Figure 2.

Classification of the 12 languages of ethnic groups under study and their distribution in the floristic areas of Nepal. Classification based on language data acquired from the Ethnologue [31]. Pairwise cultural distances among ethnic groups were calculated by counting the language subgroupings (shown in circles) that any given language pair does not share. For example, the distance between Tamang and Gurung is zero, as they are placed in same language group (Tamangic) and share all language subgroupings. The distance between Tamang and Lepcha is three, as there are three language subgroupings they do not share (Tamangic, Tibetic, Lepcha).