Languages of Nepal
| Languages of Nepal | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Official languages | Nepali (Gorkhali)[1] |
| Regional languages |
|
| Sign languages |
Nepali Sign Language Jhankot Sign Language, Jumla Sign Language, Ghandruk Sign Language |
The languages of Nepal are languages, predominately of the Indo-Aryan and Tibeto-Burman language families, spoken as mother tongue language by Nepalese people. The 2011 national census lists 123 languages spoken as a mother tongue (first language) in Nepal. [2]
The largest spoken Nepalese language is Nepali, the official language of Nepal formerly called Khaskura then Gorkhali. According to the 2011 national census, the percentage of people with Nepali as the mother tongue is about 44.6%. Other regional Nepalese languages includes Maithili, Limbu, Nepal Bhasa (Newari), Awadhi, Angika , Nepalese English Tharu, Gurung, Tamang, Magar, Sherpa , Kiranti, Sunuwar , Bhojpuri , Rajbanshi, Nepali Sign Language, Jhankot Sign Language, Jumla Sign Language and Ghandruk Sign Language[3]
Classification
Three quarters of the hundred or so languages native to Nepal belong to the Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family; this includes Nepal Bhasa (Newar) (the original language of Kathmandu), the Tamang, Magar and various Rai and Limbu languages.
However, the official and numerically most important language, Nepali, belongs to the Indo-Aryan (Indic) branch of the Indo-European family, so that Indic languages constitute 79% of the population to Tibeto-Burman's 18%, even though most languages of both families are spoken by small numbers of people.
The Dravidian languages are represented by Kurux, and the Munda languages of the Austroasiatic family by Santali and Mundari.
The indigenous languages of Nepal that predated the influx of Indic, Tibeto-Burman, and other families barely survive in the Kusunda language, which is nearly extinct today.
Nepal also has at several indigenous village sign languages, Jhankot Sign Language, Jumla Sign Language, and Ghandruk Sign Language, in addition to the Nepali Sign Language designed for national use.
Constitution
Part 1 of the Constitution of Nepal 2015 (2072 B.S.) has some provisions about the languages of Nepal:[4]
Article 6: All native languages spoken in Nepal are National language of Nepal
Article 7a: Nepali language in Devanagari script is used for Nepal government work
Article 7b: Beside Nepali language, any Provinces can choose one or more other languages spoken by majority population of that province for government work
Language in Nepal
| Language | Count | Percentage |
| Nepali language | 11,826,953 | 44.63926934 |
| Maithili language | 3,092,530 | 11.67234533 |
| Bhojpuri language | 1,584,958 | 5.982214274 |
| Tharu language | 1,529,875 | 5.774310778 |
| Tamang language | 1,353,311 | 5.10789332 |
| Nepal Bhasa | 846,557 | 3.195217393 |
| Bajjika | 793,416 | 2.994643719 |
| Magar language | 788,530 | 2.976202159 |
| Dotyali language | 787,827 | 2.973548778 |
| Urdu language | 691,546 | 2.610148882 |
| Aabadhi language | 501,752 | 1.89379654 |
| Limbu language | 343,603 | 1.296884063 |
| Gurung language | 325,622 | 1.229017158 |
| Baitadeli language | 272,524 | 1.028605782 |
| Rai language | 159,114 | 0.600554741 |
| Aachami language | 142,787 | 0.53893064 |
| Bantaba language | 132,583 | 0.500416992 |
| Rajbanshi language | 122,214 | 0.461280574 |
| Sherpa language | 114,830 | 0.433410642 |
| Hindi language | 77,569 | 0.292773928 |
| Chamling language | 76,800 | 0.289871439 |
| Baghangi language | 67,581 | 0.255075543 |
| Santhali language | 49,858 | 0.188182425 |
| Chepang language | 48,476 | 0.182966248 |
| Language Not Known | 47,718 | 0.180105278 |
| Danuwar language | 45,821 | 0.172945302 |
| Sunuwar language | 37,898 | 0.143040987 |
| Magahi language | 35,614 | 0.134420331 |
| Uraue language | 33,651 | 0.127011247 |
| Kulung language | 33,170 | 0.125195776 |
| Kham language | 27,113 | 0.102334431 |
| Rajasthani language | 25,394 | 0.095846293 |
| Maghi language | 24,422 | 0.092177608 |
| Thami language | 23,151 | 0.087380387 |
| Bhujel language | 21,715 | 0.081960395 |
| Other language | 21,173 | 0.079914687 |
| Bengali language | 21,061 | 0.079491958 |
| Thulung language | 20,659 | 0.077974662 |
| Yakhka language | 19,558 | 0.073819083 |
| Dhimal language | 19,300 | 0.072845297 |
| Tajpuriya language | 18,811 | 0.070999631 |
| Angika language | 18,555 | 0.070033393 |
| Sangpang language | 18,270 | 0.068957698 |
| Khaling language | 14,467 | 0.054603777 |
| Bambule language | 13,470 | 0.050840733 |
| Kumal language | 12,222 | 0.046130322 |
| Darau language | 11,677 | 0.044073292 |
| Bahing language | 11,658 | 0.044001579 |
| Bajureli language | 10,704 | 0.040400832 |
| Hyomlo language | 10,176 | 0.038407966 |
| Nachiring language | 10,041 | 0.037898426 |
| Thmpu language | 9,208 | 0.034754378 |
| Bote language | 8,766 | 0.033086107 |
| Ghale language | 8,092 | 0.030542183 |
| Dumi language | 7,638 | 0.02882862 |
| Lepcha language | 7,499 | 0.028303983 |
| Puma language | 6,686 | 0.025235422 |
| Dumangli language | 6,260 | 0.023627542 |
| Darchuleli language | 5,928 | 0.022374452 |
| AathPahariya language | 5,530 | 0.020872253 |
| Thakali language | 5,242 | 0.019785235 |
| Jireli language | 4,829 | 0.018226422 |
| Mobahang language | 4,650 | 0.01755081 |
| Sanketik language | 4,476 | 0.01689407 |
| Tibbati language | 4,445 | 0.016777064 |
| Meche language | 4,375 | 0.016512859 |
| Chantyal language | 4,283 | 0.016165617 |
| Raji language | 3,758 | 0.014184074 |
| Lohorung language | 3,716 | 0.01402555 |
| Chintal language | 3,712 | 0.014010453 |
| गन्गाइ भाषा | 3,612 | 0.013633016 |
| Pahari language | 3,458 | 0.013051763 |
| Dailekhi language | 3,102 | 0.011708089 |
| Lhopaa language | 3,029 | 0.01143256 |
| Dura language | 2,156 | 0.008137537 |
| Koche language | 2,080 | 0.007850685 |
| Chiling language | 2,046 | 0.007722356 |
| English language | 2,032 | 0.007669515 |
| Jerojerung language | 1,763 | 0.00665421 |
| Khas language | 1,747 | 0.00659382 |
| Sanskrit language | 1,669 | 0.00629942 |
| Total | 26,494,504 | 100 |
Nepali is spoken as a lingua franca.
English is taking over as the lingua franca of the educated population as English is sole language of higher education in all the technical, medical, scientific studies and some of the economics and trade. There is a significant rise in the number of English-medium schools throughout the nation and a decline in Nepali-medium schools. Except for the government-funded schools, there are very few Nepali-medium schools.
References
- ↑ According to Interim Constitution, Nepali is only the official language (article 5, point 2). Other languages spoken as the mother tongue in Nepal are national languages (article 5, point 1). According to article 5, point 3, all languages are accepted as official languages at the regional level. This part of the article is about native names and not about official language.Nepal_Interim_Constitution2007
- ↑ Official Summary of Census (2011), Central Bureau of Statistics, Nepal
- ↑ "Major highlights of Nepalese languages" (PDF). Central Bureau of Statistics. 2013. p. 4. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ↑ Nepali Constitution 2015
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||