Newar language
Newar is a Sino-Tibetan language of central Nepal belonging to the Tibeto-Burman group. It is spoken natively by the Newar people, the indigenous inhabitants of Nepal Mandala, which consists of the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding regions in Nepal. The name Nepal Bhasa was historically used for the language and is the also the name used in official contexts by the Government of Nepal. This name is also preferred by native speakers and writers of the language. Another name frequently used is "Newari" but this name is considered inappropriate by Newar speakers due to the addition of the Indic suffix -i and it has become increasingly common to refer to the language as Newar in English.
Newar was the official language of Nepal during the medieval period, having been given this status by Jayasthiti Malla in the 14th century. The language during this period was consistently referred as "nepāla bhāṣā", a term which literally means "Nepalese Language". Despite the similar nomenclature, It is distinct from the Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language which replaced Newar as the national language after the conquest of Nepal by the Shah Dynasty, and additionally only adopted the name Nepali in the 1930s.
From the start of the Rana dynasty in the 1840s until democratisation, Newar suffered from official suppression. From 1952 to 1991, the percentage of Newar speakers in the Kathmandu Valley dropped from 75% to 44% and today Newar culture and language are under threat. Today, the language has been listed as "Definitely endangered" by UNESCO.
Literature in Newar is one of the oldest in Nepal, dating back to at least 600 years ago. Many of the literature written in Newar, like the Gopal Raj Vamshavali are very important in the study of the history of Nepal.
On 6 May 2024, Newar, along with Tamang and Nepali was declared as the official language of Bagmati Province. Similarly, Newar is given official status in the Indian state of Sikkim and several city governments of Nepal including the capital Kathmandu.
Name
The official and historical name of the language, Nepal Bhasa, which literally means Nepalese Language, originates from Nepal. Historically, Nepal was only used to refer to the Kathmandu Valley and its surroundings, where the language was native to.The name "Nepal Bhasa" has been used consistently in sources from the Malla dynasty to refer to the language. The earliest occurrences of the name Nepālabhāṣā or alternatively Nepālavāc, used to refer to the language, can be found in the manuscripts of , dated 1380, and , dated 1386. Some sources from the Malla Dynasty refer to the language as deśabhāṣā or svadeśabhāṣā. Similarly, the language was referred to as Nepalese in sources of some 18th century Capuchin missionaries like in the journal who visited Nepal in the 1740s.
In contrast, the name Newar did not even appear in the written record before the 17th century and William Kirkpatrick was one of the first Western scholars to use the term Newar for the language in his 1811 book. Newar was also used in the travelogue of a few 18th century European missionaries to refer to the people or the land of Nepal. For instance, Ippolito Desideri who visited Nepal in 1721 used the term Neuâr to refer to the inhabitants of Nepal. Similarly, in one of the books written by the Capuchin mission in the 1740s, Nepal is referred as the kingdom of "Newar or Nepal".
The origin of the word Newar is generally believed to be related to the word Nepal, possibly derived by the replacement of the 'la' sound with a 'ra' sound, a common practice in historical documents from Nepal. Historically, "Newar" rarely used appeared in native sources as well. Only two sources in Nepal from before the Gorkhali rule use the term "Newar" to refer to the language or its script; the multilingual stone inscription of Pratap Malla uses "nevāra ākhara" to refer to the Pracalit script and another stone inscription of Pratap Malla from 1652 uses the term nevārabhāṣā to refer to the language.
The term "Newari", derived from the Sanskritisation of "Newar" was first used by Brian Hodgson in 1847 and since then used by most western scholars. In one case, Shakya noted that Cecil Bendall in his translation of a Newar manuscript, used the term Newari to refer to the language although the manuscript he translated used the word Nepala Bhasa. However, the name Newari is considered inappropriate by Newar speakers due to the addition of the Indic suffix -i and it has become increasingly common to refer to the language as Newar in English.
In the 1920s, the language known as Khas Kura, Gorkhali or Parbatiya was renamed to Nepali. Conversely, the term Gorkhali in the former national anthem entitled "Shreeman Gambhir" was changed to Nepali in 1951. Gorkha Bhasa Prakashini Samiti, a government institution established in 1913 for advancement of Gorkha Bhasa, renamed itself as Nepali Bhasa Prakashini Samiti in 1933, which is currently known as Sajha Prakashan.
On 7 September 1995, the cabinet of ministers decided to use "Nepala Bhasa" instead of "Newari". On 13 November 1998, the Minister of Information and Communication issued another directive to use the name Nepal Bhasa instead of Newari. However, the Central Bureau of Statistics have not been doing so.
A colloquial term is Newa Bhaay is also used.
History and development
Origin
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bar:Age color:red width:25 mark: align:left fontsize:S
from:start till:-2200 shift: text:Antiquity
from:-2200 till:400 shift: color:yellow text:Proto Newari
from:400 till:2000 shift: color:green text:Historical Age
at:2000 shift: text:AD
at:-2200 shift: text:←Proto-Newari diverges from Proto-Chepangi
at:-200 shift: text:Arrival of Charumati in the Valley→
at:-200 shift: text:←start of Indo-Aryanization through Magadhi Prakrit?
at: 200 shift: text:Ascension of Lichhavi King Jayavarma-I→
at: 200 shift: text:←start of Sanskritization?
at: 1300 shift: text:Arrival of last Karnat King Nanyadeva→
at: 1300 shift: text:←start of Maithali influence
at: 1400 shift: text:←start of Persian/Arabic influence
at: 1600 shift: text:start of Khas Bhasa influence→
at: 600 shift: text:Rise of Songtsen Gampo and influence of Tibetan→
at: 1920 shift: text:←Hindi and English influence
bar:Era5 color:blue width:18 mark: align:left fontsize:S
from:-200 till:1980 shift: text:Indo-Aryanization period
from:1980 till:2000 shift: text:←Recent attempts to de-Sanskritize
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from:400 till:1200 shift: text:Ancient Era
from:1200 till:1850 shift: color:yellow text:Medieval era
from:1850 till:1940 shift: color:black text:Dark era
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from:1909 till:1940 shift: color:blue text:Renaiassance
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from:1950 till:2000 shift: color:green text:Modern Era
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from:1960 till:1990 shift: color:black text:Dark era
Licchavi Dynasty
An early form of Newar appears in Sanskrit stone inscriptions from the time of the Licchavis. The Sanskrit language stone inscriptions of the Licchavi period contains frequent use of Sino-Tibetan words especially for proper nouns. Almost 80 percent of the names of places, taxes and merchandise used in the inscriptions are Tibeto-Burman in origin. It suggests that Newar existed as a vernacular language since at least the Lichhavi Dynasty. According to the Gopal Raj Vamshavali, a 14th century Newar language history book, before the Licchavis of Vaishali conquered Nepal, it was ruled by the Kirata and the language they spoke, which is referred by historians such as Shrestha as Kiranti, is believed to be the old form of the Newar language. For instance, in an inscription from 594 located in present day Bhaktapur, the area is referred as khopṛiṅa which closely resmbles the classical and modern Newar name for the city, Khw''opa.''Medieval era
It is during this period that the earliest dated document written entirely in Newar was written, a palm-leaf manuscript preserved in Uku Bāhā, a Buddhist monastery in Lalitpur, which dates from 1114. Following is a line from the document which mostly deals with business transaction.The first inscription written entirely in Newar set up by the royal family also dates from this period; a stone inscription from Bajrayogini Temple of Rudra Malla from 1127.
The Newar language of the Medieval era is referred as Classical Newar. It is further classified into Early Classical Newar, used from 879 to 1482, when the period of three kingdom started and Late Classical Newar, from 1482 to 1769, when the Malla dynasty ended.
In the 14th century, Newar was given the status of national language by Jayasthiti Malla. Since then, most of royal decrees, official proclamations and public notices set up by the monarchs appeared in Newar. Jayasthiti Malla himself commissioned many works in Newar like the Gopal Raj Vamshavali, a manuscript about the history of Nepal dating to 1389. From the 14th century onwards, an overwhelming number of stone inscriptions in the Kathmandu Valley, where they are a ubiquitous element at heritage sites, are in Newar.
The period from 1428 to 1769 is considered a Golden Age for Newar Literature. Many monarchs of the Malla dynasty themselves started composing hymns and dramas in Newar. Noted royal writers include Mahindra Malla, Siddhi Narsingh Malla, and Ranajit Malla. Still, there are numerous works of literature from this period with anonymous authors. Some non royal authors include Keshav Udās, Brisabhānanda and Biladātāsingha.
Some notable women who wrote literature in Newar during this period include, Jagatakeshari from Banepa, Briddhi Lakshmi, Riddhi Lakshmi, Jaya Lakshmi. Among them, Riddhi Lakshmi is considered to be the first woman to publish literature in Nepal as her poems are the earliest dated literature in Nepal authored by a woman.
During the 18th century, Newar also began to catch the interest of Capuchin friars from Italy who had started to settle in Nepal. By the time the mission ended in 1769 with the expulsion of all Christians by the Gorkhalis, the Capuchins had written many literature in Newar, including translations of several catechisms and apologetics and several Newar-Italian dictionaries.
An example of the language used during this period is provided by the following lines from a poem written by Briddhi Lakshmi.