Limbu (Yakthuṅba) — Phonology, Orthography & the Noun

A structured reference extracted from George van Driem, A Grammar of Limbu (Mouton Grammar Library 4, Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin/New York/Amsterdam, 1987). ISBN 0-89925-345-8 / 3-11-011282-5.

Scope: this document covers Chapter 1 (Phonology and Phonetics, pp. 1–19), §0.2 (The language / scripts, pp. xxii–xxvi), Chapter 2 (Nominal Morphology, pp. 20–54), and Appendix IV (Anthology of Kiranti Scripts, pp. 550–557).

Page numbers cited inline (e.g. [p.34]) refer to the printed book pages.

0. Source, dialect, and conventions

• Language / autonym. The people call themselves Yakthuṅba; the language Yakthuṅpa·n / Yakthuṅba pa·n. Limbū is a Nepali ethnonym; the homeland is Limbuvān in eastern Nepal (Kośī and Mecī zones), with speakers also in Sikkim and Darjeeling. ~180,000 speakers (Subba 1976). Classified within the Kiranti (Kirātī) group / Bahing-Vayu nucleus of Tibeto-Burman. [pp. xix–xxiv]
• Dialects. Four: Phedāppe, Pā̃cthare, Chathare, Tāplejuṅe (Tāmarkholā). This grammar describes the Phedāppe dialect as spoken in Tamphulā village, Tehrathum district. Note: modern written Limbu is based on the easternmost variety of Pā̃cthare speech, not Phedāppe. [pp. xxii–xxvi]
• Typology. SOV; ergative case-marking. [p. xxviii]

Romanization (van Driem's transcription)

Van Driem writes Limbu in a broad phonemic Roman transcription, not in any indigenous or Devanagari script. Key conventions [pp. xiv–xv, 19]:

• · (raised dot) after a vowel = long vowel (e.g. a·, i·, u·, e·, o·, ɛ·, ɔ·).
• ? = glottal stop /ʔ/.
• IPA-style vowel letters are used: ɛ, ɔ, ə (the source prints these as ɛ/ɔ/ə).
• // = phonemic transcription; [] = phonetic transcription / etymological note; < > = morpheme/allomorph; < = derives from; → = direction of a transitive relationship.
• The orthography of the grammar additionally writes voiced-plosive allophones and certain other allophones as distinct letters even though they are not separate phonemes: g, gh, d, dh, b, bh, dz and ?l (glottalized lateral allophone of /t/) and ch. [p. 19]
• Hyphenation separates (1) two phoneme symbols that would otherwise read as a digraph (ma·khi 'blood', mik-hi 'eye detritus'), (2) parts of a compound/onomatopoeia, (3) morphemes within a word. [p. 19]
• The length mark · is dropped after final e· in the supine, exclusive, instrumental, ergative, genitive and subordinator suffixes. [p. 19]
• Intervocalic glottal hiatus is written ? unless syllables are already hyphen-separated. [p. 19]

1. PHONOLOGY AND PHONETICS

1.1. Phoneme inventory [p. 1]

Consonant phonemes

Native phonemes are unparenthesized; phonemes occurring only in (Nepali) loans are shown in (parentheses).

Plus: y, r, l, w; s, h, ? (glottal stop).

Native-only consonant system (loans stripped out) [p. 1]:

So the native inventory is: stops/affricate p ph b t th c k kh ?; nasals m n ŋ; fricatives s h; liquids/glides r l w y. Voicing in plosives is not contrastive natively (voiced plosives g, d, dz, bh, ʈ, etc. enter only via loans, or appear as intervocalic/post-nasal allophones). [pp. 1–2, 8–9]

Note on /ŋ/: Pā̃cthare retains word-initial /ŋ/, but in Phedāppe it has been replaced by /n/ word-initially, e.g. Pā̃cthare /ŋa/ 'fish' → Phedāppe /na/; Pā̃cthare /ŋasi/ 'five' → Phedāppe /nasi/. [p. 16, fn.15]

Vowel phonemes [p. 1]

Length is contrastive. Layout (van Driem's chart):

• Length opposition (short ~ long): i ~ i·, u ~ u·, ɛ ~ ɛ·, ɔ ~ ɔ·, a ~ a·.
• No length opposition: the half-long mids e· and o· (always written long) and the rare mid vowel ə. [p. 13]
• Vowel length is distinctive in both open and closed syllables. [p. 13]

1.2. Allophones — consonants [pp. 2–12]

Lateral allophony rule [p. 5]:

• /l/ → [r] / { V, ? } ___ (after a vowel or glottal stop; except in some compounds)
• /l/ → [l] / { C (except ?) } ___

Consequence: intervocalic /l/ is realized [r], or [ll] when geminate [p. 12]. In older compounds intervocalic /l/ is [r] (e.g. mikwara·p 'bat' < mikwa 'tear' + la·p 'wing'); in newer compounds /l/ keeps its word-initial realization (e.g. ha?luŋ 'fireplace-stone' < ha 'tooth' + luŋ 'stone'). Productive prefix + /l/-noun keeps [l]: ku-la·p 'its wing'.

Loan consonant phonemes (with example loans) [pp. 7–9]: /g/ (ga·ro· 'wall'), /gh/ ([gʱa·s] 'fodder'), /d/ (ɖa·ri 'beard'), /bh/ (bhiɖiyo· 'video', bhitra 'inside'), /dz/ (dzanti, dze·, dzilla 'district'), /dzh/ (dzhan — lone loan), /ʈ/ (ʈika), /ʈh/ (ʈhikai 'right', ko·ʈha 'room'), /ɖ/ (ɖasana 'mattress'), /ɖh/ (ɖhiki 'rice thrasher'), /ɳ/ (bhɛɳʈa 'eggplant').

Syllable-final allophones — summary [p. 9]

• /p/ → [p͡ʔ]; /k/ → [k͡ʔ] (single allophone each).
• /t/ has two syllable-final allophones: [t̪͡ʔ] and [ʔl]. The lateral [ʔl] is the pre-pausal allophone (before a word boundary or before /h/, /?/); word-internally syllable-final /t/ deletes a following glottal stop but is still realized as [ʔl].
• A syllable-final glottal stop cancels a following syllable-initial glottal stop: /VʔʔV/ → [VʔV].

Glottal stop — distinctiveness [pp. 9–12, 16]

Glottal stop is phonemic and distinctive (except intervocalically word-internally, where it is the hiatus marker). Minimal pairs across /?/, the glottalized syllable-final allophones of /p t k/, and zero [pp. 9–11]:

Consonant doubling (gemination) is distinctive [p. 12]: ye·ba /ye·pa/ 'he has come' ~ ye·ppa /ye·ppa/ 'he is laughing'; kɛnnunɛnni·? 'aren't you feeling alright?' ~ kɛnnu·nnɛnni·? 'aren't you ashamed?'.

1.2. Allophones — vowels [pp. 12–14]

• Creaky voice: long vowels are often pharyngealized/creaky, especially long /u·/ (su·ma? 'be late'). In stems like yu?ma? / -yu·r- / yu?- 'bring down', a long creaky vowel alternates with a glottal stop. [p. 13]
• Whispered/devoiced vowels of /i/ and /u/ are subphonemic (in unstressed position in long words). [p. 14]
• Harmonic neutralization: /i, i·/ may become [u, u·] in a back-vowel environment, and /u, u·/ may become [i, i·] in a front-vowel environment (allegro speech). [p. 14]
• Nasalization is not distinctive except in ã 'yes' and a few Nepali loans (culẽsi). [p. 14]

Vowel minimal pairs (selection) [pp. 13–14]:

1.3. The Limbu word, stress, hiatus [pp. 14–17]

• Stress is weak and non-distinctive. Affixes are never stressed; verbs/deverbatives are stressed on the root; nouns and other parts of speech on the first syllable. [p. 15]
• Hiatus = a glottal stop (1) preceding a word-initial vowel, or (2) intervocalically word-internal. Hiatus prevents diphthongization. Native diphthongs occur only with the interrogative particle <-i·> or the vocative <-e·>, which do not show glottal hiatus. [pp. 15–16]
• Word-internal glottal stop is phonemic except intervocalically. Triplet [p. 16]: yuŋɛ 'he sat down' ~ yuŋ?ɛ 'I'm sitting' ~ yuŋɛ? 'sit down!'; pe·gɛ 'he went' ~ pe·k?ɛ 'I'm going' ~ pe·gɛ? 'go!'.

1.3.2. Syllable structure [p. 16]

Canonical native syllable:

( C_i ( G ) ) V ( C_f )

• A syllable may be just a V or just a syllabic nasal.
• Onsets (C_i): /k, kh, c, t, th, n, p, ph, m, y, l, w, s, h/; word-internally also /?/ and /ŋ/. In loans also /g, gh, dz, dzh, ʈ, ʈh, ɖ, ɖh, d, b, bh, r/.
• Codas (C_f): /k, ŋ, t, th, n, p, ph, b, m, ?/, and (as onset of an intervocalic geminate) /l/.
• Post-consonantal glide (G): /y, w/ and /l/ (the latter as its [r] allophone). The post-consonantal glide /l/ never occurs in the initial syllable of a word. Examples: swa?l 'quiet', sya?l 'sting', cwa?l 'water', pyak 'slap', sammyaŋ 'gold', twaba 'forehead'.
• When onset is present, the nucleus is not a nasal.

1.4. Assimilation & dissimilation [pp. 17–19]

Common assimilations:

• (a) Regressive assimilation of dentals to labials (virtually exceptionless): /t/ → [p] and /n/ → [m] before /m/ or /p/. E.g. ke·t-ma? → [ke·pma?] 'add'. Rare exceptions: pitma 'cow', sɛtma? 'build a wall'.
• (b) Homorganicity of consecutive nasals: regressive /n/ → [m] before /m/; progressive /m/ → [ŋ] after /ŋ/ (the latter limited to PP, 1PS/PT and NP suffixes): /haŋ-m?na/ → [haŋ-ŋ?na].
• (c) Dental /n/ optionally assimilates to following /k/ or /kh/.
• (d) Nasals may become lateralized [l] before /l/ (allegro, rare).
• (e) Glottal stop may regressively assimilate to a following nasal → geminates (e.g. the plural infinitive -a?mɛ? / -ammɛ?). The initial glottal stop of the locative and absolutive endings optionally assimilates progressively to a preceding nasal: him-?o· / him-mo· 'in the house'; nam-?in / nam-min 'the sun (ABS)'; luŋ-?in / luŋŋin 'rock (ABS)'.
• (f) Plosives optionally assimilate for voice across word boundaries (because native voicing is non-distinctive).
• Dissimilation is rare; the one attested case: khɛŋ 'that' + postpositive -aŋ 'also' → khɛnaŋ. [p. 19]

1.5. The orthography of the grammar [p. 19]

Already summarized under "Romanization" above. The grammar's writing system over-differentiates the phonemic system by spelling out voiced/glottalized allophones (g gh d dh b bh dz, ?l, ch) to aid the reader.

2. SCRIPT: Devanagari and the Kiranti / Sirijaṅgā (Limbu) script

Devanagari

Van Driem does not present a Limbu Devanagari letter-by-letter table for the spoken Phedāppe forms; his working transcription is the Roman phonemic system above. Devanagari is used in the book only for Nepali (transliterated per Pokhrel et al. and Rabinovič et al.) and, in the script appendix, as the transliteration target for the indigenous Kiranti script. [pp. xiv, 554]

Modern written Limbu has in practice been rendered both in Devanagari (most published dictionaries/verse: Imānsiṅ Cemjoṅ 1961, 1965; Māden 1984) and in the revived Kiranti script (B.B. Subba's school textbooks, Sikkim, late 1970s–80s). [pp. xxv–xxvi]

The Kiranti / Sirijaṅgā script [pp. xxiv–xxvi, 550–557]

• Names & history. Limbu, Lepcha and Nevārī are the only Sino-Tibetan languages of the central Himalayas with their own scripts (Sprigg 1959). The Kiranti (Limbu) script is ascribed to the Limbu Buddhist hero Sirijaṅgā (the "Dorze Lama of Yangrup"; probably died 1775–1777), devised during Buddhist expansion in Sikkim in the early 18th century, roughly contemporary with the Lepcha script (Phyag-rdor rNam-rgyal, ca. 1700–1717). [pp. xxiv–xxv]
• Type. Indic/abugida, Tibetan-inspired: the syllable initial is written in full form; the associated vowel and any post-consonantal glide are added as diacritics. The vowel /a/ is the inherent (unmarked) vowel, removed by a halant/virām. Only syllable-initial vowels are written in full. [p. 550]
• Original Sirijaṅgā script (Campbell 1855, from Lt. Mainwaring) — phonetic values [p. 550]: consonant graphemes for k, kh, ng, t, th, n, b, bh, m, j, ch, ny, y, r, l, w, sh, s, h. The original script does not distinguish voiced from voiceless stops (voicing was treated as subphonemic — matching the native Phedāppe system), but it does distinguish two sibilants s and sh (ch is probably a grapheme for the [tɕʰ] allophone of /s/). It has special syllable-final symbols for p, m, k, ng, l, h, and (per Campbell) "twenty-eight letters: nineteen consonants and nine vowels," plus seven finals. Vowel heights distinguished mirror the native four-height system (ī, ē, ĕ, a, u, ō, ŏ). Punctuation: full stop and a symbol for the clause-final assertive particle lo·. [pp. 550–551]
• Cemjoṅ's expanded Devanagari-inspired version (1961/2010). Drastically redesigned: added voiced-stop graphemes (so the script gained g, gh, j(dz), jh(dzh), d, dh, b, bh), reshuffled values, and added graphemes for Indo-Aryan ṣ, ñ, tr, jñ, plus ai, au, aḥ. The grammar reproduces Cemjoṅ's table (Appendix IV, pp. 554–555): vowels a ā i u e / ai o au aḥ eḥ; consonants in five rows (k kh g gh ṅ / c ch j jh ñ / t th d dh n / p ph b bh m / y r l v tr), plus ś ṣ s h jñ; syllable finals kak kat kap kaṅ kan kam kal; post-consonantal glides kya kra kva. [pp. xxv, 554–555]
• B.B. Subba's revival (1976/1979). Based on Cemjoṅ's expanded script but drops jh, ñ, ṣ, tr, jñ. Crucially Subba added provision for the glottal-stop phoneme and for phonemic vowel length via three diacritics: the mukphrèṅ (final glottal stop), the kemphrèṅ (vowel length), and the sa-i (a halant stripping the inherent vowel). Examples (Phedāppe glosses): mukphrèṅ in sɔ?ma? 'to knead', kɔ?yo· 'down here'; kemphrèṅ in su·ma? 'to be late', ha·ma? 'to share/serve'; sa-i in la·tma? 'to enter'. Subba also uses Kiranti decimal numerals (1–9, 0). [pp. xxv–xxvi, 555–557]

3. THE NOUN — Number

3.1. Number marking (nouns) [pp. 29–32]

• Plural suffix: -ha?.
• Dual suffix: -si (underlying form <-si> for all dual/generalized-dual morphemes).
• The plural suffix is superfluous when plurality is shown by the verb or context.

• Plural of a collective noun individualizes referents otherwise viewed as a whole [p. 30].
• A plural noun takes a singular verb when referents are viewed collectively [p. 30] (cf. (16) vs (17): kɛrɛk-le ku-mɛn-ha? mɛ-ghik 'prices… are too high' [pl. verb] vs …khik [sg. verb]).
• Dual vs plural in 3rd person: a dual referent may be marked by a plural noun + dual verb (19) — khɛŋha? ɔ·kt-ɛ-tchi 'they (two) screamed'. The dual suffix is not attached to non-dual referents. [p. 31]

3.2. The dual / generalized-dual morpheme <-si> [pp. 31–32]

• Dual morphemes = duality of actant; generalized dual morphemes = non-singularity of actant (historically over-generalized from dual to include plural).
• Nominal dual suffix <-si>.
• In numerals 2–9 the derivational suffix -si is a generalized dual morpheme (see numerals below).

3.3. Numerals [pp. 32–34]

Native cardinals (the suffix -si appears as a generalized dual in 2–9):

Tens and compounds [p. 33] — decimal morpheme -bo·ŋ in 10/20/30, -kip in 40–90 and as root in 100; thik 'one' appears as thi- in 10; two appears as allomorph -ni- in 20, else -nɛt-; eight -yɛt-/-yɛn- → -ye·- in the eighties:

• Collective numerals (enumerate a group as a whole; not used in counting) — suffix -phu [p. 33]: 1 thikphu, 2 nɛpphu, 3 sumbhu, 4 libhu, 5 nabhu, 6 thukphu, 7 nubhu, 8 yɛpphu, 9 phaŋbhu.
• Ordinals are not attested. Only fraction: kumbhrɛ·ŋ 'one half'. [p. 33]
• Numerals above nine are seldom used by contemporary Phedāppe speakers; above ten almost only known to elderly men. [p. 34]

4. THE NOUN — Case and postpositions [pp. 34–54]

Case endings and postpositions are suffixed to nouns. The ergative, absolutive, genitive, instrumental, vocative and locative assimilate directly to the noun's final. The comitative, mediative, etc. are postpositions treated as case endings. Two or more case endings may stack on one noun, e.g. a-ndzum-le-n-ille (my-friend-GEN-ABS-INST) '[using] my friend's'. [p. 20]

Most frequent cases: absolutive <-?in>, ergative <-?ille, -le>, instrumental <-?ille, -le>, genitive <-?ille, -le>, locative <-?o·>. [p. 34]

Case-suffix summary table

2.4.1. Absolutive [pp. 34–38]

• Marks: subject of intransitive/reflexive verb, patient of transitive verb, one of the two arguments in a copular syntagm.
• Indefinite = unmarked (∅); definite = -?in (a postpositive definite article, identical to the article fused into the definite ergative).

Examples:

Morphophonology of definite -?in [pp. 36–37]:

• The pronoun 'who' e·n contains the article -n (vs ergative e·lle); pluralizable e·nha? 'who (pl)'. [p. 38]
• Ancillary function: topicalizer (sentence-initial / appositional topic). [p. 38]

2.4.2. Ergative [pp. 39–41]

• Marks agent of a transitive verb.
• Suffix: -le (indefinite) / -?ille (definite). Allomorphs -re / -lle / -?ille.
• The definite ergative <-?ille> = definite article <-?in> (→ -?il before -le) + ergative <-le>.
• After final /?/, indefinite -le → [-re]: si?-re kɛ-ha?r-ɛ 'a louse has bitten you' vs definite mɛnda?-?ille cɔ 'the goat is eating'.
• After consonants /? k t p b ŋ n m/: indefinite -le, definite -?ille.

Examples [pp. 40–41]:

• Plural: article is zero, so only -le remains (→ [-re] after -ha? or after a vowel). Consonant-final singular vs plural ergative are not formally distinct (verb/context disambiguates). [p. 40]
• Demonstratives/interrogative ergatives: khɛlle / khɛŋle (that), kɔlle / kɔŋle (this), helle / henle (what). [p. 41]

2.4.3. Instrumental [pp. 41–43]

• Form identical to the ergative (-le / -?ille). Widely used to subordinate causal clauses (§9.4).
• Marks: an instrument distinct from the (un)expressed ergative agent; a cause; or a mean between comitative and agent.
• Distinction from ergative: instrumental arguments may occur in passive sentences and take part in intransitive verbal scenarios; ergative actants may not. Animate/agentive arguments tend to be ergative; inanimate/low-agentivity arguments tend to be instrumental.

Examples [pp. 41–43]:

2.4.4. Genitive [pp. 43–46]

• Suffix -le / -?ille (allomorphs -re/-lle); after a vowel it may freely be -le or -lle.
• After a derivational ending in final -a, the genitive is -le (not -lle): yaŋsarumba-le 'third-born-GEN' (vs ERG yaŋsarumbɛ-lle); the -a fronts to -ɛ only when the genitive co-occurs with further suffixes.
• Singular def./indef. distinction parallels the ergative. Singular vs plural genitive contrast (after a vowel) is seldom marked: khɛŋ mənα-lle ku-him 'that man's house' vs nɛpphu mənα-re 'the two guys''.

Examples [pp. 43–44]:

• Genitive nouns are generally followed by a noun carrying the 3rd-person possessive prefix ku- (pl. khunchi-): mɛnda?-re ku-mi 'the goat's tail'. The possessive prefix may be dropped when the genitive is generic, not possessive: si·-re khorɛ·ŋ caŋ 'I ate wheat bread'. [p. 44]

2.4.4.1. Genitive of time [p. 45]

Nouns + genitive in temporal meaning: maŋgalba·r-le 'on Tuesday', sumsi ya·n-le 'in three days', anche· anche· maŋba·la·-·lle 'a long long time ago, in the epoch of the gods'. Also subordinates temporal/contingent clauses (§9.4): thik ya·n-le 'in one day'.

2.4.4.2. Independent genitive [pp. 45–46]

• An absolutivized genitive (genitive + absolutive marking) functioning as subject/patient or topic: kɛ-si-bɛ-rɛ-n 'the dying man's', nya?-rɛ-n 'auntie's', tumba-rɛ-n yɛmba co·k 'big brother's is big'.
• Personal pronouns have special independent-genitive forms ending in -?in (behaves like the definite absolutive article) [p. 46]:

2.4.5. Vocative [pp. 47–48]

• Ending -e· (sg & non-singular base). After a vowel: no glottal hiatus (amphue· 'brother!'); a preceding nasal may be doubled (andzumme· 'my friend!').
• Non-singular vocative -se·: hɛndza?-s-e· 'children!', adhaŋba-s-e· 'gentlemen!', yum kɛ-dza-ba-re· 'salt eaters!'.
• Rarely the vocative appears post-vocalically as -re·: paŋli-re· 'daughters-in-law!', thɛba-re· 'grandpa!'.
• Lack of hiatus can delete the preceding vowel: mɛncha? → mɛnche· 'Grandchild!'.
• Special vocatives: amma 'mother' → ammo· (alongside ammae·); amba 'father' → ambo· (alongside ambae·). [p. 48]

2.4.6. Locative [p. 49]

• Ending -?o· — both location and destination ('in/at' and 'to').
• a-ghamda·k-?o· khipt-ɛ 'It's stuck to the roof of my mouth'; aŋga cumluŋ-?o· pe·k-?ɛ 'I'm going to the bazar'.
• Initial /?/ may assimilate to a preceding nasal: him-?o· → himmo· 'in the house'.
• May stack on other endings: nya?-re-?o· 'to auntie's' (GEN-LOC); a-ndzum-le-?o· 'to my friend's'.
• Emphatic augment -e· (allegro: replaces the locative vowel): him?oe· / him?e· 'in the house (emph.)'.

2.4.7. Comitative [pp. 49–50]

• Suffix -nu (cognate with Burmese nέ). Five functions:
  1. conjunction 'and' — affixed to all but the last noun in a series: tɔk-nu yumlakpa 'bhāt and acār'.
  2. instrumental: phɛdza-nu 'with a knife'.
  3. mediative: yakthuŋba·n-nu 'in the Limbu language'.
  4. ablative: na·-nu kɛ-bhɛtt-u-ba-i·? 'Did you bring it from there?'.
  5. comitative 'with': aŋga-nu 'with me'.
• When arguments are conjoined with -nu, the verb agrees with the coordinated (non-singular) group [p. 50]: Nara·yaŋ-nu pit-chi-ge 'I'm going with Nārāyaṇ' (dual-exclusive agreement).

2.4.8. Mediative [p. 51]

• Suffix -lam (from the noun lam 'road') — broader mediative than the comitative: abstract medium (pe·niba·n-lam 'in the Nepali language'), spatial 'via/by way of' (cumluŋ-lam 'via the bazar'), and spatial ablative (hile·-lam 'from Hile').

2.4.9. Elative [p. 51]

• Locative -?o· + comitative/mediative (both ablative-capable) → -?o·-lam and -?o·-nu = 'out of, from': cumluŋ-?o·-lam pu-e·kke· pɛ·r-aŋ-ba 'I flew back from that bazar like a bird'; a-him-?o·-nu phɛtt-u-ŋ-ba 'I brought it from my house'.

2.4.10. Allative [pp. 51–52]

• Suffix -thak 'up as far as, until' — alone or with locative (-?o·-thak): cumluŋ-?o·-thak / cumluŋ-thak 'as far as the bazar'; him-?o·-dhak 'all the way home'. May attach directly to a nonpreterit simplex temporally: nam tha-dhak 'until sunset'.

2.4.11. Intrative [p. 52]

• -lum 'midst' + locative → -lum-?o· / -lummo· 'between, in between': anchi-lum-?o· mi nɛ· 'There is a fire between us(di)'; ku-lum-?o· mɛ-bhaŋ-u-ba way-ɛ 'In between there was a partition'.

2.4.12. Comparative 'than' [pp. 52–53]

• Suffix -nulle = comitative -nu + genitive -lle.
• khɛnɛ?-nulle ke·n-?ɛ 'I'm taller than you'; khunɛ?-nulle mɛ-dɔ·ŋ-?ɛ-n 'I'm no shorter than he is'; ta·mar ba·gmati-nulle ke·mba co·k 'The Tamor is longer than the Bāgmatī'.
• Also suffixes to infinitives: him-?o· pe·k-ma?-nulle… 'before we go home'.
• Superlative = comparison with kɛrɛk 'everything': sakhɛkya kɛrɛk-nulle kudzanu 'Sukuṭī is the most delicious thing there is'. [p. 53]

2.4.13. The loan -la·gi and the genitive infinitive [p. 54]

• -la·gi 'for, for the sake of' (< Nep. lāgi), affixed to a noun or to the genitive of a verb. Largely redundant with the supine (§8.7) or -ille subordination (§9.4): po·ŋma?re la·gi 'in order to become', ni·pmɛlle la·gi 'in order to study', co·kmɛlle la·gi 'in order to do'.

5. NOUN-PHRASE structure & modifiers

5.1. Element order within the NP

From the adjective/demonstrative/numeral data [pp. 20–34]:

• Demonstratives, numerals, and quantifiers PRECEDE the noun when adnominal: khɛŋ mənα 'that man', kɔŋ mɛnchuma 'this lady', thik yaŋ 'one rupee', nɛpphu hɛndza? 'two boys'. [pp. 26, 32]
• Demonstrative pronouns khɛŋ 'that', kɔŋ 'this', and indefinite pronouns (wi?sma 'another kind of', e·?yaŋba 'other') invariably precede the noun adnominally. [p. 26]
• Adjectives generally precede the noun they modify, but may follow when the attribute establishes the referent's identity (rather than ascribing a generic trait) — especially with kinship terms: to·re·sarumba 'the third-born male guest', nakpa yɛmba 'the elder nephew'. Contrast ke·mba kyaŋ 'the/a long pestle' (generic) with kyaŋ ke·mba 'the long one' (identifying, in a 2-pestle household). [p. 21]
• Genitive (possessor) phrase precedes its head, and the head typically carries the 3rd-person possessive prefix ku-: mɛnda?-re ku-mi 'the goat's tail'. [p. 44]

Composite example of stacked NP marking: a-ndzum-le-n-ille (my-friend-GEN-ABS-INST) '[using] my friend's'; cumluŋ-le ku-sikto·-?o· (bazar-GEN its-beneath-LOC) 'below the bazar' — postpositions are complements of nouns in the genitive. [p. 20]

5.2. Adjectives [pp. 20–24]

• Agreement: adjectives agree in gender but not in case or number with their head. [p. 20]
• Adjectives in -pa (incl. verbal adjectives) have feminine counterparts in -ma: yɛmba yɛmbitcha 'big man' / yɛmma mɛnchuma 'big lady'; cukpa pi?l 'small bull/cow' / cukma pitma 'small cow'. [pp. 20–21]
• Feminine -ma collocates only with animate female referents; inanimates take the non-feminine -pa/-ba: cukpa luŋ 'small stone', yɛmba him 'large house', kɛrɛknulle ke·mba siŋbo·ŋ 'the tallest tree'. [p. 21]
• Some adjectives (incl. the negative participle) are invariable, not ending in -pa/-ma; some take the diminutive -sa: cuksa mɛnchya 'tiny lass', cuksa thaŋbɛn 'tiny lad'. [p. 21]
• Adjectives may be adnominal, predicative (with attributive 'to be' co·kma?, or verbs lɔ?ma?, po·ŋma?), or used as nouns (taking full case/number marking). [p. 21]

5.2.1. Nominalizing suffix -taŋba [pp. 22–23]

• Added to a noun/adjective, creates a nomen with an associative / 'like' meaning (≈ Hindi -vālā): him-daŋba 'the people associated with the house', cigip-taŋba co·k 'It's just like glue', yɔŋyɔŋ-daŋba 'a light one'. Also forms a·kdaŋba 'what kind of', hɛkdaŋba 'that kind of', ɔkdaŋba 'this kind of'. Commonly suffixed to colour morphemes and to kusiŋ 'like' → kusiŋdaŋba 'one like x'.

5.2.2. Colour affixes [pp. 23–25]

• Four bound colour morphs: mak 'black', phɔ 'white', hɛ?l 'red', hik 'green'. They occur predicatively with lɔ?ma? 'appear' and co·kma? 'be (attributive)'.
• Free forms via the discontinuous affix <ku-root-la>:

• With -taŋba: mak-taŋba 'a black one', phɔ-daŋba, hɛt-taŋba, hik-taŋba. As active participles with lɔ?ma?: mak-kɛ-lɔ?-ba 'black-AP-appear-AP', etc.
• Additional colours: ɔmdaŋba 'yellow' (exists only in the -taŋba form, narrow daffodil-yellow); kuhikla also = 'green' / used in kuhikla a·phis 'military base, lit. green office'. [pp. 24–25]

5.3. Pronouns [pp. 25–28]

Personal pronouns [p. 25]

Three persons, three numbers, inclusive/exclusive in non-singular 1st person:

• khunɛ? denotes only animate referents. khɛŋ 'that' is historically a demonstrative (synthetic plural khɛŋha?); the demonstratives kɔŋ 'this' (pl. kɔŋha?) also serve as 3rd-person pronouns. khunchi is dual, khɛŋha? plural, but both are loosely used for any non-singular 3rd person. [pp. 25–26]
• Personal pronouns take neither ergative nor absolutive suffixes and occur unchanged as subject/agent/patient; the demonstratives khɛŋ/kɔŋ DO have absolutive (kɔŋ/kɔŋŋin, khɛŋ/khɛŋŋin) and ergative (kɔŋle/kɔlle, khɛŋle/khɛlle) forms. [p. 26]

Morphemic analysis of 1st-person pronouns [p. 28]

• First-person morpheme a- = 'inclusive of speaker'. Exclusive morpheme <-ge> (non-singular) / <-ga> (singular, in aŋga); after bilabials <-be> (contracted from older -gya/-bya, still heard in Pā̃cthare).
• 2nd-person morpheme: velar + front vowel (khɛ-, kɛ-). 3rd-person morpheme: velar + back vowel (khu-, ku-); same back vowel in 3rd-person patient /-u/. [p. 28]

5.3.1. Personal possessive prefixes [pp. 26–28]

• Singular possessive prefixes: a- (1s), kɛ- (2s), ku- (3s): a-go·co· 'my dog', kɛ-him-mo· 'at your house', ku-ho·rik 'his/her/its hide', a-yuma 'my grandmother'.
• Dual/plural pronouns anchi-, anchige-, ani-, anige-, khɛnchi-, khɛni-, khunchi- are prefixed integrally to the modified noun: anige-pa·ŋphe·-?o· 'in our(pe) village', khunchi-mɛnda? 'their goat'. [p. 27]
• Prothetic nasal after singular prefixes for some nouns (mostly kinship): cum / a-ndzum 'friend', pa / amba 'father', phɔŋa? / a-mbhɔŋa? 'uncle', suma? / a-suma? 'aunt'. [p. 27]
• Some nouns drop the first-syllable vowel under prefixation: thɛge·k / a-dhge·k 'head', nɛ?nɛ? / ne?nɛ? 'older sister', mudhuk / amdhuk 'moustache', nusa? / a-nsa? 'sibling'. [p. 27]
• Separable possessive compounds take prefixes on both parts: cumde·ŋ 'buddy' → andzum-ande·ŋha? 'my buddies'; te·?l-phuŋ 'clothing' → kude·?l-kubhuŋ 'his clothing'. [p. 27]
• 3s possessive ku- / khunɛ? is ambiguous for sex (no masc/fem distinction). [p. 27]

Appendix: cross-reference of glossing abbreviations used above

(From the book's abbreviations list, pp. xii–xiii, relevant to nouns/phonology.)

ABS absolutive · ERG ergative · INST instrumental · GEN genitive · LOC locative · VOC vocative · COM comitative · MED mediative · ALL allative · NOM nominalizer · ABS/def. article -?in · s singular · d dual · p plural · ns non-singular · di dual inclusive · de dual exclusive · pi plural inclusive · pe plural exclusive · 1/2/3 persons · A agent · P patient · S subject · PT preterit · IPF imperfective · AP active participle · PP passive participle · DEPR deprehensative · Q yes/no question · C consonant · V vowel · G glide.

Extracted from van Driem (1987), A Grammar of Limbu. All Limbu forms are in van Driem's Roman phonemic transcription (raised dot = vowel length; ? = glottal stop). Where van Driem provides indigenous-script or Devanagari material it is noted in §2 (Script); the Phedāppe spoken forms throughout the noun/phonology chapters are given only in his romanization, so IPA values are read directly off his phonemic notation per the inventory in §1.