Abstract
This grammar is the first comprehensive grammatical description of Bunan, a Tibeto-Burman language that is spoken by approximately 4,000 people in the North Indian Himalayas. Based on data gathered during several field visits, the book offers a systematic treatment of a wide range of grammatical phenomena. In twenty chapters, all domains from phonetics and phonology to complex syntactic constructions are analyzed in a detailed and typologically informed manner. Whenever necessary, the author adopts a diachronic perspective to make the synchronic intricacy of Bunan grammar understandable to the reader. In addition, the book features a historical-comparative study of the West Himalayish languages, two annotated texts, and a Bunan-English glossary. The book thus offers a detailed grammatical study of an endangered language that belongs to an understudied subgroup of Tibeto-Burman. It will be valued by general and historical linguistics alike, particularly by those interested in the languages of the Himalayan area.
Widmer, Manuel