The Sonha language also known as Sonaha, Sunha, or Sunah is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Sonha people in

Lumbini Province Lumbini Province () is a Provinces of Nepal, province in western Nepal. The country's Provinces of Nepal, third largest province in terms of area as well as List of Nepalese provinces by population, population, Lumbini is home to the World Herita ...

, specifically in

Bardiya District Bardiya District (), one of the seventy-seven Districts of Nepal, is part of Lumbini Province of Nepal. The district, with Gulariya as its headquarters, covers an area of and according to the 2001 census the population was 382,649 in 2011 it h ...

, covering Geruwa and Rajapur municipalities. It is also spoken in

Sudurpashchim Province Sudurpashchim Province () is one of the seven Provinces of Nepal, provinces established by the Constitution of Nepal, new constitution of Nepal which was adopted on 20 September 2015. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, ...

, particularly in

Kanchanpur District Kanchanpur District ( ), a part of Sudurpashchim Province in the Terai plain, is one of seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Bhimdatta as its district headquarters, covers an area of and had a population of 134,868 in 2001 and ...

and

Bhimdatta Mahendranagar (), officially known as Bhimdattanagar (), is a municipality in Kanchanpur District of Sudurpashchim Province, Nepal. The city and the municipality were named Mahendranagar in honour of the late King Mahendra of Nepal. After becomin ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

. Sonha exhibits linguistic similarities with Awadhi, with reported lexical similarities of 69% with Rana Tharu, 73% with

Kathariya Tharu Kathariya Tharu also known as Kathoriya Tharu is one of the Indo Aryan languages spoken by the Tharu people of Nepal and India. It is a language spoken in the Sudurpashchim Province of Nepal, particularly in the Kailali District, including areas ...

, and 72% with Dangaura Tharu. Notably, Sonha and Kathoriya serve as a lexical bridge connecting Rana and Dangaura varieties of Tharu.Thakur, Gopal and Indresh Thakur. 2014. A Sociolinguistic Survey of Sonaha and Khuna. Kathmandu: Linguistic Survey of Nepal (LinSuN), Central Department of Linguistics, Tribhuvan University, Nepal. The linguistic features of Sonha include a SOV (Subject-Object-Verb) word order, postpositions, noun head final structure, content question words in situ, case-marking for indicating clause constituents, verbal affixation marking number, split ergativity, and the presence of passives and voice. The language is non-tonal. Sonha speakers engage in mixed-use activities, involving interactions related to friends, religion, and work. The community comprises both young people and adults, with "Sonha" representing an occupational caste, particularly associated with gold panning. The religious affiliations within the Sonha community includes

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

, Christianity, and traditional beliefs. The language is considered threatened due to losing speakers and no monolingual speakers of the language.

References

{{reflist Central Indo-Aryan languages Tharu culture Languages of Nepal