Nepal Bhasa language
| Newar | |
|---|---|
| Nepal Bhasa | |
| नेवाः भाय् Newāh Bhāy | |
| Native to | Nepal |
| Ethnicity | 1.26 million Newars (2001 census?) |
|
Native speakers
|
860,000 (2011 census) |
|
Sino-Tibetan
|
|
|
Early form
|
|
| Dialects | |
| Ranjana alphabets and various in the past Devanagari currently | |
| Official status | |
| Regulated by |
Nepal Bhasa Academy Nepal Bhasa Parishad |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 |
new Nepal Bhasa, Newari |
| ISO 639-3 | Either: |
new Newari |
|
nwx Middle Newar |
|
| Glottolog | newa1247 |
Newar or Newari, also known as Nepal Bhasa (नेपाल भाषा), is spoken as a native language by the Newar people, the indigenous inhabitants of Nepal Mandala, which consists of the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding regions in Nepal.
Although "Nepal Bhasa" literally means "Nepalese language", the language is not the same as Nepali (Nepali: नेपाली), the country's current official language. The two languages belong to different language families (Sino-Tibetan and Indo-European, respectively), but centuries of contact have resulted in a significant body of shared vocabulary. Both languages have official status in Kathmandu Metropolitan City.
Newar was Nepal’s administrative language from the 14th to the late 18th century. From the early 20th century until democratization, Newar suffered from official suppression. From 1952 to 1991, the percentage of Newar speakers in the Kathmandu Valley dropped from 75% to 44%, and today Newar culture and language are under threat. The language has been listed as being "definitely endangered" by UNESCO.
The earliest occurrences of the name Nepālabhāṣā (or Nepālavāc) can be found in the manuscripts of a commentary to the Nāradasaṃhitā, dated 1380 AD, and a commentary to the Amarkośa, dated 1386 AD. Since then, the name has been used widely on inscriptions, manuscripts, documents and books.
In the 1920s, the name of the language known as Khas Kura, Gorkhali or Parbatiya was changed to Nepali, and the language began to be officially referred to as Newari while the Newars continued using the original term. Conversely, the term Gorkhali in the former national anthem entitled "Shreeman Gambhir" was changed to Nepali in 1951.
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Wikipedia