Table 18. What language do your children usually speak while talking with neighbors? by village
n= Loh
Both Nep
Pangma 12
42 8
50 Angala
7 57
14 29
Dhupu 9
– 11
89 The data in Table 18 shows that roughly half of the children in Pangma and Angala are reported to
usually speak Lohorung when talking with neighbors. Table 19 will show how the ethnic diversity of the village might affect what language children speak while playing with other children.
Table 19. What language do your children speak while playing with other children? by village
n= Loh
Both Nep
Pangma 12
33 17
50 Angala
8 13
25 50
Dhupu 9
– 11
89 Comparing between the two questions in Table 18 and Table 19, Pangma respondents answered in
generally the same way for both questions. Dhupu respondents also answered in the same way for both questions. The responses from Angala participants, however, is where the difference lies. While Angala
has a relatively mixed population, the groups live in concentrated areas, so when their children play with other children, they are more likely to speak Nepali, but because more of their neighbors are
Lohorung than not, they reported their children use Lohorung more often than Nepali when speaking in that domain. Pangma is almost entirely Lohorung, so children reportedly speak mostly Lohorung when
playing with other children and when talking with neighbors. The situation is the opposite in Dhupu where the population is largely mixed with few Lohorung speakers, so children reportedly speak Nepali
more than Lohorung in both domains.
As might be expected, Nepali is solely used as the language of classrooms for most children of respondents 92, while both Nepali and Lohorung are used 8 percent of the time.
6.4 Language vitality in Lohorung speech communities
In this section, we will look at the context in which these speech communities are living and making these language choices. What things affect their language choices? This section will discuss the various
factors that can impact a community’s language choices and contributes to the overall picture of language vitality.
6.4.1 Language vitality in Pangma
Observations of language use and other contextual factors point to high language vitality in Pangma. We observed all ages speaking Lohorung amongst themselves. The high degree of Lohorung being spoken by
children was corroborated by conversations with several young teachers who spoke of the need for teaching materials in Lohorung to help their students learn more efficiently.
Another factor that affects ethnolinguistic vitality is the speech community’s access to a population center. A population center can be a bazaar, market, larger town, city, or anywhere people will be in
contact with speakers of other languages and will likely be required to speak the language of wider communication. Located near the main north-south road, Pangma is a mere 20-minute walk from Mane
Bhanjyang, a market town with many different ethnicities, and only a two-hour walk away from Khandbari, the bustling district headquarters. This provides frequent situations where Lohorung people
speak Nepali because they are interacting with people outside the Lohorung community.
Economic factors also play an important role in language vitality. Pangma’s economy is self- sufficient. Their own crops are able to produce nearly all the food that they need throughout the year.
Even though their crops provide for daily needs, many young men leave the area for a few years to work in Kathmandu or internationally. This means that many men have had greater contact with and may also
speak other languages of wider communication e.g. Nepali, English, Malaysian, Arabic.
Pangma is the most prestigious among Lohorung communities. Not only is it the most concentrated population of Lohorung people, but it also has many important sacred ritual sites.
There are material indicators that identify the community as Lohorung such as architecture and village layout. Houses are built up on stilts allowing them greater use of the land and unlike other Rai
groups, houses are built close together.
6.4.2 Language vitality in Angala
