Nepal Bhasa
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{{Infobox Language |name=Nepal Bhyae |nativename=नेपाल भाय् |familycolor=Sino-Tibetan |states=Nepal, India, Bhutan. |region=South Asia. |speakers=1 million approx. |fam2=Tibeto-Burman |fam3=Bodic |iso1=-- |iso2=new |iso3=new}} Template:Redirect Nepal Bhasa (नेपाल भाषा also known as Newari and Nepal Bhyae) is one of the major languages of Nepal. It is one of the roughly five hundred Sino-Tibetan languages in the world, and belongs to the Tibeto-Burman branch of this family. It is the only Tibeto-Burman language to be written in the Devanāgarī script.
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Classification
Nepal Bhyae is classified as a language of Sino-Tibetan family of languages. It falls under Bodic branch of Tibeto-Burman group of languages.
Writing System
Nepal Bhasa is written in many scripts. The main scripts are Ranjana, Prachalit, Brahmi, Devnagari, Golmol etc. All the scripts proceed from left to right. All the scripts consist of two separate sets of alphabets- one vowels and the other consonants.
Brahmi is the oldest of the scripts. All other scripts are derived from Brahmi. Devnagari script is the most used font at the present because it is the official script of Nepal as well as is used widely in neighbouring India. Ranjana script was the most used script in ancient times. It is making a revival due to the recent cultural awareness. Prachalit script being similar to Devnagari is also in use. The Brahmi and Golmol scripts are rarely used in present.
Dialects
More than five distinct dialects have been observed. The most distinct ones are Yen Bhyae, Yala Bhyae, Khwapa Bhyae and Dolakha Bhyae.
Influence
Literature
It has the fourth-oldest literature of the Sino-Tibetan languages (the first, second and third being Chinese, Tibetan and Burmese respectively).
Area
Kathmandu valley, Dolakha, Banepa, Dhulikhel, Panauti, Palpa, Trishuli, Nuwakot, Bhojpur, Biratnagar and other chief cities of Nepal as well as in Darjeeling, Sikkim etc.
Number of speakers
Roughly more than 1,000,000 in Nepal according to 1991 census plus a few thousands outside Nepal.
History
Classical Newari is the name for the pre-1850 literary form of the language. It is no longer spoken or written, but it is an important source language for historians and philologists.
Development
Nepal Bhasa is the most Indianized of the Tibeto-Burman languages, and has had so many centuries of contact with neighboring Indo-Iranian languages that it has even developed noun inflection, a trait typical of the Indo-European family but extremely rare in Sino-Tibetan. It has absorbed other features of grammar as well, such as verb tenses. These influences are outstanding examples of funamental traits of a language being passed on through language contact.
Some common phrases and terms
| English | Devnagari | Roman script |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | ज्वजलपा | Jwajalapa |
| What is your name? | छिगु नां छु ख? | Chhigu naa chhu kha? |
| My name is ___ | जिगु नां ___ ख | Jigu naa ___ kha |
| Happy New Year | न्हुगु दं या भिन्तुना | Nhugu dan yaa bhintunaa |
| Mother | यमा | Yamaa |
| Father | अबु | Abu |
| Grandmother | अजी | Ajee |
| Grandfather | अजा | Ajaa |
| Friend | पासा | paasaa |
| organization | गुठी | guthi |
| house | छें | chhen |
| person | मनु | manu |
| medicine | वास | waasa |
| News | बुखं | bukhan |
| Dance | प्याखं | Pyakhan |
| Stage | दबली | Dabalee |
| Palace | लायकू | Layaku |
| Office | ज्या स | jyaasa |
| Shop | पसल | Pasa/Pasal |
| courtyard | चूक | chooka |
| brain | न्हेपू | nhepu |
| heart | नूग | Nooga |
| water | ल / ना | la / naa |
External links
- Ethnologue
- Michael Noonan, Recent Language Contact in the Nepal Himalaya (PDF).
- [1] a window to Newar culturebr:Newareg