Site selection Subject selection

3 Methodology

3.1 Site selection

We chose the data collection sites for the field research based on background research and the goals of the survey. In the Yamphu area, we chose Hedangna because it is known as the most vital Yamphu- speaking community. The choice of the other sites Seduwa, Num, and Khoktak was based primarily on geographic criteria. Seduwa is the most western of the Yamphu villages. Num is central and Khoktak is the most southerly Yamphu community in that area. See Figure 5 and Figure 6 for the location of each site where we collected data. 8 Figure 5 displays the data collection sites in Sankhuwasabha district. In the Lohorung language area, we collected data in Gairi Pangma, Angala, and Dhupu. In the Southern Yamphu area of Sankhuwasabha district, we collected data in Devitar. The language in Devitar was often described as distinct from the Yamphu spoken farther north. Figure 5 shows the sites where data was collected during fieldwork in Sankhuwasabha district. Figure 5. Data collection sites in Sankhuwasabha district. Figure 6 displays the data collection site in Dhankuta district among the Southern Yamphu in Rajarani VDC. The literature we reviewed mentioned a Lohorung-speaking community in Rajarani VDC of Dhankuta district Hanβon 1991:64. For this reason, we decided to collect data in Dhankuta as well. 8 Maps in figures 5 and 6 are from Lewis, M. Paul ed.. 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the world. Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: http:www.ethnologue.com Figure 6. Data collection sites in Dhankuta district.

3.2 Subject selection

Quotas were used in this survey, based on a convenience sample. We focused on four demographic factors gender, age, education, and geographic location, as these factors are known to influence language use and attitudes as they often influence levels of exposure to other languages. We required people who helped us with wordlists or took a Recorded Text Test RTT to meet four screening criteria. These criteria are as follows: 1 Subject has grown up in the village under study, lives there now, and if they have lived elsewhere, their time elsewhere was not more than five years. 9 2 Subject has at least one parent from the target mother tongue. 3 Subject has at least one parent from the village under study and that parent spoke the variety with them. 4 Subject speaks the variety first and best. The informal interview schedule requires that only criteria number one and two be met in order for a subject to be eligible for responding to the questionnaire. 9 This criterion was extended in a few cases to include subjects who had grown up in nearby villages, where the speech variety is still the same as the village where the interview took place. It is difficult to define a specific time period e.g. more than the last five years for “a significant amount of recent time.”. Thus, this criterion is intentionally subjective as it depends on how long the subject lived elsewhere and how long they have been back in the village relative to their age.

3.3 Instruments