Pre- and post-RTT question results Emic insider perspectives

Table 6. RTT results for Rajarani on the Lohorung RTT Test Location Rajarani Southern Yamphu Lohorung Pangma Story Average Score 61 Standard Deviation 19.3 Sample Size 10 The average score for people in Rajarani who took the Lohorung RTT was 61. The standard deviation was rather high at 19.3. This average score is slightly high enough that more information is needed in order to conclusively determine the level of comprehension of the story’s hearers. Based on the high standard deviation, however, it is likely that a large percentage of those tested in Rajarani would have trouble understanding the Lohorung variety. Usually contact is a primary factor in high standard deviation. However, the data does not show if contact with Lohorung speakers is a factor in the variation of scores. None of the RTT participants reported having ever been to Sankhuwasabha district.

6.3.3 Pre- and post-RTT question results

When we asked, “Which village do you think the storyteller is from?”, fifty percent of the respondents said “Sankhuwasabha”, indicating that many of them recognized the district where the language is spoken even though none of them have been to Pangma. It does show, however, that those people had heard the Sankhuwasabha variety often enough to recognize it accurately. When asked, “How much of the story did you understand?”, the responses were varied, reflecting a correlation with the high standard deviation of the scores. There is a large spread among respondents of how much of the story they felt they understood. The majority 40 said they understood “most” of the story, while 30 said they understood “less than half.” Twenty percent said they understood “half” and only 10 said they understood “all” of the story. The answers to a nother question, “Is the language in this story the same, a little different, or very different from the language spoken here?” give insight into people’s perception of the differences between Southern Yamphu and Lohorung. Of those who took the Lohorung RTT in Rajarani, 70 said the language in the story was “A little different” and 30 said it was “Very different.” While people in Rajarani recognized the differences in the language of Pangma, views varied regarding the degree of difference.

6.3.4 Emic insider perspectives

While we lack intelligibility data between the language in Devitar and Rajarani, we do have supporting data from emic perspectives. Many of the observations we made and interviews we conducted supported the theory that Devitar and Rajarani could be grouped together. The insider view in Devitar is that they are a large, pure Yamphu village. Some people referred to themselves as “central to the Yamphu in the south,” or even as the “Hedangna of the south.” Respondents in Devitar expressed uniformity with the culture and language of Yamphu people living in the south as well as in Ilam district. Many people in Devitar have lived or spent time in Ilam district. Not only does the perceived similarity run from Devitar to Rajarani, but also from Rajarani north to Devitar. Our host in Rajarani informed us that their “language is very similar to the language in Devitar.”

6.3.5 Southern Yamphu identity