Alternate Names: Boto boli, Khamchi, Raji, Rajwar, Rautya, Rautye
Dialects: None known. There are reportedly many similarities with Raji ,, but the relationship of Raute with and intelligibility between Rawat , and Raji , needs further investigation. Lexical similarity: 80% with Rawat ,, 60% with Chepang ,, 25% with Kham.
Status Notes: Language of recognized indigenous nationality: Raute.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 460 (2011 census), decreasing. All nomadic Raute are monolingual.
Language Use: Vigorous. Home, friends, religion, work. Children, older adults, and elderly. Some use among adolescents and young adults. Some youth also use Hindi [hin]. Settled Raute also use some Nepali [npi] with outsiders. Some youth also use Nepali [npi]. Among nomadic Raute, only the headman is allowed to speak with outsiders.
Language Development: Literacy rate in L1: 0%. Dictionary.
Typology: SOV; postpositions; noun head final; no noun classes or gender; content q-word in situ; clause constituents indicated by case-marking; verbal affixation marks person and number; ergativity; both tense and aspect; nontonal; 35 consonant and 7 vowel phonemes.
Writing System: Unwritten
Nation of Origin: Nepal
Other Comments: Ethnic autonym: Ra’te. The name may be of Tibeto-Burman origin, from ra- meaning human plus a person marker, -to or -te. Other scholars suggest it derives from the Sanskrit Indo-Aryan word raut from Sanskrit, rajaputra, prince. Rautes deem their language sacred and are linguistically conservative toward adopting non-Raute words or grammatical features. Traditional religion.