| Magar | |
| Also Known As: | Magars |
| Nativename: | मगर ढुट (magar ḍhuṭ) |
| States: | Nepal, India |
| Region: | Nepal
|
| Ethnicity: | million Magar (2021 census of Nepal) |
| Date: | 2001–2006 |
| Ref: | e27 |
| Familycolor: | Sino-Tibetan |
| Fam2: | Tibeto-Burman |
| Fam3: | Himalayish |
| Fam4: | Mahakiranti |
| Fam5: | Magaric |
| Dia1: | Kham |
| Dia2: | Kaike |
| Script: | Akkha script (official), Devanagari, Latin script |
| Nation: |
|
| Mapcaption: | Languages map of Nepal (Magar language spoken in purple area) |
| Mapcaption2: | Languages map of Sikkim (Magar language spoken in orange area) |
| Lc1: | mgp |
| Ld1: | Eastern Magar |
| Lc2: | mrd |
| Ld2: | Western Magar |
| Glotto: | maga1261 |
| Glottorefname: | Magar |
| Notice: | IPA |
The Magar language or Magar ḍhuṭ (Nepali: मगर ढुट, in Nepali ɖʱuʈ/) 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 (Eastern and Western) and further dialect divisions give distinct tribal identity.[3] In Nepal 810,000 people speak the language. Despite Magars not having a state for its own country the Magar language is an additional official language in Gandaki Province, Nepal and the Indian state of Sikkim.[4] [5]
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.[6] 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.[7]
Western Magar (dialects: Palpa and Syangja) is spoken in the following districts of Nepal (Ethnologue).
Eastern Magar (dialects: Gorkha, Nawalparasi, and Tanahu) is spoken in the following districts of Nepal (Ethnologue).
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | voiceless | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | (pronounced as /link/) | |
| aspirated | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| voiced | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| murmured | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| Fricative | voiceless | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||||
| voiced | pronounced as /link/ | |||||||
| Nasal | voiced | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| murmured | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||||
| Lateral | voiced | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
| murmured | pronounced as /link/ | |||||||
| Approximant | voiced | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| murmured | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||||
pronounced as //ʔ// is only a marginal phoneme.[8]
| Phoneme | Allophones | |
|---|---|---|
| pronounced as //p// | pronounced as /[p̚]/ | |
| pronounced as //pʰ// | pronounced as /[ɸ]/ | |
| pronounced as //t// | pronounced as /[tʲ], [t̚], [ʈ]/ | |
| pronounced as //tʰ// | pronounced as /[θ]/ | |
| pronounced as //d// | pronounced as /[dʲ], [ɖ], [ɽ]/ | |
| pronounced as //k// | pronounced as /[kʲ], [k̚]/ | |
| pronounced as //kʰ// | pronounced as /[x]/ | |
| pronounced as //ɡ// | pronounced as /[ɡʲ]/ | |
| pronounced as //t͡s// | pronounced as /[t͡ʃ]/ | |
| pronounced as //t͡sʰ// | pronounced as /[t͡ʃʰ]/ | |
| pronounced as //dz// | pronounced as /[dʒ]/ | |
| pronounced as //d͡zʱ// | pronounced as /[d͡ʒʱ]/ | |
| pronounced as //s// | pronounced as /[ʃ]/ | |
| pronounced as //h// | pronounced as /[ɦ]/ | |
| pronounced as //n// | pronounced as /[nʲ]/ | |
| pronounced as //ŋ// | pronounced as /[ŋʲ]/ |
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Mid | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| Open | pronounced as /link/ |
| Diphthongs | |
|---|---|
| pronounced as //ia// | |
| pronounced as //iu// | |
| pronounced as //ei// | |
| pronounced as //eu// | |
| pronounced as //aɪ// | |
| pronounced as //au// | |
| pronounced as //oi// |
| Phoneme | Allophones | |
|---|---|---|
| pronounced as //i// | pronounced as /[i] [ɪ] [i̤] [i̤ː] [ĩ]/ | |
| pronounced as //e// | pronounced as /[e] [ɛ] [ẽ] [e̤] [e̤ː]/ | |
| pronounced as //a// | pronounced as /[ä] [æ] [ä̃] [äˑ] [ä̤] [ä̤ː]/ | |
| pronounced as //u// | pronounced as /[u] [ʊ] [u̟] [ṳ] [ṳː] [ũ]/ | |
| pronounced as //ʌ// | pronounced as /[ʌ] [ə] [ə̃] [ʌ̤] [ʌ̃]/ | |
| pronounced as //o// | pronounced as /[o] [o̟] [õ] [oˑ] [o̤] [o̤ː]/ |
India