Magar language
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Magar language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator |
| Magar | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| मगर भाषा | ||||||
| Spoken in | Nepal, India | |||||
| Ethnicity | 1,622,000 Magar people (2001 census) | |||||
| Native speakers | 863,000 (2001) | |||||
| Language family |
Sino-Tibetan
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| Official status | ||||||
| Official language in | No official status | |||||
| Regulated by | No official regulation | |||||
| Language codes | ||||||
| ISO 639-3 | either: mgp – Eastern Magar mrd – Western Magar |
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Not to be confused with the Magyar language, known in English as Hungarian
Magar (Nepali: नेपाली) मगर भाषा Magar bhasa is a language spoken in parts of Nepal and Sikkim in India by Magar people. It is divided into two groups: Eastern and Western, and further dialect divisions give distinct tribal identity.[1] In Nepal 770,116 speak the language.
While the government of Nepal developed Magar language curricula, as provisioned by constitution, the teaching materials haven't successfully reached Magar schools.[2] At least one Magar feels that failure among members of his caste to take education seriously may be the result of school instruction in Nepali language. It's not unusual for groups with their own language to feel that the "mother-tongue" is an essential part of identity.
If we want to develop the Magar language, we should not teach our children Nepali. We have to teach the Magar language first.. We have to teach learning and reading the language from the very beginning. For example, they are all Magar in Gulmi Bharsay hills. They don't know the Magar language, nobody speaks Magar but they are educated, they are rich too. But they do not speak the Magar language.—[3]
Magar language is sometimes lumped with Kham language spoken further west in Bheri, Dhaulagiri, Karnali and Rapti zones. Although the two languages have a large number of words in common, they have major structural differences and are not mutually intelligible.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ "The Eastern Magar of Nepal". Archived from the original on 2007-03-18. http://web.archive.org/web/20070318061151/http://www.global12project.com/2004/profiles/p_code2/974.html. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
- ^ B. K. Rana. "Mother Tongue Education for Social Inclusion and Conflict Resolution". Appeals, News and Views from Endangered Communities. Foundation for Endangered Languages. http://www.ogmios.org/204.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
- ^ "Identity". http://www.mountainvoices.org/n_th_identity.asp. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
- ^ http://www.thlib.org/static/reprints/contributions/CNAS_20_02_02.pdf
[edit] Further reading
- Shepherd, Gary, and Barbara Shepherd. A Vocabulary of the Magar Language. Comparative vocabularies of languages of Nepal. Kirtipur: Summer Institute of Linguistics [and] Institute of Nepal Studies, Tribhuvan University, 1972.
- Shepherd, Gary, and Barbara Shepherd. Magar Phonemic Summary. Tibeto-Burman phonemic summaries, 8. Kirtipur: Summer Institute of Linguistics, Tribhuvan University, 1971.
[edit] External links
- Magar (Eastern)
- Magar (Western)
- scroll to entries for four Kham dialects
- detailed language map, western Nepal. Eastern Magar is language #33; Western Magar is #113.
- [1] Bunumagar.com is A Social Community site completely dedicated to Magar Community Worldwide. You can do Blogging , Chatting , Watching videos, making friends, Sharing Ideas and Thoughts and much more things that is related to Magar Community.
- Bunumagar.com A Magar Community Website
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