Newari (ISO 639-3 code: new)

Newar or Newari known officially in Nepal as Nepal Bhasa is a Sino-Tibetan language is spoken by the Newar people, the indigenous inhabitants of Nepal Mandala, also found in the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding regions in Nepal.

"Nepal Bhasa" literally means "Nepalese language", however the language is not the same as Nepali (Devanāgarī: नेपाली), the country's current official language of the central government. The two languages belong to different language families (Sino-Tibetan and Indo-European) but centuries of contact have resulted in a significant volume of shared vocabulary.

Newar was Nepal's administrative language from the 14th to the late 18th century. From early 20th century until democratisation, Newar suffered from official suppression and from 1952 to 1991by which the percentage of Newar speakers in the Kathmandu Valley dropped from 75% to 44%. Today Newar culture and language are under threat the language has been listed as being "definitely endangered" by UNESCO.

Newari Resources

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