An Introduction to Kulung
Mr. Prem Chandra Kulung
Tribhuvan University
Kulung trace their lineage to descent from the Kiranti ruler Khambu. The ethno-linguistic region inhabited by Kulung is called 'The Mahakulung' (Greater Kulung), located in Sagarmatha Zone. Kulung are the tribes of basically Mongoloid race and descents of Kirat, concentrated in the hills of eastern Nepal, specifically in Solukhumbu, Sankhuwasava, Bhojpur districts. They are related to the large Mongoloid population of Tibeto-Burman speaking tribal people spread eastward through the Sub-Himalayan regions and the hills of the county. The population of Kulung according the Census 2001 is 18,686; while some others estimate it about 15,000 to 19,000 (Winter, 1991:51 and van Driem, 2001:699). However, estimation by the organizations working in Kulung communities shows more than 35,000. In fact, we have no alternative way to find the exact number of Kulung population except waiting the result of the recently conducted census. Kulung tradition and culture got good environment to flourish in The Hungu Valley of The Mahakulung Area (Greater Kulung Area), a northeastern tributary of Dudh Kosi, and further east, in the drainages of Sankhuwa and Sisuwa Rivers, which flow into Arun River.
Kulung are a small tribe of traditionally sedentary farmers whose main crops are millet, maize and barley. They are used to prepare varieties of foods and can be sold for cash in the local markets. Millet is not only the ingredient from which a kind of paste is made locally called yuw which forms the staple diet of Kulung. These crops are also used to prepare various types of local beers. They sometimes bestow the crops to the god for their prosperity.
Collecting firewood and working in the fields are the main tasks of a Kulung household; however, from the recent decades children are sent to schools for studying. Their living tradition relates with hunting, farming, fishery and carrying on trade with the natives of the plains in tusk, yak-tails, pony, shellac, herbs, cardamoms etc. from the earliest periods. Marriage takes place between members of different clans within Kulung and intercaste marriage is less practised but is acceptable. Though, a number of new generation youths seem to be wondering for intercaste marriage, too. Only in special circumstances can members of the same clan intermarry.
Ritual tradition is the most important aspect of Kulung cultural life. Rites, lasting for one or more days, are sometimes quite elaborate and are always performed by a local shaman. To ensure good health and prosperity rites have to be performed by a household at regular intervals, especially Uvauli and Udhauli Puja and the neglect of rites is said to cause illness and material loss. Unlike the Hindu people, Kulung bury their death.
Origin of Kulung at a glance
The accounts about the origin of Kulung stated by the different writers are given below:
1. Tilasankhar Kulung (cited in Thomros, B. 2050 V.S.): Khambuho, the priest of Kirati had six sons: Chamling, Wantawa, Tumsoli, Dismi, Nasmi and Sajimi. Later the Dismi had three sons: Khaling, Thulung and Kulung.
2. Charles McDougal (1979): Three Kirati brothers, Khambuho, Menho and Meratup, followed the gorge of Sun Kosi, Dudh Kosi and Arun Kosi. Once through the gorge the brothers separated, each taking his respective followers, and set out independently, as they penetrated up the different river valleys. The descendents of Meratup and Menho did not flourish as did those of Khambuho. Later, Kulung, Khaling, Bahing etc. are settled in the east-northern parts of the country as the descents of Khambuho.
3. Bhupadhwaj Thomros (2050 V.S.): Tumno, the ancestral priest had three sons. They were Meche-Koche, ancestors of Tharu; Khambu and Limbu. Meche and Koche settled in the Terai region, Khambu and Limbu followed the gorge of Dudh Kosi and Arun River respectively in the eastern region of Nepal. Later, the Khambu ancestors settled spreading in the hilly and sub-Himalaya region in the north-eastern parts of the country, historically called the Middle-Kirat. They are known as Kulung, Khaling, Bahing, Bantawa, Chamling, Mewahang, etc. The Limbu ancestors settled in eastern parts from Arun River, and the gorge of Tamor Valley, historically in the Far-Kirat.
4. The official website of the Association of Nepal Kirat Kulung Language and Cultural Development (www.kulung.net.np): Kulung ancestor, Khambuho living in Rawakhola (Rawa River) had four sons: Khapdulu, Ratamkhu, Tamsi and Chhemsi. Among them, Khapdulu went to Pilmong throughout Hungu, Ratamkhu to Pomlalung throughout Darsandhunga, Chhemsi to Chhemsi throughout Hulu and Tamsi to Chheskam throughout Hulu. Rawakhola is situated in the south-west of the Hungu Valley and is a tributary of Dudh Kosi. In the New Nepal, Mahakulung Area comprises of Gudel, Chheskam, Bung and Sotang VDCs.
5. Martino Nicoletti (2006: 15): The figure of Khokchilip celebrates the ancestors' exit from the forest and foundation of the first dwelling. The first dwelling is the concrete sign of the sedentary transformation of the Kulung and their participation in an agricultural and pastoral dimension. It is the dawn of a new world, which, with a more marked pace, distances itself from the web of the sylvan world in order to conquer deforested spaces suited to the needs of the village and of agricultural life.
Before getting settlement in the Hungu Valley the Kulung ancestors: Chhemsi and Tamsi were living in Rawa Khola. To get settlement in the Hungu Valley they waged war against the local people called Rupiyongchha. Eventually Rupiyongchha were defeated and tried to escape to the sun with the aid of a ladder made of piles of buckwheat-phaparko diro. Eventually it collapsed and fell into Bung, killing many Rupiyongchhas.
The above statements provide ancient and historical flashback about the origin of Kulung. The researches and evidences show that Kulung peoples’ origination took place in The Mahakulung Area of Solukhumbu district, though The Barahakshetra was said. Native writers and thinkers believe that Kulung people reached different places of the sub-himalaya regions, hilly regions and low lands of the east Nepal in order to get good settlement. Meanwhile they reached to the gorge of Kosi River called The Barahakshetra and lived for long time and got back to The Mahakulung Area, latter.
McDougal (1979) says "Tradition goes on to relate that after wandering from place to place, and undergoing various adventures, the Kirati tribes settled down in different areas, which became their respective territories." Lack of communication, vast geographical setting and other causes resulted the same brothers into different castes like Kulung, Wambule, Chamling, Wantawa, Khaling, Yakhha etc. with separate language, culture, territory and traditions.
Geography of Kulung
Kulung originally have settlement in the hills and the Sub-Himalayan range, in the upper eastern part of Nepal at about 1400 to 3300 meters of elevation. Kulung flourished in The Mahakulung Area of The Hungu Valley and scattered throughout the eastern parts of the country. In the present time, they are found in Solukhumbu, Sankhuwasava, Bhojpur, Khotang, Sunsari, Tehratum, Panchthar, Ilam, Morang and Jhapa districts (Winter, 1991:51-52) as well as in some parts of India and Bhutan.
In Solukhumbu district, Kulung community is found in the south-eastern corner of the high hills and sub-himalayan topography. The main Kulung living VDCs in the district are: Gudel, Chheskam, Bung and Sotang. In Sankhuwasava, Kulung cover a larger area and they live at least in the following VDCs: Sisuwakhola, Bala, Tamku, Yaphu, Mangtewa, Makalu, Pawakhola, Diding and Makalu as well as Khandbari municipality. These VDCs are situated in the west-northern and central part of the district. In Bhojpur, Kulung people live in the north-east part of the district they are: Kulung, Chaukidanda, Khatamma and Dobhane VDCs. Sikkim; West Bengal, Jalpaiguri District; Uttarakhanda, Dehradun; Assam (Ethnologue) are the parts of India where some Kulung people live and use Kulung language at least in their household.
Kulung speaking areas are separated from each other by large dense forest areas and mountainous topography. There are a few walking trails with high altitude passes that connect the three areas.
Kulung territories are situated in remote hilly regions so that these areas have no connections with the motor roads still now because of the difficult geographical setting. However, it is available motor roads at least up to headquarter of the districts and airports closest to Kulung communities: Phaplu (Solukhumbu), Tumlingtar (Sankhuwasava), Bhojpur Airport (Bhojpur) and Lamidada (Khotang). The distance from these places to Kulung speaking areas are about 15 to 50 Kilometers far.
Language of Kulung
The native language of Kulung people is Kulung; is mostly called Kulu Ring in Kulung community. Kulung is one of the Kirati languages, spoken in the hills of eastern Nepal. It is used as mother language in the Kulung community. The earlier census (CBS 2001) reported 22 languages under 'Kirat Rai language group'. In fact this enumeration is not satisfactory; Kulung language is an important member with its own native speakers in that group. Linguists believe that there are other languages still to be enumerated. According to the census (2001) out of 635,151 Kirat Rais 497,055 can speak in their own mother language. It is 78.26 percent of the total population and rest is unable to speak in their mother language. Kulung language is characterized by an elaborate system of verbal endings, which is said to have been the result of a historical process that traditionally has been called 'complex pronominalising', that is the incorporation of personal pronouns in the verb system.
Genetic affiliation of Kulung language
All Kirati languages are member of the Sino-Tibetan language family; so that Kulung language is also genetically affiliated to the Tibeto-Burman group of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The Ethnologue (Grimes 2000) classifies Kulung language as: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Himalayish, Mahakiranti, Kiranti, Eastern and Kulung. In Languages of the Himalayas, van Driem (2001:698) stated the classification of the language more precisely as Kulung belongs to the Central Kiranti group that is divided further into the Khumbu group and the Southern Kirati group. And linguistically the Khumbu group consists of languages: Kulung, Sampang, Nachhiring and probably Sam; whereas the Southern Kirati group comprises Chamling, Puma, Bantawa, Dungmali and Chintang. Nachhiring language is a dialect of Kulung language none other than a distinct language.
Phonology of Kulung language
Vowel phonemes: Kulung distinguishes 6 short and long pure vowels along with 9 diphthongs, a total of twenty one vowel phonemes. Kulung vowel phonemes are given in Table 1 and Table 2 below.
Consonant sounds: Kulung distinguishes six places of articulation of consonant phonemes: glottal, dorso-velar, palatal, dental, and bilabial. These are produced by seven manners of articulation. Kulung consonant phonemes are given in Table 3 below.
Monophthongs
Front Central Back Unrounded Unrounded Rounded High-close i/i: u/u: Mid-close e/e: ә/ә: Mid-open ɔ/ɔ: Low-open a/a: |
Diphthongs
ui e әi ɔi ai iu eu ɔu au |
Table 2: Diphthongs in Kulung
Consonant sounds
Place of Articulation | ||||||
Manner of Articulation | bilabial | dental | palatal | dorso-velar | labial-velar | glottal |
STOPS AND AFFRICATES | ||||||
Voiceless unaspirated | P/k | t/t | t∫/r | k/s | ||
Voiceless aspirated | ph/km | th/y | t∫h/5 | kh/v | ||
Voiced unaspirated | b/a | d/b | j/h | g/u | ||
Voiced aspirated | bh/e* | dh/9* | Jh/em* | gh/3* | ||
FRICATIVE | ||||||
Voiceless grooved | s/; | |||||
NASALS | ||||||
Voiced | m/d | n/g | ŋ/ª | |||
VIBRANTS | ||||||
voiced trill | r// | |||||
LATERAL APPROXIMANTS | ||||||
Voiced | l/n | |||||
CENTRAL APPROXIMANTS | ||||||
Voiced | y/o | w/j | h/x | |||
Table 3: Consonant sounds of Kulung language, based on Tolsma (1994)
* the phonemes prevalent in the Kulung speech community except Solukhumbu district.
Grammar of Kulung language
In Kulung language, a distinction can be made between the categories of nouns, adjectives and personal pronouns. The thirteen cases found in Kulung are absolutive, ergative, instrumental, genitive, vocative, and four different locatives (depending on deictic categories like 'up', 'down', etc.), comitative, ablative, elative and mediative. Personal pronouns are distinguished for three persons, three numbers, and in the non-singular first person between inclusive and exclusive. Possessive pronouns appear as prefixes that may appear before the noun. Adjectives form a separate category in Kulung and are formed by the addition of an affix to a verb stem.
The Kulung verb is characterized by a system of complex pronominalisation, in which paradigmatic stem alternation is found. Personal endings consist of morphemes expressing notion like tense, agent, patient, number and exclusivity. Depending on the number of verbal stems and their position in the verbal paradigm, every verb in Kulung belongs to a certain conjugation type. Like in other Kirati languages, compound verbs are found in Kulung. These compound verbs consist of a verb stem and an auxiliary that adds semantic notions to the main verb. Other verbal constructions found in Kulung are a gerund, imperative, supine and an infinitive.
Tolsma, (1996) says despite their close genetic relation, the Kirati languages are not mutually intelligible. Some shared distinct Kirati lexicon and the complex morphology of the verb have lead to linguistic classification of these languages as Kirati. A verb in a Kirati language consists of a verb stem to which affixes, i.e. prefixes or suffixes, can be added. An affix expresses grammatical notions such as tense, person, number, or negation, or may consist of combinations of these. The suffix '-i' in Kulung, for example, indicating a first person plural in the preterite tense, cannot be analysed into more morphemes.
Another feature of Kulung verbal morphology is the system of verb stem alternation which is found throughout the whole verbal paradigm. Each verb stem in Kulung can have as many as seven allomorphs. Kulung is an ergative language, i.e. agents of transitive verbs take ergative case endings while patients of transitive verbs and subjects of intransitive verbs are found in the unmarked absolutive. Kulung case system shows a total of eleven cases. Deictic categories are found in all parts of Kulung grammar. In nominal morphology different case endings are found denoting various deictic notions such as up, down, and level. With verbs, deictic notions determine the use of different auxiliaries, which are verb forms that are attached directly to the verb stem and add a semantic nuance to the meaning of the main verb. It is no coincidence that the area in which Kulung is spoken is dominated by the geographical environment in which hills and rivers play an important role.
Dialects of Kulung language
Linguists believe that Kulung has 3 dialects, namely Kulung, Sotang and Nachhiring. The Kulung as a dialect is spoken in almost all the Kulung communities whereas the Sotang dialect and the Nachhiring dialect have got the limited areas of their speech community, especially Sotang and Hulu respectively. Tolsma (2006:1) says that ethnic Kulung living in the village of Sotang call their language Sotto Ring (Sotang language), but consider themselves to be Kulung and easily understand the dialect of Kulung spoken in Chhemsi and Chheskam, the main Kulung speaking villages. He (p. 4) denotes that further downstream in the village Hulu, people refer to themselves as Nachhiring, but their language may also be considered as a dialect of Kulung. Thomros (2057 V.S.: 43) writes "Though, there is not found any difference in the grammar of the language spoken in Bung, Chheskam, Gudel and Sotang, they themselves prefer to name Kulunge and Sotange languages." All the dialects of Kulung language share the similar linguistic paradigm and prevail mutual intelligibility among all (Warner, 1991: 48). However my study will mainly be based on the Kulung dialect.
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