Magar Dhut (, ) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken mainly in Nepal, southern Bhutan, and in Darjeeling and Sikkim, India, by the Magar people. It is divided into two groups (Eastern and Western) and further dialect divisions give distinct tribal identity. In Nepal 788,530 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 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 (dialects: Palpa and Syangja) is spoken in the following districts of Nepal (Ethnologue). Lumbini Province: Palpa District Gandaki Province: Syangja District, and a small part of the Tanahun District (west of the Bagmati River) Small border area in Gandaki Province: Parbat District Scattered throughout Karnali Province: especially in Surkhet District, Jajarkot District, and Dailekh District
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 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 Some areas in India: Sikkim, Darjeeling, Assam, Manipur Southern Bhutan
Phonology
Consonants
*-only occur in the Tanahu dialect.
is only a marginal phoneme.
Vowels
References
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.
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