Lamo language
Lamo is an unclassified Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Tshawarong, Zogang County, Chamdo Prefecture, Tibet. It was recently documented by Suzuki & Nyima. sMad skad, a closely related language variety, is also spoken in Tshawarong.
Suzuki & Nyima document the Kyilwa 格瓦 variety of Dongba Township 东坝乡.
Names
Lamo is referred to by the Changdu Gazetteer as Dongba 东坝话, as it is spoken in :zh:东坝乡 |Dongba Township 东坝乡, Zogang County.Khams Tibetan people refer to Lamo speakers as mBo or mBo mi. Traditionally, Lamo speakers also referred to themselves as Po mi, although this autonym is not known by all Lamo speakers. They refer to their own language as Lamo. Some Lamo speakers also refer to their town language as ˊmbo hkə.
Lamo autonyms by location :
| Language | Autonym | Location |
| Lamo | Dongba Township 东坝乡, Dzogang County | |
| Lamo | Zhonglinka Township 中林卡乡, Dzogang County | |
| gSerkhu | Shangchayu Town 下察隅镇, Dzayul County |
Demographics
Lamo is spoken by about 4,000 speakers, with 2,000 in Dongba Township, and 2,000 in Zhonglinka Township. Both townships are located along the Nujiang River in Dzogang County.Lamo and gSerkhu villages by township:
| Language | Township, County | Villages |
| Lamo | Dongba Township 东坝乡, Dzogang | Junyong 军拥村, Gewa 格瓦村, Puka 普卡村, Bazuo, and Jiaba 加坝村 |
| Lamo | Zhonglinka Township 中林卡乡, Dzogang | Shizika 十字卡村, Luoba 洛巴村, Ruoba 若巴村, Wadui 瓦堆村, and Wamei 瓦美村 |
| gSerkhu | Shangchayu Town 上察隅镇, Dzayul | Benzhui 本堆村, Muzong, Cuixi 翠兴村, and Sangba |
Dialects
There are two dialects:- Lamo
- Lamei
Lamei is spoken by 1,500 to 2,000 people in 5 village clusters in is spoken in Zhonglinka Township. Sitrikhapa, Wangtod, Wangmed, Rongba, and Laba village clusters have only Lamei speakers. Woba, Pula, and Zuoshod village clusters have both Lamei and Khams Tibetan speakers.
gSerkhu is a variety of Lamo, with which it is mutually intelligible. Khams Tibetan speakers refer to the language as Sikhu. gSerkhu is spoken by about 400 people in 4 villages of the gSerkhu Valley, which are Benzhui, Muzong, Cuixi, and Sangba, all located in Shangchayu Town, Dzayul County. Dzayul County also has Khams Tibetan speakers who had originally migrated from the Lamo-speaking area of Dongba Township, Dzogang County.
Classification
Suzuki & Nyima suggest that Lamo may be a Qiangic language. Guillaume Jacques suggests that mBo is a rGyalrongic language belonging to the Stau-Khroskyabs branch.Suzuki & Nyima note that Lamo is closely related to two other recently documented languages of Chamdo, eastern Tibet, namely Larong and Drag-yab.
Lamo compared with Written Tibetan and Proto-Tibeto-Burman :
| Gloss | Lamo | Written Tibetan | Proto-Tibeto-Burman |
| one | ˉdə | gcig | *tyak ~ *g-tik |
| four | ˉlə̰ | bzhi | *b-ləy |
| seven | ˉn̥i | bdun | *s-ni-s |
| ten | ˉʁɑ | bcu | *tsi ~ *tsyay |
| you | ˉnə | khyod | *na-ŋ |
| horse | ˊre | rta | *s/m-rang |
| blood | ˉse | khrag | *s-hywəy-t |
| urine | ˉqo | gcin | *kum |
Lexicon
Suzuki & Nyima list the following Lamo words.| Gloss | Lamo |
| one | də˥ |
| two | na˥ |
| three | sɔ̰̃˩ |
| four | lə̰˥ |
| five | ɴʷɚ̰˥ |
| six | tɕi˩ |
| seven | n̥i˥ |
| eight | ʱdʑə˥ |
| nine | ᵑɡo˥ |
| ten | ʁɑ˥ |
| hundred | ʱdʑi˥ |
| 1.SG pronoun | ŋa˥ |
| 2.SG pronoun | nə˥ |
| 3.SG pronoun | kə˥ |
| blood | sa˥ |
| urine | qo˩ |
| meat | tɕʰi˥ |
| iron | ʰtɕɑ˥ |
| needle | ʁɑ˩ |
| fish | ɲɛ˩ |
| pig | pʰo˥ ɦu |
| horse | re˩ |
| sky | nɑ˥ |
| land | sɛ˥ tɕʰɛ |
| sand | ɕe˩ mɛ |
| hillside | ɴɢa˥ |
| snow | jʉ˥ |
| road | tɕɯ˥ |
| water | tɕə˥ |
| eat | wə˥- |
| sleep | nə˥- |
Morphology
Directional prefixes in Lamo:- n-: ˊnə- sə̰ ‘kill’, ˊna-qɑ ‘chew’, ˊnu-pho ‘drop’
- th-: ˊtho-xɯ ‘go’, ˊtho-ndzo ‘gather’, ˊthe-ji ‘sell’
- k-: ˊka-tɵ ‘buy’, ˉko’-ɕa ‘break into pieces’
- t-: ˉtu’-rɑ ‘receive’, ˉtə’-tɕa ‘wear ’
- l-: ˉla’-mbo ‘overthrow’
- w-: ˉwo’-ɕa ‘tear up’, ˊwu-ndzə ‘eat’
- ˊne-le: ‘come downwards/come down’
- ˊthe-le: ‘ has arrived’
- k-:
- ˊtə’-le: ‘arrive upwards/come here close to the speaker’
- ˉle-le: ‘come to a place closer to the speaker but not necessarily near them’
- ˊwu-le: ‘come towards the speaker on the same horizontal level’