Languages of the Greater Himalayan Region, Volume 1 Rabha

Book excerpt: The Rabha’s inhabit the plains on both sides of the Brahmaputra river in Assam, in the North East of India. Their language is Rabha, a member of the Tibeto-Burman language family. This is the first ever comprehensive grammar of the Róngdani dialect of Rabha, as spoken in, a.o., the Rabha heartlands. Based on extensive field work by the author, this work is yet another significant step in the meticulous task of piecing together the jigsaw of Himalayan languages as undertaken by George van Driem and his team. Given the steady decline of the Rabha language in favour of Assamese, all those interested in the language and history of the Himalayas and Northern India will welcome this volume. With a Rabha dictionary/vocabulary, and a series of key Rabha texts shedding light on its people’s customs. With financial support of the International Institute of Asian Studies (www.iias.nl).