Kham (also Khamkura खामकुरा or Kamkura कामकुरा) -- narrowly defined -- is a complex of Tibeto-Burman

Tibeto-Burman languages

The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non-Chinese members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken thoughout the highlands of southeast Asia, as well as lowland areas in Burma ....

 Magaric languages

Magaric languages

The Magaric languages, Magar and Kham, are a small proposed family of Tibeto-Burman languages spoken in Nepal. They are often classified as part of the Mahakiranti family, and Van Driem proposes that they are close relatives of Mahakiranti.Several neighboring languages with uncertain affiliation...

 spoken natively in isolated highlands of Rolpa

Rolpa District

Rolpa of 210,004. Livang is the district's administrative center.By Nepalese standards, Rolpa is an underdeveloped area plagued by low life expectancy and poverty . It was a major flashpoint in the 1996-2006 Civil War.Adjoining districts are Dang to the south, Pyuthan to the east, Salyan to the...

 and Rukum district

Rukum District

Rukum District of 188,438. Musikot is the district's administrative center.Rukum district has many potential tourist attractions that remain unexplored. There is 5,849 meter Mt. Sisne , also called virgin mountain. Nobody claims to have conquered this mountain yet. Rukum is also called "the...

s of Rapti

Rapti Zone

Rapti Anchal in the Mid-Western Development Region of Nepal. It is named after the West Rapti River which drains Rolpa, Pyuthan and part of Dang district. The remainder of Dang and part of Salyan are drained by the Babai. The remainder of Salyan and all of Rukum are drained by the Bheri.The...

 and the westernmost part of Baglung district

Baglung District

Baglung District, of 268,938.Baglung is surrounded by Parvat, Myagdi, Rukum, Ropla, Pyuthan and Gulmi districts. It looks like Nepal in shape. It has 59 Village Development Committees and one Municipality. It has many rivers and streams and so, many suspension bridges. Baglung is also known as the...

 in Dhaulagiri Zone by western clans of the Magar

Magar

The Magars are an indigenous ethnic group of Nepal whose homeland extends from the western and southern edges of the Dhaulagiri section of the high Himalayas range south to the prominent Mahabharat foothill range and eastward into the Gandaki basin. In Nepal, there are a good number of people who...

 tribe, called collectively Kham Magar

Kham Magar

Kham Magar and Northern Magar are descriptive terms invented by academic linguists and anthropologists for a nationality in the Middle Hills of mid-western Nepal inhabiting highlands extending through eastern Rukum and northern Salyan, Rolpa and Pyuthan Districts in Rapti Zone as well as adjacent...

or Northern Magars.

More loosely, Nepali speakers west of the Kaligandaki use Kham (etc.) for non-Indic languages indigenous to the Middle Hills and southern parts of the Himalayas

Himalayas

The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...

. Thus Nepali speakers also subsume with Kham the separate languages Kaike -- spoken to the northwest in lower Dolpo -- and Chantyal

Chantyal language

The Chantyal language is spoken by approximately 2,000 of the 10,000 ethnic Chantyal. The Chantyal live in the Baglung and Myagdi Districts of Nepal....

 -- spoken to the northeast in Baglung

Baglung District

Baglung District, of 268,938.Baglung is surrounded by Parvat, Myagdi, Rukum, Ropla, Pyuthan and Gulmi districts. It looks like Nepal in shape. It has 59 Village Development Committees and one Municipality. It has many rivers and streams and so, many suspension bridges. Baglung is also known as the...

 and Myagdi District

Myagdi District

-Village Development Committees :*Arman*Arthunge*Babiyachaur*Baranja*Begkhola*Bhakilmi*Bima*Chimkhola*Dagnam*Dana*Darwang*Devisthan*Dhatan*Dowa*Gurja Khani*Histhan Mandali*Jhin*Jyamrukot*Kuhunkot*Kuinemangale*Lulang*Malkwang*Marang*Mudi...

s, when in fact these are only distantly related. The Nepali speakers then use the term Bhote (भोटे) for Tibetan dialects spoken in culturally Tibetan borderlands such as upper Dolpo

Dolpo

Dolpo is a high-altitude culturally Tibetan region in the upper part of the Dolpa District of western Nepal, bordered in the north by the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Part of the region lies in Shey Phoksundo National Park...

 and northern Humla.

Regional varieties

The language consists of 3 main lects with several sub-lects:

• Gamale - spoken in northeastern Rolpa along upper Lungrikhola, a tributary of the West Rapti River
  West Rapti River
  Not to be confused with the East Rapti in Chitwan Valley some to the east, this Rapti drains Rapti Zone in Mid-Western Region, Nepal, then Awadh and Purvanchal regions of Uttar Pradesh state, India before joining the Ghaghara a major left bank tributary of the Ganges.The West Rapti is notable for...
  
  .
  • Tamali
  • Ghusbangi
• Parbate
  • Eastern Parbate - spoken north of Gamle: in western Baglung district along upper Nisikhola (western tributary to Gandaki) and around Dhorpatan
    Dhorpatan
    Dhorpatan is a village in Baglung District of Nepal, nestled in a large east-west valley south of the Dhaulagiri Himalaya. It is the headquarters of Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve...
    
     in upper valley of Uttar Ganga (eastern tributary to Bheri River
    Bheri River
    The Bheri River is a major tributary of the Karnali River draining the western Dhaulagiri range in western Nepal. It has three important upper tributaries. Sani Bheri drains southern slopes of this range while Thuli Bheri drains northern slopes. Another tributary Uttar Ganga drains Dhorpatan...
    
    ).
    • Nishel
    • Bhujel
  • Western Parbate - spoken west of Gamale and Eastern Parbate, in eastern Rukim district, watersheds of Sani Bheri, and lower valley of Uttar Ganga.
    • Wale
    • Gamale
    • Thabangi
    • Lugumel
    • Takale
    • Maikoti
    • Kole
    • Rangsi
    • Seema
    • Hukam
    • Mahat
  • The term Parbate is actually a cover term for all non-Sheshi/non-Gamale lects. The Takale variety is the prestige dialect
    Prestige dialect
    In sociolinguistics, prestige describes the level of respect accorded to a language or dialect as compared to that of other languages or dialects in a speech community. The concept of prestige in sociolinguistics is closely related to that of prestige or class within a society...
    
     and lingua franca
    Lingua franca
    A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
    
     of the Parbate group.
• Sheshi - spoken in a slightly disjunct area to the southwest separated by Nepali
  Nepali language
  Nepali or Nepalese is a language in the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family.It is the official language and de facto lingua franca of Nepal and is also spoken in Bhutan, parts of India and parts of Myanmar...
  
   speakers
  • Tapanangi
  • Jangkoti

Consonants

Takale Kham has 22 consonant

Consonant

In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are , pronounced with the lips; , pronounced with the front of the tongue; , pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; and ,...

s:

		Bilabial Bilabial consonant In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:...	Alveolar Alveolar consonant Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth...	Velar Velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum)....	Glottal Glottal consonant Glottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricative, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider...
Nasal Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :...		m	n	ŋ
Plosive	voiceless Voiceless In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, this is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word "phonation" implies voicing, and that voicelessness is the lack of...	p	t	k
	voiced Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...	b	d	ɡ
	aspirated Aspiration (phonetics) In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say pin ...	pʰ	tʰ	kʰ
Affricate Affricate consonant Affricates are consonants that begin as stops but release as a fricative rather than directly into the following vowel.- Samples :...	voiceless Voiceless In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, this is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word "phonation" implies voicing, and that voicelessness is the lack of...		t͡s
	voiced Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...		d͡z
	aspirated Aspiration (phonetics) In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say pin ...		t͡sʰ
Fricative Fricative consonant Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or...	voiceless Voiceless In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, this is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word "phonation" implies voicing, and that voicelessness is the lack of...		s		h
	voiced Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...		z
Rhotic Rhotic consonant In phonetics, rhotic consonants, also called tremulants or "R-like" sounds, are liquid consonants that are traditionally represented orthographically by symbols derived from the Greek letter rho, including "R, r" from the Roman alphabet and "Р, p" from the Cyrillic alphabet...			ɾ
Approximant Approximant consonant Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough or with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do produce a turbulent airstream, and vowels, which produce no...	central Central consonant A central or medial consonant is a consonant sound that is produced when air flows across the center of the mouth over the tongue. The class contrasts with lateral consonants, in which air flows over the sides of the tongue rather than down its center....		j	w
	lateral Lateral consonant A lateral is an el-like consonant, in which airstream proceeds along the sides of the tongue, but is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth....		l

• The rhotic /ɾ/ is realized as a trill
  Trill consonant
  In phonetics, a trill is a consonantal sound produced by vibrations between the articulator and the place of articulation. Standard Spanish <rr> as in perro is an alveolar trill, while in Parisian French it is almost always uvular....
  
   [r] at the end words. Otherwise, it is a flap
  Flap consonant
  In phonetics, a flap or tap is a type of consonantal sound, which is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator is thrown against another.-Contrast with stops and trills:...
  
  .

Vowels

Takale Kham has 25 vowel

Vowel

In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...

s:

	Front Front vowel A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also...					Central Central vowel A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel...			Back Back vowel A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark...
	unrounded Roundedness In phonetics, vowel roundedness refers to the amount of rounding in the lips during the articulation of a vowel. That is, it is vocalic labialization. When pronouncing a rounded vowel, the lips form a circular opening, while unrounded vowels are pronounced with the lips relaxed...			rounded Roundedness In phonetics, vowel roundedness refers to the amount of rounding in the lips during the articulation of a vowel. That is, it is vocalic labialization. When pronouncing a rounded vowel, the lips form a circular opening, while unrounded vowels are pronounced with the lips relaxed...					unrounded Roundedness In phonetics, vowel roundedness refers to the amount of rounding in the lips during the articulation of a vowel. That is, it is vocalic labialization. When pronouncing a rounded vowel, the lips form a circular opening, while unrounded vowels are pronounced with the lips relaxed...			rounded Roundedness In phonetics, vowel roundedness refers to the amount of rounding in the lips during the articulation of a vowel. That is, it is vocalic labialization. When pronouncing a rounded vowel, the lips form a circular opening, while unrounded vowels are pronounced with the lips relaxed...
	short Vowel length In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in...	long Vowel length In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in...	nasal Nasal vowel A nasal vowel is a vowel that is produced with a lowering of the velum so that air escapes both through nose as well as the mouth. By contrast, oral vowels are ordinary vowels without this nasalisation...	short Vowel length In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in...	long Vowel length In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in...	short Vowel length In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in...	long Vowel length In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in...	nasal Nasal vowel A nasal vowel is a vowel that is produced with a lowering of the velum so that air escapes both through nose as well as the mouth. By contrast, oral vowels are ordinary vowels without this nasalisation...	short Vowel length In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in...	long Vowel length In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in...	nasal Nasal vowel A nasal vowel is a vowel that is produced with a lowering of the velum so that air escapes both through nose as well as the mouth. By contrast, oral vowels are ordinary vowels without this nasalisation...	short Vowel length In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in...	long Vowel length In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in...	nasal Nasal vowel A nasal vowel is a vowel that is produced with a lowering of the velum so that air escapes both through nose as well as the mouth. By contrast, oral vowels are ordinary vowels without this nasalisation...
Close Close vowel A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.This term is prescribed by the...	i	iː	ĩː	y	yː				ɯ	ɯː	ɯ̃ː	u	uː	ũː
Mid Mid vowel A mid vowel is a vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned mid-way between an open vowel and a close vowel...	e	eː	ẽː	ø	øː	ə	əː	ə̃ː				o	oː	õː
Open Open vowel An open vowel is defined as a vowel sound in which the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth. Open vowels are sometimes also called low vowels in reference to the low position of the tongue...						a	aː	ãː

• length
  Vowel length
  In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in...
  
  
• nasalization
  Nasalization
  In phonetics, nasalization is the production of a sound while the velum is lowered, so that some air escapes through the nose during the production of the sound by the mouth...
  
  
• diphthong
  Diphthong
  A diphthong , also known as a gliding vowel, refers to two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: That is, the tongue moves during the pronunciation of the vowel...
  
  s
• vowel harmony
  Vowel harmony
  Vowel harmony is a type of long-distance assimilatory phonological process involving vowels that occurs in some languages. In languages with vowel harmony, there are constraints on which vowels may be found near each other....