The Constitution of Nepal recognizes all mother tongues as national languages of Nepal.

History

The first legislation of Nepal ''Muluki Ain'' of 1854 (1910

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

) recognized Gorkha Bhasa, now known as Nepali language, as the only official working language of Nepal. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal of 1959 (2015 B.S.) recognized Nepali language as the sole official and national language. The Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007 (2063 B.S.) recognized Nepal as a multi-lingual country, providing the status of national languages to all mother tongues in Nepal. However, it also continued Nepali language as the sole official language.

Constitution

The

Constitution of Nepal 2015 Constitution of Nepal 2015 ( ne, नेपालको संविधान २०७२) is the present governing Constitution of Nepal. Nepal is governed according to the Constitution which came into effect on 20 September 2015, replacing the ...

(2072 B.S.) provisions as follows in the official language. *Article 6: All native languages spoken in Nepal are National languages of Nepal. *Article 7a: The

Nepali language Nepali (; , ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Himalayas region of South Asia. It is the official, and most widely spoken, language of Nepal, where it also serves as a '' lingua franca''. Nepali has official status in the Indian st ...

Devanagari Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental Writing systems#Segmental syste ...

script is used for Nepal government work. *Article 7b: Beside Nepali, the provinces can choose one or more other languages spoken by majority population of that province for government work.

Federal level

According to the constitutional provision, Nepali written in the

Devanagari script Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the a ...

is the official working language at the federal level. Within the

Federal Parliament of Nepal The Federal Parliament of Nepal ( ne, संघीय संसद नेपाल, translit=Saṅghīya Sansada Nēpāla, label=none) is the bicameral federal and supreme legislature of Nepal established in 2018. It consists of the National ...

use of mother tongue is practiced. The ''House of Representatives Regulations, 2018'' and ''National Assembly Regulations, 2018'' provisions that members can speak in their mother tongue and it can be documented. In 2018, parliamentarians took oath in their mother language, however they had to apply three days before the first meeting of the House of Representatives. Similarly, the ''Ordinance Regarding Oath Taking, 2020'' provisions that anyone who holds a public post can take oath in a mother tongue spoken in Nepal, however for anyone to take oath in any language apart from Nepali - they have to translate the oath format themselves and pre-inform to oath officer.५. (२)

Province level

Fourteen languages are recommended to have official status in provincial level.

Local level

There is no constitutional provision about official languages in local level. However, local levels have taken their own initiatives to determine their official languages. The Language Commission has mentioned in its report that the constitution has given it right to determine linguistic provisions in the country and therefore recommended official languages at local levels.

Province no.1

Bagmati Province

Lumbini Province

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Languages With Official Status In Nepal Languages of Nepal Official languages