu ji dia-long 80 5 ngyu nga na-long 80 6 tuu tu tu-long 80 7 niu dun nhu-long 80 8 yau ge, ne ye-long 80 9 kuu gu kuha-long 80 10 thau chu-tamba te-long 80 20 chuniso nisa e-long-bisha 81 100 nakai nga-kai na-long-bisha 81
See also Dhimalish comparative vocabulary list (Wiktionary)
References
George van Driem (2001) Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region. Brill: Boston Sanyal, Charu Chandra. 1973. "The Totos: A sub-Himalayan tribe." In The Meches and the Totos, 1–81. Darjeeling: University of North Bengal.