Magar language
Magar Dhut is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken mainly in Nepal, southern Bhutan, and in Darjeeling, Assam and Sikkim, India, by the Magar people. It is divided into two groups and further dialect divisions give distinct tribal identity. In Nepal 810,000 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. It is not unusual for groups with their own language to feel that the "mother-tongue" is an essential part of their 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 is spoken in the following districts of Nepal.- Lumbini Province: Palpa District
- Gandaki Province: Syangja District, and a small part of the Tanahun District
- Small border area in Gandaki Province: Parbat District
- Scattered throughout Karnali Province: especially in Surkhet District, Jajarkot District, and Dailekh District
Eastern Magar
- Zone 1: central mountains of Nepal east of the Bagmati River
- * Gandaki Province: Tanahun District and southern Gorkha District
- * Lumbini Province: Palpa District Kapilvastu District and Nawalparasi District
- * Small border area in Bagmati Province: Dhading District
- Zone 2: eastern Nepal
- * Sindhuli District, Bagmati Province
- * Okhaldhunga District, Koshi Province
- * Udayapur District, Koshi Province
- * Scattered communities in central Koshi Province, Dhankuta District, Bhojpur and southern Koshi Province, Ilam District, Jhapa District
- * Southern Bhutan
India
- Sikkim
- Darjeeling district and Kalimpong district of West Bengal
- Golaghat district, Sonitpur district and Tinsukia district districts of Assam
- Some parts of Manipur
Phonology
Consonants
is only a marginal phoneme.
| Phoneme | Allophones |
Vowels
| Diphthongs |
| Phoneme | Allophones |