Magar language
Magar | |
---|---|
Dhut, मगर भाषा | |
Native to | Nepal |
Ethnicity | 1.9 million Magar people and others who claim to be Magar (2011 census)[1] |
Native speakers | 840,000 (2001–2006)[1] |
Sino-Tibetan
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Either:mgp – Eastern Magarmrd – Western Magar |
Glottolog | maga1261 |
Dhut magar (Nepali: मगर भाषा Dhut magar bhasa) is a language spoken mainly in Nepal, Southern Bhutan, Darjeeling, India, and Sikkim, India, by the Magar people. It is divided into two groups (Eastern and Western) and further dialect divisions give distinct tribal identity.[2] In Nepal 788,530 people speak the language.
While the government of Nepal developed Magar language curricula, as provisioned by constitution, the teaching materials have never successfully reached Magar schools, where most school instruction is in Nepali language.[3] It's not unusual for groups with their own language to feel that the "mother-tongue" is an essential part of identity. Dhut Magar language is sometimes lumped with Kham magar language spoken further west in Bheri, Dhaulagiri, Karnali and Rapti zones. Although the two languages share many common words, they have major structural differences and are not mutually intelligible.[4]
Geographical distribution
Western Magar
Western Magar (dialects: Palpa and Syangja) is spoken in the following districts of Nepal (Ethnologue).
- Lumbini Zone: Palpa District
- Gandaki Zone: Syangja District, and Tanahu District
- Small border area in Dhawalagiri Zone: Parbat District
- Scattered throughout Bheri Zone: especially in Surkhet District, Jajarkot District, and Dailekh District
- Magars are also live in the district named parbat which is located in the western part of Nepal.
Eastern Magar
Eastern Magar (dialects: Gorkha, Nawalparasi, and Tanahu) is spoken in the following districts of Nepal (Ethnologue).
- Zone 1: central mountains of Nepal east of the Bagmati River
- Gandaki Zone: Tanahu District and southern Gorkha District
- Lumbini Zone: Palpa District and Nawalparasi District
- Small border area in Bagmati Zone: Dhading District
- Zone 2: eastern Nepal
- Sindhuli District, Janakpur Zone
- Okhaldhunga District, Sagarmatha Zone
- Scattered communities in central Kosi Zone and southern Mechi Zone
Phonology
Consonants
Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stop | voiceless | p | t̪* | t | k | [ʔ] | |
aspirated | pʰ | t̪ʰ* | tʰ | kʰ | |||
voiced | b | d̪* | d | ɡ | |||
murmured | bʱ | d̪ʱ* | dʱ | ɡʱ | |||
Affricate | voiceless | ts | |||||
aspirated | tsʰ | ||||||
voiced | dz | ||||||
murmured | dzʱ | ||||||
Fricative | voiceless | s | h | ||||
voiced | ɦ | ||||||
Nasal | voiced | m | n | ŋ | |||
murmured | mʱ | nʱ | ŋʱ | ||||
Lateral | voiced | l | |||||
murmured | lʱ | ||||||
Approximant | voiced | w | ɹ | j | |||
murmured | wʱ | ɹʱ | jʱ |
*-only occur in the Tanahu dialect.
[ʔ] is only a marginal phoneme.[5]
Phoneme | Allophones |
---|---|
/p/ | [p̚] |
/pʰ/ | [ɸ] |
/t/ | [tʲ t̚ ʈ] |
/tʰ/ | [θ] |
/d/ | [dʲ ɖ ɽ] |
/k/ | [kʲ k̚] |
/kʰ/ | [x] |
/ɡ/ | [ɡʲ] |
/ts/ | [tʃ] |
/tsʰ/ | [tʃʰ] |
/dz/ | [dʒ] |
/dzʱ/ | [dʒʱ] |
/s/ | [ʃ] |
/h/ | [ɦ] |
/n/ | [nʲ] |
/ŋ/ | [ŋʲ] |
Vowels
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Mid | e | o | |
ʌ | |||
Open | a |
Diphthongs |
---|
/ia/ |
/iu/ |
/ei/ |
/eu/ |
/aɪ/ |
/au/ |
/oi/ |
Phoneme | Allophones |
---|---|
/i/ | [i ɪ i̤ i̤ː ĩ] |
/e/ | [e ɛ ẽ e̤ e̤ː] |
/a/ | [a æ ã aˑ a̤ a̤ː] |
/u/ | [u ʊ u̟ ṳ ṳː ũ] |
/ʌ/ | [ʌ ə ə̃ ʌ̤ ʌ̃] |
/o/ | [o o̟ õ oˑ o̤ o̤ː] |
References
- ^ a b Eastern Magar at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Western Magar at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) - ^ "The Eastern Magar of Nepal". Archived from the original on 2007-03-18. 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. Archived from the original on 2003-02-16. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
- ^ http://www.thlib.org/static/reprints/contributions/CNAS_20_02_02.pdf
- ^ a b Grunow-Hårsta, Karen A. (2008). A descriptive grammar of two Magar dialects of Nepal: Tanahu and Syangja Magar. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. pp. 32–67.
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Further reading
- Nishi 西, Yoshio 義郎 (1992e). "マガル語" [Magar, (LSI) Māgarī, Magar, Mangar]. In 亀井 Kamei, 孝 Takashi; 河野 Kōno, 六郎 Rokurō; 千野 Chino, 栄一 Eichi (eds.). 三省堂言語学大辞典 The Sanseido Encyclopaedia of Linguistics (in Japanese). Vol. 4. Tokyo: 三省堂 Sanseido Press. pp. 28a–40b. ISBN 4385152128.
- 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.
External links
- detailed language map, western Nepal. Eastern Magar is language #33; Western Magar is #113.
- ELAR archive of Magar language documentation materials
- The Magar language - Linguistics research - Folktales in Magar (Western) - Nepal