Jirel is a Southern Tibetic language of
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
. It is spoken in
Jiri
Jiri ( ne, जिरी) is a municipality in Dolakha District in the Bagmati Province of central Nepal. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census it had a population of 13,638 people..
Jiri, which lies about 190 kilometers from Kathmandu, is the m ...
, in Tshetrapa village, Jungu village, and Cheppu village of
Dolakha District and
Sindhupalchok
Sindhupalchowk District ( ne, सिन्धुपाल्चोक जिल्ला ) is a part of Bagmati Province and one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal, with an area of . The district's headquarters is in Chautara. In 2006, 336, ...
and different parts of Nepal.
It has long been in discussion that the
Jirels are the
Kirats
The Kirati people, also spelled as Kirant or Kiranti, are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group. They are peoples of the Himalayas, mostly the Eastern Himalaya extending eastward from Nepal to North East India (predominantly in the Indian state of Sikkim ...
as other Tibeto-Burmans. But further research is required to prove that they come from Kirats. Very weak literature without evidence is presented by some authors until now claiming that they are the Kirats. They have claimed that they are animists so they are Kirats. They adopted some cultural and religious practice from Sunuwars and Sherpas when they began to live and share with them. The language they use is the most powerful evidence that they come from a Tibetan ethnic tribe. Their physical appearance and family name are also supporting evidence for Tibetan origin.
They mainly practice
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
.
Lamas are their priests. They also have Shamans who are called Phombo, which is derived from the word, Boo, the Tibetan Tantric philosophy.
Jirel Uchen, which is also called Sambhota Script, is their script or calligraphy. This can be found at religious monuments like chautaras, chortens, and monasteries. Jirel Lamas use this script. The script is shown below:
ཀ ka
áཁ kha
ʰáག ga
à/kʰːàང nga
àཅ ca
ɕáཆ cha
ɕʰáཇ ja
ʑà/tɕʰːàཉ nya
àཏ ta
áཐ tha
ʰáད da
à/tʰːàན na
àཔ pa
áཕ pha
ʰáབ ba
à/pʰːàམ ma
àཙ tsa
sá
Sá is a Portuguese language, Portuguese, Spanish language, Spanish and Sephardic Jewish surname. It has a high incidence in Portuguese-speaking countries, such as Portugal, Brazil and Angola. It is still very common in countries like India, Cambod ...
ཚ tsha
sʰáཛ dza
zà/tsʰːàཝ wa
àཞ zha
àཟ za
àའ 'a
àཡ ya
àར ra
àལ la
àཤ sha
áས sa
áཧ ha
áཨ a
Tibetan
Tibetan may mean:
* of, from, or related to Tibet
* Tibetan people, an ethnic group
* Tibetan language:
** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard
** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...
language where only 35–40 percent of diction is found to be close to pure Tibetan diction.
References
Relevant literature
*Strahm, Esther and Anita Maibaum. 1999. Verb pair in Jirel. ''Notes on Tibeto-Burman'' 4:1-24.
South Bodish languages
Languages of Nepal
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