Nepali language

Nepali
Gorkhali
नेपाली भाषा Nepālī bhāṣā खस कुरा Khas kurā
The word "Nepali" written in Devanagari
Native to	Nepal, India, Bhutan, Myanmar (Burma) and worldwide diaspora
Ethnicity	As a first language : Khas people Bahun (Brahmin) Chhetri (Kshetri) Lhotshampa Bhutanese Burmese Gurkha Indian Gorkha As a second language : Newari Nepalese Madhesi Nepalese Tharu people Kirati Nepalese
Native speakers	16 million (2011 census)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Sanskrit Northern Zone Pahari Eastern Pahari Nepali
Writing system	Devanagari Devanagari Braille Takri (historical) Bhujimol (historical)
Signed forms	Signed Nepali
Official status
Official language in	Nepal  India (in Sikkim Assam and Darjeeling district of West Bengal)
Regulated by	Nepal Academy
Language codes
ISO 639-1	ne
ISO 639-2
ISO 639-3	– inclusive code Individual codes: npi – Nepali dty – Doteli
Glottolog	nepa1254 nepa1252  (duplicate code)
Linguasphere	59-AAF-d
World map with significant Nepali language speakers Dark Blue: Main official language, Light blue: One of the official languages, Red: Places with significant population or greater than 20% but without official recognition.

As a first language :

As a second language :

Nepali, also known as Khas Kura, Parbate Bhasa or Gorkhali, is an Indo-Aryan language. It is the official language and de facto lingua franca of Nepal. It is also spoken in various parts of India, particularly by Indian Gorkha, and by a significant number of Bhutanese and some Burmese people. In India, Nepali language is listed in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India having an official status in the Indian state of Sikkim and in West Bengal's Darjeeling district. Nepali developed in proximity to a number of Indo-Aryan languages, most notably the Pahari languages and Magahi, and shows Sanskrit influences. However, owing to Nepal's geographical area, it has also been influenced by Tibeto-Burman languages. Nepali is mainly differentiated from Central Pahari, both in grammar and vocabulary, by Tibeto-Burman idioms owing to close contact with the respective language group. Nepali language shares 40% lexical similarity with the Bengali language. British resident at Kathmandu Brian Houghton Hodgson has observed that it is, in eight-tenths of its vocables, substantially Hindi.

Historically, the language was first called the Khas language (Khas kurā), then Gorkhali or Gurkhali (language of the Gorkha Kingdom) before the term Nepali was coined. Other names include Parbatiya ("mountain language", identified with the Parbatiya people of Nepal) and Dzongkha Lhotshammikha ("Southern Language", spoken by the Lhotshampas of Bhutan). It is also known as the language among the Newar people and Pahari language among Madhesi and Tharus.