Magaric languages

Magaric
Geographic distribution	Nepal
Linguistic classification	Sino-Tibetan Magaric
Subdivisions	Magar Kham Chepangic?
Glottolog	kham1285

The Magaric languages are a small proposed family of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Nepal, notably including Magar and Kham. (Ethnologue considers each to be a cluster of languages.) They are often classified as part of the Mahakiranti family, and Van Driem (2001) proposes that they are close relatives of Mahakiranti.

Several neighboring languages with uncertain affiliation may prove to belong to an enlarged Magaric family. These are Chepangic and possibly Raji–Raute and the extinct Dura language.

Thurgood & LaPolla (2003) included Kham in LaPolla's speculative 'Rung' proposal, but found the inclusion of Magar and Chepang less probable, suggesting that the evidence for even a Magar–Kham connection is far from clear-cut.

Bibliography

• George van Driem (2001) Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region. Brill.
• Thurgood, Graham (2003) "A subgrouping of the Sino-Tibetan languages: The interaction between language contact, change, and inheritance." In G. Thurgood and R. LaPolla, eds., The Sino-Tibetan languages, pp 14–17. London: Routledge.