Newar language

(Redirected from Nepal Bhasa)

Nepal Bhasa is a language spoken by indigenous Newa people of Nepal. It is a Himalayan language of Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages group.

Newa
Nepal Bhasa
नेवाः भाय् Newāh Bhāy
NepalBhasa word in Ranjana&Prachalit script2.gif
The word "Nepal Bhasa" written in the Ranjana alphabet and the Prachalit Nepal alphabet
Native toNepal
Ethnicity1.26 million Newa people (2001 census?)[1]
Native speakers860,000  (2011 census)e18
Language family
Early forms:
Dialects
Dhankuta
Chitlang
Writing systemRanjana alphabets and various in the past, Devanagari currently
Official status
Regulated byNepal Bhasa Academy
Language codes
ISO 639-2new
ISO 639-3Either:
new – Newar
nwx – Middle Newa
Linguist Listnewa Nepal Bhasa
 nwx Middle Newa

Newah Bhaaye is the term used for Nepal Bhasa by its native speakers. The term 'Newari' has been used in derogatory form to replace the original name of the language. [2]

Linguistics

Nepal Bhasa shares the feature of Kirant and Tibetan dialects of Northern Himalayas. It consists of five major dialects and several sub-dialects spoken by Newa people living throughout the country.

Newar Language Media

References

  1. Newa at Ethnologue (15th ed., 2005)
  2. Kapali, Rukshana (2018-12-08). "Why using the word 'Newari' is problematic". Rukuchee Blog. Retrieved 2018-12-13.[dead link]
  3. Tuladhar 2000, p. 64.