Magar language

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.[3] In Nepal 788,530 people speak the language.

Not to be confused with the Magyar language, known in English as Hungarian
Magar
Dhut, मगर भाषा
Native toNepal
Ethnicity1.9 million Magar people and others who claim to be Magar (2011 census)[1]
Native speakers
840,000 (2001–2006)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
mgp – Eastern Magar
mrd – Western Magar
Glottologmaga1261[2]

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.[4] 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.[5]

Geographical distribution

Western Magar

Western Magar (dialects: Palpa and Syangja) is spoken in the following districts of Nepal (Ethnologue).

Eastern Magar

Eastern Magar (dialects: Gorkha, Nawalparasi, and Tanahu) is spoken in the following districts of Nepal (Ethnologue).

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.[6]

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/

[6]

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
  1. Eastern Magar at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Western Magar at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Magar". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. "The Eastern Magar of Nepal". Archived from the original on 2007-03-18. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
  4. 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.
  5. http://www.thlib.org/static/reprints/contributions/CNAS_20_02_02.pdf
  6. 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.

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). 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.


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