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Cultural Specific Language in Kirat Yaakthung Mundhum

This article attempts to discuss the various forms of the Kiraat Yaakthung Mundhum language employed in the various ritualistic performances. It has applied the qualitative research design in which the study attempts to gather non-numerical data explicitly referring to the meanings, concepts, definitions, or characteristics. Written documents related to the Kirat Yaakthung Mundhum are not adequate for having the ideas about the linguistic variations because the Mundhum is mostly based on oral tradition of recitation. The Limbu priests locally known as 'Saambaas' recite the diverse forms of the Mundhum depending on types of rituals they are performing. Basing on the available voice records, empirical knowledge, and written Mundhum documents, the paper has been prepared. After the analysis, the study has revealed that the elements of ethnographies of communication play a crucial role to bring about the distinctiveness in the level and meaning of the Mundhum utterances. This study may be helpful for those who are interested in the structure of the ritual language.


Introduction
The Limbus are the one of the nationalities of eastern Nepal with the population '367,300 and the native speakers 343,603' which are 1.46% and 1.29% respectively, out of the nation's total population (26,394,504) (CBS 2012). According to Ukyab and Adhikari (2000) 'the Limbus original and ancestral stronghold spans from the Arun River in Nepal and the kingdom of Sikkim in the east (p. 41). This means that the Limbus are inhabitant of the eastern part of Nepal. Their language is commonly identified as the Limbu language which is an offshoot of the eastern Himalayan sub-group of the Tibeto-Burman language family. This language comprises four dialectal variants as Chhathare, Phedappe, Panchthare and Taplejungge (Weidert and Subba, 1985). But from the point of view of purpose and usage, it exhibits two distinct varieties. They are 'ordinary language variety' and the next is 'ritual language variety' or the Mundhum language variety. In this regard, the Mundhum language variety is employed only in the special purpose i.e. ritual perfermances whereas the ordinary form of language serves the function of day-to-day communicative purpose. The Mundhum is a folk-epic orally recited by the Limbu priests locally known as Sambas in the special purpose as in the ritual performances. The Mundhum is, thus an oral recited form which 'is usually chanted in the forms of songs, prayers, psalms, verses, litanies, invocations or incantations with certain occasions with certain rituals' (Subba, 1995). It, having a wider range of usage in the Kiraat Limbu community, has astonishing varieties within it. Referring to its wider range of varieties, Tumbahang (2013) rightly opines that Mundhum has been used simply from illness healings (exorcising) to supernatural phenomena dealings. Hence, Mundhum covers many aspects of the Kiraat culture, customs and traditions. The variations involving in the Mundhum are briefly discussed underneath.

Objectives of the Study
The objectives of the study are as:  To state the ritual variations as practiced in the Kiraat Yaakthung Mundhum, and  To discuss the expressive modes which mark the variation from one to another ritualistic situations and contexts.

Methodology Used in the Study
In order to meet the set objectives, the study avails the qualitative method specifically related to the theory of Bogdan & Taylor (Qualitative Sociology, 1987) which may attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the proposed issue or the phenomenon because it is a reliable research design for gathering non-numerical data. Moreover, this type of research refers to the meanings, concepts, definitions, or characteristics. The necessary data will be based on empirical insights as well as library consultation and then described on the line of Hyme's (1974) ethnographic framework.

Varieties of Kiraat Yaakthung Ritual Language or Mundhum Language
The close observation of the Kiraat Yaakthung Mundhum reveals its heterogeneity in the linguistic version. Regarding the variations in the ritual language, Crystal (2007) maintains: 'The most striking feature of religious language is its heterogeneity, deriving from a wide range of activities involved in public and private worship, and the involvement of religion in all aspects of daily living and thinking. Several varieties all distinctive in their use of linguistic structure are widely encountered.' The Mundhum is Kirat Limbu people's religious scripture (the specification is supposed to be necessary as there are the Limbus following other religions like Christian, Buddhism who simply do not follow the Kiraat Yaakthung Mundhum dictated behaviors) that guides and regulates the whole life activities whether private or public. It clearly specifies the culture, customs, mores, tradition and above all the entire behavioral aspects of the Kiraat Yaakthung people. Also it clearly demarcates as what are expected ways to be followed by the Mundhum follower native and what are not supposed to be followed or discarded. The Mundhum language form considerably differs in terms of the ritualistic variations.

Liturgical Forms
The term 'liturgy' (leitourgia) has been derived from the Greek language which suggests the customary public worship performed by a specific religious group, according to its particular beliefs, customs and traditions. The word, sometimes rendered by its English translation "service", may refer to an elaborate formal ritual such as tonsing takma which lasts for seven days or a daily activity such as the Limbu sewa samlo and the Hindu pooja path. The liturgy is almost always performed in front of an object or objects of veneration and accompanied by offerings of light, incense, and food. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy is a communal response to the sacred through activity reflecting praise, thanksgiving, supplication, or repentance. Ritualization may be associated with life events such as birth, coming of age, marriage and death. It thus forms the basis for establishing a relationship with a divine agency, as well as with other participants in the liturgy. Methods of dress, preparation of food, application of cosmetics or other hygienic practices are all considered liturgical activities. Liturgical form involves the following types causing significant distinctions in the linguistic forms.

Invocation
An invocation is derived from the Latin verb 'invocare' which refers to ''call on, invoke, or to give." This is generally the form of religious language that involves the 'calling upon' natural as well as supernatural beings especially for help. This term 'invocation' can have multiple meanings depending on the context. But for the religious purpose Webster's Dictionary defines as 'the act of mentioning or referring to someone or something in support of your ideas: the act of invoking something; the act of asking for help or support especially from a god; a prayer for blessing or guidance at the beginning of service, ceremony etc. may take the form of: a. Supplication, prayer or spell: As a supplication or prayer it implies to call upon God, a god, goddess, or person, etc. When a person calls upon God, a god, or goddess to ask for something (protection, a favor, his/her spiritual presence in a ceremony, etc.) or simply for worship, this can be done in a pre-established form or with the invoker's own words or actions. An example of a pre-established text for an invocation is the Lord's Prayer.

b. A form of possession:
The word "possession" is used here in its neutral form to mean "a state (sometimes psychological) in which an individual's normal personality is replaced by another". This is also sometimes known as 'aspecting'. This can be done as a means of communicating with or getting closer to a deity or spirit, and as such need not be viewed synonymously with demonic possession.
In some religious traditions including Paganism, Shamanism and Wicca (English: /ˈwɪkə/), also termed Pagan Witchcraft, "invocation" means to draw a spirit or Spirit force into one's own body and is differentiated from "evocation", which involves asking a spirit or force to become present at a given location (Crowley, 1929).
Possessive invocation may be attempted singly or, as is often the case in Wicca, in pairs -with one person doing the invocation (reciting the liturgy or prayers and acting as anchor), and the other person being invoked (allowing themselves to become a vessel for the spirit or deity). The person successfully invoked may be moved to speak or act in noncharacteristic ways, acting as the deity or spirit; and they may lose all or some self-awareness while doing so. A communication might also be given via imagery (a religious vision). They may also be led to recite a text in the manner of that deity, in which case the invocation is more akin to ritual drama. The Wiccan Charge of the Goddess is an example of such a preestablished recitation. The ecstatic, possessory form of invocation may be a wonderful case for most modern people where devotees are described as being "ridden" or "mounted" by the deity or spirit. During the possession, the possessors can perform the following activities before the spectators as: 'A woman may splash chilly-dust into her eyes; a man may cut his belly with shards of grass but does not bleed, and another may swallow fire. Nearby a believer, perhaps an assistant of the possessor or performer, heats a big spoon or ladle in crackling flames. Then the possessor brings the heated object to his tongue. The beholders cringed at the sight and are dumbfounded when, after several repetitions, his tongue has not even reddened.' c. Command or conjuration: The Limbu priests specially the shamanists like samba, yeba and mangba have performed invocation for the purpose of controlling or extracting favors from certain spirits or deities. These invocations usually involve a commandment or threat against the entity invoked.
There are some curious examples of such invocation found in the Limbu community. Sugut sepma and sogha lepma/sepma are the native terms which are believed to be the evil spirits i.e. the former is the spirit of the female died during the child delivery and the latter is the spirit of the dead from unnatural death either by suicide or accidents. The Limbu priests call for the spirits through the chant to lure them. The priests offer to let the spirits have the delicious meals and beautiful dresses and ornaments if they join them. The evil spirits are thus tempted and when they are supposed to come nearby the priests, they stealthily hit them to death. Sometimes the priests evoke the deity or even goddess into some precious things then they are threatened to grant the expected wishes. Similar is the view of Subba (1998) about good and evil spirits. Thus he states: 'Such supernatural powers are of two formsmalevolent and benevolent to attribute and reward the vicious and virtuous deeds of human beings. Benevolent divinities are invoked through litany and propitiated through certain liturgy procedure. It is a simple worship ceremony. But the malevolent divinities and spirits are coerced (i.e. persuade an unwilling person to do something by using force or threats) either to fulfill the desire of the ritual performer to leave the place or not to cause harm by means of magic rites, incantation, or spell, which is a distinct branch of Limboo shamanistic practice.' (p. 14) From the above expression, it is inferred that invocation is employed with either good as well as evil deities or spirits to command or threat against the entity invoked. d. Self-identification with certain spirits: Invocation can refer to taking on the qualities of the being invoked, such as the Knowledge of Nisammang (Goddess of learning) or the strength of Mukkumsam. In this instance the being is literally called up from within oneself (as an archetype) or into oneself (as an external force), depending on the personal belief system of the invoker. The main difference between this type of invocation and the possessive category described above is that the former may appear more controlled, with self-identification and deity-identification mixed together. In practice, invocations may blend many or all of these categories. In other words, there is no watertight compartment system in which one form of invocation is distinctly invoked.

Petition
The term 'petition' is found to be much used in the field of law which suggests a formal written request made to an authority. This word, however, is used in the religious language variety. In the Limbu community, the priests locally known as samba, yeba, mangba, khadumang, etc. may make an earnest appeal to God or Deity for kind favor to them or the persons they are supposed to be dealing with. Their be seech might be about peace, prosperity, good health and long life of the particular family or the community. Here the priests may play the role of mediator between mundane world and the supernatural world. Most of the performances are held accompaniment of certain objects like incense, oil-lamp, water filled amphora, egg, uncooked rice on the brace plate, pieces of plantain leaf, special cut bamboo pieces and so forth. The items of paraphernalia may differ on the type of God or Deity the priest is making request.

Doxology
A doxology (Ancient Greek: doxologia, from doxa, "glory" and -logia, "saying") is a short hymn of praises to God in various forms of Christian worship, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns. It is a formulaic structure for praising God from whom all blessings are supposed to flow. Hence this term appears to be purely religious language variety. This word is derived from Greek 'doxo' and 'logia' in which 'doxo' refers to 'opinion or glory' and the suffix 'logia' referring to 'oral or written expression'. This usually involves an expression of praise to God. Generally, the common Limbu folk do not express the praise and it is thought only the priests are the right or authentic persons for the doxology. The hymn is often chanted at the beginning of the performance. The dictions employed in the doxology are full of ascription of praising to God.

Intercession
It seems there is no direct communicative channel between God and the commoners in Limbu community. For this reason, the Limbu priests relate the commoners' prayer to the God. The priests are supposed to play the role of interpreter between the common Limbu folk and the Deity. There are various occasions in which the intercessions are held by the priests. They perform the rituals and offer the prayers on behalf of other common people. This ritual is held when the family or community has to sow the seed, start new plan, business, journey, construction or other activities. The family requests the priest for intercession and prepares the necessary items as directed by the priests. The intercession begins in the appointed time by the priest. Generally, the time of ritual performance is either morning or the evening but daytime is not suitable for most of the rituals.

Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is perhaps the most important and common ceremony among almost all communities especially people involved in the agriculture because it has also aspects of harvest festival. Hodgson (2006, pp, 156-59) in this regard, opines that prayers of thanks and special thanksgiving ceremonies are common among almost all religions after harvests and at other times. In Limbu term it is called as chaasok-thisok tongnaam which falls in the November or December month. During this time, the main crops like millet and paddy are ripe and harvested. The Limbu people believe that God has graced for the better crops. So the Limbu natives are indebted to God and celebrate this ceremony with a great happiness and enthusiasm. To mark this occasion many kinds of sports like long jump, high jump, shot put, blind man's buff/bluff, singing competition, ke laang (Limbu traditional dance accompanied by two sided big drum, Nep. Dhol) and ya laang (Limbu traditional dance in which dance is performed along with paalaam song, Nep. Dhaan naach) competition, etc. are organized. Feast is hosted with tacit competition of which family among many can prepare the tasty food items. This turn wise hosted feast is termed as "nwaangi."

Chant
Chant has a various meanings depending on the diverse contexts. Literally, chant refers to say or shout repeatedly in the sing-song tone. This is why we say 'the chanting of the slogans.' In the field of religion, the term seems to retain its basic meaning hence 'chanting' (e.g., mantra, sacred text, the name of God/Spirit, etc.) is a commonly used spiritual practice. Like prayer, chant may be a component of either personal or group practice. Diverse spiritual traditions consider chant a route to spiritual development. As other religions, the Limbu, priests also perform the chant with a view to adorn or praise God/Goddess. The processing of chanting is called as 'sewaa saamlo' in the native term. But unlike other religions, the Limbu priests do not chant looking at the written texts because the Limbu natives have only oral tradition in the chanting or any other forms liturgies.

Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word hymn derives from Greek hymnos, which means "a song of praise". A writer of hymns is known as a hymnodist. The singing or composition of hymns is called hymnody. Collections of hymns are known as hymnals or hymn books. Hymns may or may not include instrumental accompaniment.
Hymns are essentially the songs of praise for God's work in creation or history. They typically open with a call to praise, describe the motivation for praise, and conclude with a repetition of the call.

Psalm
The Book of Psalms (/sɑːmz/ or /sɔː(l)mz/ SAW(L)MZ; Hebrew:, Tehillim,"praises"), commonly referred to simply as Psalms or "the Psalms", is the first book of the Ketuvim ("Writings"), the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and thus a book of the Christian Old Testament. The title is derived from the Greek translation, psalmoi, meaning "instrumental music" and, by extension, "the words accompanying the music." Although the above description about the term "psalm" may give the impression of the private word solely for Christian and Jewish worship, it generally denotes as a sacred song, or a song of praise, or religious song. In this sense, every religion has its own song to convey its principle or philosophy. Subba (1995, p. 5) in his book "The Culture and Religion of Limbus" refers to as "Limbus have a long tradition of reciting Mundhums (poetic expressions of legends, mythology, history, tales, songs, psalms, etc.) in a special manner on special occasions." It is perhaps a wonderful coincidence that Limbu natives also happen to call the 'song' as Sam. And this is the reason why the singer of the Mundhum is termed as the Saambaa (i.e. saam -'song'; '-baa'male having the authority of the song).

Limbu Ritual Forms (Yaakthung thimhaa):
According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary (2005), "A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, and objects, performed in a sequestered place, and performed according to set sequence." The dictionary means to hold the opinion that a ritual is essentially an activity. Similar view is found in the book 'Rituals and Mantras: Rules without Meaning' by Frits Staal. He (1996, p. 116) states, "Ritual, then, is primarily activity. It is an activity governed by explicit rules. The important thing is what you do, not what you think, believe or say." Rituals may be guided by the socio-cultural conventions. In this regard, Bell (1997, p 138) holds the view as, "Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized but not defined by formalism, traditionalism, invariance, rule-governance, sacral symbolism, and performance." "Rituals are a feature of all known human societies," (Brown, 1991, p. 139). According to him, they include not only the worship rites and sacraments of organized religions and cults, but also rites of passage, atonement and purification rites, oaths of allegiance, dedication ceremonies, coronations and presidential inaugurations, marriages and funerals, school "rush" traditions and graduations, club meetings, sporting events, parties, veterans parades, shopping for poojaa and more. Many activities that are apparently performed for concrete purposes, such as jury trials, execution of criminals, and scientific symposia (academic conferences) are loaded with purely symbolic actions prescribed by regulations or tradition, and thus partly ritualistic in nature. Even common actions like "salutation" (sewaa ro!) and saying "hello" (haao!) may be termed rituals.
There are many kinds of ritual forms practiced in the Limbu community which are markedly different from other religious groups like the Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and so on. Ritual forms are different from others because they are used in relation to cultural or social practices. There are hardly any limits to the kind of actions that may be incorporated into a ritual. The rites of past and present societies have typically involved special gestures and words, recitation of fixed texts, performance of special music, songs or dances, processions, manipulation of certain objects, use of special dresses, consumption of special food, drink, or drugs, and much more. So only some principal ritual forms that are used in Limbu community are briefly referred to as follows:

Saapok chomen (Nep. garbha poojaa):
This ritual is perhaps quite distinct from other religious groups because it is thought to be an important aspect in the Limbu community. This ritual is held when a woman is pregnant and is going to have baby soon. The purpose of this ritual is the safety of both the mother and her baby. In other words, it is the rite of propitiating gods for the good health of the mother and baby in the womb as well as successful delivery of the baby.

Yaangdaang Phongmaa ( Nep. nwaraan):
In the Limbu community, the house, family and close relatives are thought to be impure when a baby is born. In order to purify the home, a rite for cleansing as well as giving the name to baby is performed and this ritual performance is termed as yaangdaang phongmaa or the similar term for English culture is baptism.

Dristikon: A Multidisciplinary Journal, December 2019, Vol. 9 No. 1
Phedaangbaa performs a simple rite by chanting a precise Mundhum. After three days for female and four days for male baby, the ritual of yaangdaang phongmaa is performed.

4.2.3
Mangena (holding head up/high -(shir uthaaunu): This ritual is performed every six months in the beginning of summer and winter season. If two times of the year is not possible, it is suggested that it should be held at least once a year. The primary purpose of this rite is that the person may not feel any inferiority complex in his/her business/profession or even in the daily activity. However, in the modern time maangenaa is performed to protect oneself from accidents, disputes, fighting, wars, and jealousy and to succeed in the desired attempts.

4.2.5
Tongsing (a link with the ancestors and the present): Ritual tongsing in Limbu community is very important which generally refers to the agreement for better relationship among family members or community members. Viewing about the rite tongsing Subba (1995, p. 196) states, "its literal meaning is 'an act of cooperation, coming together in agreement or conciliation, becoming correct or fitting." In this regard, tongsing is ritual of achieving truthfulness and faithfulness of ancestors and divinities through invocation, incantation, dramatic performances and using symbolic objects (equipment).
The Mundhum of tongsing rite has a very broader one with complex rituals. It encapsulates diverse myths, legends, narratives, oracles and tales are believed to be linked with this which are supposed to be the guidelines for the social, ethical and religious concepts and shaping the attitude and behavior of the Limbu people. The samba is the main authentic person to perform the whole ritual of this kind.

4.2.6
Sidobaa thim (Death rites): Like the matrimonial rite, death rite also involves a sequence of ritual activities like funeral procession (che-saamaa), purchasing the burial ground (khaam ingmaa), taking out the soul of the living persons (saam laapmaa), handing over the soul of the dead person to the ancestors (saam-saamaa), eating salt/oil i.e. forbidden foods (yum-saa: naakmaa), final purification rite (khaaumaa) which consists of invoking the light that is, disconnect the dead person with his/her relatives, belongings and human society, and finally the rite of wiping away the tears (mikwaa saangmaa).
The rites in the given series, except the last one (mikwaa saangmaa) can be performed by the Mundhum saabaa (i.e. knowledgeable person of Mundhum) and also termed as tummyaahaang equivalent to the 'Hindu Pundit.' The last rite (mikwaa saangmaa) is usually performed by the saambaa (shamanist plus priest) which may take more than eight hours to complete it.

Conclusion
It seems that there is a close relationship between the language and religion because religious language varies from the common form. We can notice some considerable amount of linguistic variations between these two varieties i.e. ritual and daily communicative speech form. Following are the key points which differentiate the ritual language from that of ordinary language variety; 5.1 Phonic texture: Phonic texture refers to the arrangement of the sounds that makes it different from the ordinary language. In the Limbu Mundhum, sound texture is primary thing which is the foregrounding aspect in Mundhum recitation. segmental as well as suprasegmental sounds are articulated variably depending on the context, type and feature of ritual utterances. Crystal (2007, p. 171) states, "apart from the contrasts signaled by pitch, loudness, tempo and rhythm, (ritual) language makes use of several other distinctive vocal effects using the range of articulatory possibilities available in the vocal tract." He means that ritual language varies greatly in the way in which rhythmical contrasts are made, or with added musical embellishment. In this way, the major difference is that ritual language usually foregrounds the sonic texture whereas practical (ordinary/commoners') language often ignores it.

Diction:
It generally refers to the style of enunciation in speaking or singing. The use of diction serves as one of the basic criteria that sets the ritual language off the ordinary language. Diction can have multiple concerns and can be judged with different dichotomies like formal vs. informal; common vs. register; literary vs. plain; literal vs. figurative; denotative vs. connotative; archaic vs. modern, and so forth. Regarding the diction, the ritual language most often tends to use formal, literary and archaic ones which aspires it high level or standard language. The kind of standard of language, as Hymes ' (1974)  Setting/Scene: The ritual activities are generally held in formal setting and communicative event should fit the setting.

Participants:
The participants are usually deities or divinities so the saambaa (priest) is expected to use highly standard language. A prayer obviously makes a deity a participant.
Ends: The ends refer to the personal goals that the participants wish to achieve.
Act sequence: It refers to the actual form or content of what is said or ordering of the speech act.
Dristikon: A Multidisciplinary Journal, December 2019, Vol. 9 No. 1 Key: The key refers to the tone, manner, or emotional tone in which a message is conveyed e.g. serious, precise, pedantic, mocking, sarcastic, etc.
Instrumentalities: This is concerned with the choice of channel e.g. oral, written, and with the actual form of speech employed such as the language, dialect, code, or register that is chosen.
Norms of interaction and interpretation: This is concerned with the specific behaviors or properties attach to speaking. For example, there are certain norms of interaction with regard to maang him (temple) services and conversing with strangers.
Genre: It refers to the specifically marked types of utterance, such as poems, riddles, prayers, sermons, and so on.

Word order:
Here, word order refers to the arrangement of various classes of words in the syntactic frame as prescribed by the well accepted grammar. So far as the Mundhum ritual expressions are concerned, they primarily pay attention on the sonic texture, special kinds of dictions and utterance but not on the grammatical accuracy. Grammatical correctness and the semantic aspects are always the secondary in the communicative event of the ritual expression. In this regard, Staal (1996, p. 234) is very considerable to have the idea as to why the syntactic constructions in the ritual expression seem to ignore the formal aspect of the grammar. He maintains the view as: 'Vedic ritual is replete with recitation and chant. These recitations and chants are comprised of a highly structured mixture of natural language and meaningless sounds. But whether or not portions of this mixture are meaningful in other context, in their ritual use the only things which matter are sounds and their configuration.' From the above statements, we can say that ritualistic communication is different from the everyday communication. The disparity occurs in terms of the deviation in different linguistic levels i.e. phonology (sound), morphology (word), syntax (sentence) and semantics (meaning).

Summary
The Limbu language is one of the members of Tibet-Burman language family. The Limbu natives make use of two parallel language varieties that is, practical (daily communicative) language variety and the ritual (Mundhum) language variety. These two varieties are different basically in three aspects: sonic texture, diction and word order in the sentence. Talking about the Mundhum, it is usually employed in the special situations as 'liturgical forms' and 'ritual forms.' Both forms are closely related to the religious notions which use markedly distinct linguistic form than that of the practical variety of language. The liturgical form comprises eight different varieties whereas the ritual form involves six major varieties.