Puma (Puma: पुमा Pumā) is a Kiranti language spoken by about 4,310 people (Central Bureau of Statistics report 2001) in Sagarmatha Zone, Nepal. The actual population may be somewhat higher. The same term ‘Puma’ refers both to the people and the language they speak.^[2]

The Himalayan Languages Project has produced the first grammatical sketch of Puma. Like other Kiranti languages, Puma has a maximum syllable form of (C) (G) V (C) (C) for open syllables and (N) C V C for closed syllables, where ‘G’ is a glide and ‘N’ is a nasal.^[3]

Puma is spoken in Diplung, Mauwabote, Devisthan, Pauwasera, and Chisapani VDC's of southern Khotang District, and in Beltar and Saunechour VDC's of Udayapur District, Nepal. It is also spoken in Ruwa Khola valley to Buwa Khola, and southward across the Dudh Koshi.

Puma language is taught in 14 schools of Barahapokhari and Jantedhunga Rural Municipalities of Khotang district in Nepal since 2020.^[4]

• Sharma, Narayan Prasad (2014). Morphosyntax of Puma, a Tibeto-Burman language of Nepal (Thesis). SOAS, University of London. doi:10.25501/SOAS.00018554.
• Tara Mani, Rai (2017). A Sociolinguistic Survey of Puma language: A Tibeto-Burman language (PDF). Linguistic Sruvey of Nepal (LinSuN) (Thesis). Central Department of Linguistics, Tribhuvan University.

• The Chintang and Puma Documentation Project (DoBeS)
• ELAR archive of Documentation of Puma