Pronouns
English Situ (see) Japhug (J1&2) Tshobdun (J2) Zbu (J2)
1 sg ŋa (J2, P1&2) a-ʑo,
a- (poss. prefix),
-a (verb. affix)
ɐ-ɟiʔ (also S1),
-aŋ (nə-. nɐ-) (verb. affix, S2)
ŋəʔ
1 du incl. ndʒo (J2),
tʃəɟo (P1&2)
tɕi-ʑo,
tɕi-,
-tɕi
tsə-ɟə-niʔ,
-tsə (verb. affix, S2)
tɕɐ-ɲi
1 du excl. ŋə-ndʒe (J2),
tʃəno (P1&2)
tsə-ɟə
1 pl incl. jo (J2),
jiɟi, jiɟo (P1&2)
ji-ʑo,
ji-,
-i
jə-ɟə-rɐʔ,
-jə (verb. affix, S2)
ŋgɐreʔ
1 pl excl. ŋə-ɲe (J2),
jini, jino (P1&2)
jə-ɟə
2 sg no (J2),
nənɟo (P1&2)
nɤ-ʑo, nɤ-,
tɯ-
nɐ-ɟiʔ (also S1&2),
tə- (verb. affix, S2)
nəjeʔ
2 du ndʒo (J2),
nənɟondʒ, ndʒənɟo, əɲindʒ (P1&2)
ndʑi-ʑo,
ndʑi-,
tɯ-_-ndʑi
ndzə-ɟə-niʔ (J2),
-ⁿdzə (S1),
tə-_-ⁿdzə (verb. affix, S2)
ndʑɐɲi
2 pl ɲo (J2),
nənɟoɲo, nənɟiɲo, ɲinɟo (P1&2)
nɯ-ʑo,
nɯ-,
tɯ-_-nɯ
nə-ɟə-rɐʔ,
tə-_-nə (verb. affix, S2)
ɲɐreʔ
3 sg wə-jo (J2),
wuɟo, -w (in Jiǎomùzú; P1&2),
mə (in Suōmò; P1&2)
wuna (P2),
kərek ("one" P2)
jargo ("he/she/it, our friend", P1&2)
tʃəʔ, ndə (non-human; P2)
ɯ-ʑo,
ɯ-,
_
o-ɟiʔ (also S1),
_ (verb. affix, S2)
apheʔ
3 du wə-jo-ndʒəs (J2),
wuɟo-ndʒ, (-)ndʒ(-) (P1&2),
mə-ndʒ,
other 3 sg + -ndʒ, incl. tʃə-ndʒ
ʑɤ-ni,
ndʑi-,
-ndʑi
ɟɐ-niʔ,
-ⁿdzə (verb. affix, S2)
apheʔɲi
ɐpʰéɲi(S3)
3 pl wə-jo-ɲe (J2),
wuɟo-ɲo, (-)jn(-) (P1&2),
mə-ɲo (P2),
other 3 sg + -ɲo, incl. tʃə-ɲo
ʑa-ra,
nɯ-,
-nɯ
ɟɐ-rɐʔ,
-nə (verb. affix, S2)
aphereʔ
4 sg (generic) tə-ɟiʔ (S1)
(cf. cʰezʔ)
Sample phrases / conjugated verbs
English Situ (P1/2) Japhug (J1/2/3) Tshobdun (S1/2) Zbu (S3)
present ŋa kafe rgaʔ-ŋ
"I like coffee"
1sg coffee like-1sg
a-rte ci tu-βde-a
"I (will) throw my one hat up"
1sg-hat one IMPF:upwards-throw-1sg
ɐɟiʔ _ spo-aŋ
"I know how [to] _"
1sg _ know_how-1sg
present ("give") ŋa w-əmpʰa-j kʰam(-ŋ)
"I give (it) to him"
1sg 3sg:GEN-vicinity-LOC give-1sg
(-ŋ is not pron. after m)
ki ɲɯ-ta-mbi
"I give this to you"
this IMPF-1→2-give
present (neg.) ŋa ma-ʃi-ŋ
"I don't know"
1sg not-know-1sg

ŋa (ma-)kə-mərtsap ma-rgaʔ-ŋ
"I don't like (non-)spicy food"
1sg (not-)NOM-spicy not-like-1sg
present (neg. imp.) mə-nə-tə-vɐr
"don't you be afraid"
not-IMP-2sg-fear

koʔ tɐ́lo mə-jɐ-tɐ-tsomʔ
"don't (you) take away this milk"
this milk not-IMP-2sg-take
past ŋa na-m(ə)to-ŋ
"I saw (him)"
1sg PAST-see-1sg
pɯ-mtó-t-a
"I saw (him/her/it)"
PAST-see-PAST-1sg
middle tʰɐfke-naŋ qɐ́jwi kɐ-po wɐɟo (S3)
"bread is [found] baking inside the hearth"
hearth-inside bread MID-bake:PAS be_found
tʰɐfkê-naŋ qawə̄ kɐ-pə̄ tʰɐ̄-ki
"bread is [to be found] baking inside the hearth"
hearth-inside bread MID-bake be_found-MED
Other words
English Situ (P1/2) Japhug (J1/2) Tshobdun (S1/2) Zbu (S3)
alcohol,
liquor
cʰe tɐwaʔ tɐʁō
apple pakʃu
bird patʃu [paˈtʃy] pɣa pɣɐ́tʃu
bite ka-mtʃuk ⁿdze nɐ̂ (~ nə̄)
be prone to bite
(of an animal)
sɐ-χsu
bear (animal) təwaʔm [t̪əˈwaʔm ̚] prɛʔ
Bkrashis
(man's name)
pkraʃis
bread təmɲok qɐ́jwi (S3) qawə̄
bull cʰəɣjaʔ
cat lolo
pʰo(-)rə (male cat)
mo(-)rə (female cat)
lɯlu lʌqʌlŋʌ̄χ ("kitty")
chicken pkwaʔ ~ pwaʔ
patʃu (bird (gen.); chicken)
cloud zdeʔm ~ zdem zⁿdimʔ
cow tə.jla /tə.jla/ (cow),
kəʃpət /kə.ʃpət/ (cow, livestock),
tərluʔ /tə.rluʔ/ (hornless cow)
jla ("yak-cow hybrid")
die ka-ʃi si set
dog kʰəna
pʰo(-)tʃʰə (male dog)
mo(-)tʃʰə (female dog)
Dorji, (r)Dorje
(man's name)
ʁdɤrʑi ʁdorʒe (S2) ʁdorʒe (S2)
drink (verb) ka-moʔt (milk, etc) tshi tʰi (sometimes tʰɛ S2) (milk, etc) kʌ-tʰî
drink alcohol ka-nətʃʰe ("drink" is used)
eat ndza ndza ⁿdze ⁿdzē (~ ⁿdzī)
elder sister (t)a(-)ja
a-ja "(my) e. sister"
pi
ɯ-pi "her e. sister"
father (t)a-pa -wa
girl təmuʔ ~ təmu [t̪ə'mʉʔ] tɕheme
give ka-mbuʔ mbi,
kho
ⁿbə̄ (~ ⁿbō)
go ka-tsʰi
(cf. Horpa/Rtau ɕə "3 sg goes")
ɕe (aorist: ari) (-)ʃa
ʃe (De'erba village, Dazang township; S3)
xwē ~ xwə̄t
rî ~ rə̄t ("go in a certain direction")
gold tarni
grab ka-ndɽi -mɟe
green rɟaŋkə (from ལྗང་ཁུ (ljang khu))
house təɟeʔm ~ ɟeʔm
tʃīm (Zhuōkèjī; S3)
kha kʰa (Dazang)
India rɟakar
ingot rdok qhoʁqhoʁ (J3)
king ɟarpo rɟɤlpu (J3)
leopard kɯrtsɤɣ kə́xsɛ
Lhamo
(woman's name)
lhamo ɬamu
Lhasa (place) lhase ɬasa lʌsê
like, love ka-rgaʔ rga rge
a little ki ci
locative, "at" tʃe tɕu (cf. sɐ, -z)
muntjac ʃkaʔm ɕkɤrɯ
neighbour təjwaʔk [t̪eˈjwaʔk] jil
not (NEG) ma mə ~ mɐ
often ʃi, ʒakrəŋ kɐmɲɐm
one kərek (numeral "1",
generic "he/she/it")
ci ("1", "once")
opium tɐkʰuɲa
person tərmu kərⁿbjoʔ, tərmɐ
pig pak pa pâχ
pigeon qro
queen taʒi (ji-)βdaʁmu "(our-) queen"
rabbit kalaʔ qala
rain təmu tə́mu
say ka-cəs ti (-)tsə
ti ~ tət (De'erba, S3)
tsʰə̄ ~ tsʰīt
see ka-m(ə)to mto mtɐ̄
shadow side
of a slope
tancap
silver poŋeʔ /poˈŋeʔ/ [poˈŋeʔ] rŋɯl (J3)
snake kʰapri qɐprɛʔ
study (verb) ka-slep (from སློབ (slob))
ka-rətʰa ("read, study")
tətʰa ka(-)va ("do book(s)" i.e. "read, study")
rɐvzjaŋ cf. vzjɐ̂ (~ vzjə̄) ("learn", from སྦྱོང (sbyong))
tea tʂʰaʔ (loan) (cf. χtʂəɣtʃe "butter tea") tʃʰətsê (loan)
this tʃəʔ ki koʔ
tiger kʰoŋ [kʰoŋ]~[kʰɔŋ] khu qɐɟe
tomorrow soʃnu fsə́fsi (S2)
tsampa (barley porridge) kʰalet
two kəɲes (numeral 2) ʁnaʁna ("both, 2") ʁní-lʌ ("twice", lit. "two-time(s)")
water tə(-?)ɟuʔ tɯ-ci tə(-?)ciʔ
winter kərtsu qɐrtsu
woman jimo (woman)
təmuʔ (woman, girl, female)
tə́mɛ
yellow weasel tsagəjo /tsa.ɡə.jo/
yesterday pəʃur ʃorʔ rəʃwēr
Zbu/Ribu people zbuvê
* The hyphens (and dots) above are omitted in running text. Glottal stops may also be unwritten.
* wuɟo is older than per P1

References:

  • J1 : Japhug data from Guillaume Jacques, The Inverse in Japhug Rgyalrong (2010); mentions "The second person prefix in all Rgyalrong languages is unrelated to the pronouns, and it has been compared to the second person tə- prefix in southern Kiranti languages (Ebert 1990, 1991). It might belong to an older stratum of person markers, though it is difficult to determine whether the second person prefixes of Rgyalrong and Kiranti languages are indeed related."
  • J2 : data from Guillaume Jacques, The origin of the reflexive prefix in Rgyalrong languages (2010)
  • J3 : Japhug data from Guillaume Jacques, Argument Demotion in Japhug Rgyalrong (2012)
  • P1 : Situ (Jiǎomùzú variety) data from Marielle[sic] Prins, A Grammar of rGyalrong, Jiǎomùzú (Kyom-kyo) Dialects: A Web of Relations (2016) (citing Jin 1957-8 for Suōmò data and Hsieh (Xie) 1999 for Zhuōkèjī data); mentions on pages 30 and 31 that "Jiǎomùzú dialects have a preference for rounding as well as backing, especially in the village of Kǒnglóng. In many words /u/ or /o/ occurs in places where other Sìtǔ dialects, especially Suōmò and Zhuōkèjī, have /i/. It may be this feature that causes native Sìtǔ speakers to perceive the Jiǎomùzú dialects as more 'heavy' than the Suōmò or Zhuōkèjī dialects", with examples of Jiǎomùzú - Suōmò - Zhuōkèjī contrasts like 'grass plot' /kajvuʔ/ - [kaipi] - [kɐipiʔ], 'buy' /kaku/ - [kaki] - [kaki], 'four' /kəbdu/ - [kəwdi] - [kəwdi], and 'day' /ʃnu/ - [sɲi] - [sni]. Also mentions /kʰəʃpʰeʔs/ [kʰəˈʃpʰɛʔs] 'marmot', /spen/ [spɛn] 'glue', /sokle/ [sɔxˈlɛ] 'saw', /təwaʔm/ [t̪əˈwaʔm ̚] 'bear'.
  • P2 : Situ (Jiǎomùzú variety) data from Maria[sic] Clazina Prins, A Web of Relations: A Grammar of rGyalrong, Jiǎomùzú (Kyom-kyo) Dialects (2011) (predecessor of P1); mentions ɟiek, onomatopoeia for the sound of something bursting out (of somewhere) all at once (like intestines falling out of a gutted abdomen), and ɟiekɟiek for the sound of something bursting out but taking a while to completely dribble out. Also mentions ko, a mood marker indicating anxiety.
  • S1 : Tshobdun data (from qɐcʰweriʔ village, Tshobdun township) from Jackson T. S. Sun, Typology of Generic-Person Making in Tshobdun Rgyalrong (2014)
  • S2 : Tshobdun (and other) data from Jackson T. S. Sun, The Irrealis Category in rGyalrong (2007)
  • S3 : Zbu (Showu) data from Jackson T. S. Sun, Verb-Stem Variations in Showu rGyalrong (2004)