Magar Dhut ( ne, मगर ढुट, ) is a Sino-Tibetan Language spoken mainly in

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 ma ...

, Southern

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountai ...

, and in

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Ne ...

and

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligu ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

, by the Magar people. It is divided into two groups (Eastern and Western) and further dialect divisions give distinct tribal identity. In Nepal 788,530 people speak the language. While the government of Nepal developed Magar language curricula, as provisioned by the constitution, the teaching materials have never successfully reached Magar schools, where most school instruction is in 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 ...

. It is not unusual for groups with their own language to feel that the "mother-tongue" is an essential part of identity. The Dhut Magar language is sometimes lumped with the Magar Kham language spoken further west in Bheri, Dhaulagiri, and Rapti zones. Although the two languages share many common words, they have major structural differences and are not mutually intelligible.

Geographical distribution

Western Magar

Western Magar (dialects: ''Palpa'' and ''Syangja'') is spoken in the following

districts of Nepal Districts in Nepal are second level of administrative divisions after provinces. Districts are subdivided in municipalities and rural municipalities. There are seven provinces and 77 districts in Nepal. After the state's reconstruction of ad ...

('' Ethnologue''). *

Lumbini Zone Lumbini ( ne, लुम्बिनी अञ्चल) was one of the fourteen zones of Nepal until the restructure of zones to provinces. It is home to the Lumbini site, the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, who later became the historical B ...

: Palpa District *

Gandaki Province Gandaki Province ( ne, गण्डकी प्रदेश ) ), is one of the seven federal provinces established by the current constitution of Nepal which was promulgated on 20 September 2015. Pokhara is the province's capital city. It borde ...

Syangja District Syangja District ( ne, स्याङ्जा जिल्ला; ), a part of Gandaki Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Syangja bazaar (a small town) as its district headquarters, covers an area o ...

, and Tanahu District * Small border area in Dhawalagiri Zone: Parbat District * Scattered throughout Bheri Zone: especially in Surkhet District, Jajarkot District, and Dailekh District

Eastern Magar

Eastern Magar (dialects: ''Gorkha'', ''Nawalparasi'', and ''Tanahu'') is spoken in the following

('' Ethnologue''). * ''Zone 1: central mountains of Nepal east of the

Bagmati River , "Tiger Gate") , source1_location = Shivapuri, Sundarijal, Kathmandu, Nepal , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , mouth = Confluence with Kamala River , mouth_location = Jagmohra, Bihar, India , mouth_coo ...

'' **

: Tanahu District and southern

Gorkha District Gorkha District ( ne, गोरखा जिल्ला ), a part of Gandaki Province, is one of the 77 districts of Nepal, which is the fourth largest district (by area) of Nepal and connected historically with the creation of the modern Ne ...

: Palpa District Kapilvastu District and

Nawalparasi District Nawalparasi District ( ne, नवलपरासी जिल्ला, ), part of which belongs to Gandaki Province and part to Lumbini Province, was one of the seventy-five List of districts of Nepal, districts of Nepal before being divided in ...

** Small border area in

Bagmati Zone Bagmati Zone ( ne, बागमती अञ्चल ''Bāgmatī Añcal'') was one of the fourteen zones of Nepal until the restoration of zones to Provinces. Its headquarters are Kathmandu. It was named after the Bagmati River. It was in the ...

: Dhading District * ''Zone 2: eastern Nepal'' ** Sindhuli District, Janakpur Zone **

Okhaldhunga District Okhaldhunga District ( ne, ओखलढुङ्गा जिल्ला) is one of 14 districts of Province No. 1 in eastern Nepal. The district, with Okhaldhunga as its district headquarters, covers an area of and had a population of 156,70 ...

, Sagarmatha Zone ** Udayapur District ** Scattered communities in central Kosi Zone, Dhankuta District, Bhojpur and southern Province No. 1, Illam District,

Jhapa District Jhapa ( ne, झापा जिल्ला; ) is a district of Province No. 1 in eastern Nepal named after a Rajbanshi word "Jhapa" meaning "to cover" (verb). The latest official data, the 2021 Nepal Census, puts the total population of the ...

** Some areas in

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a States and territories of India, state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It ...

** Southern

Phonology

Consonants

*-only occur in the Tanahu dialect. is only a marginal phoneme.

Vowels

References

External links

detailed language map, western Nepal. Eastern Magar is language #33; Western Magar is #113.
*ELAR archive o
Magar language documentation materialsThe Magar language - Linguistics research - Folktales in Magar (Western) - Nepal
{{Authority control Languages of India Languages of Nepal Languages of Sikkim Magaric languages