Multilingualism and the language situation in Nepal
Nepal represents a complex cross-section of linguistic and cultural diversity. The Census Report of 1991 records at least 60 different ethnic communities or castes and a distribution of over 70 languages spoken within the country's present day political boundaries. Grimes (1991) estimates a tot...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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2024
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/178168 |
| _version_ | 1826128894853382144 |
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| author | Kansakar, Tej R. |
| author2 | Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu |
| author_facet | Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu Kansakar, Tej R. |
| author_sort | Kansakar, Tej R. |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Nepal represents a complex cross-section of linguistic and cultural diversity. The Census Report of 1991 records at least 60 different ethnic communities or castes and a distribution of over 70 languages spoken within the country's present day political boundaries. Grimes (1991) estimates a total of about 100 languages spoken in Nepal. This was perhaps calculated on the basis of over 30 distinct Rai languages which are usually subsumed in the Census Reports under the single heading of "Rai-Kirat", and under the category of "other unspecified languages". These languages and their innumerable satellite dialects have genetic affiliations to at least four language families, namely Tibeto-Burman (about 56 languages), Indo-Aryan (14 languages), Austroasiatic/Munda (1 language), and Dravidian (1 language), together with one controversial language isolate — Kusunda. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T07:32:01Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/178168 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T07:32:01Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1781682024-06-11T06:09:32Z Multilingualism and the language situation in Nepal Kansakar, Tej R. Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu Arts and Humanities Nepal represents a complex cross-section of linguistic and cultural diversity. The Census Report of 1991 records at least 60 different ethnic communities or castes and a distribution of over 70 languages spoken within the country's present day political boundaries. Grimes (1991) estimates a total of about 100 languages spoken in Nepal. This was perhaps calculated on the basis of over 30 distinct Rai languages which are usually subsumed in the Census Reports under the single heading of "Rai-Kirat", and under the category of "other unspecified languages". These languages and their innumerable satellite dialects have genetic affiliations to at least four language families, namely Tibeto-Burman (about 56 languages), Indo-Aryan (14 languages), Austroasiatic/Munda (1 language), and Dravidian (1 language), together with one controversial language isolate — Kusunda. Published version 2024-06-11T06:09:32Z 2024-06-11T06:09:32Z 1996 Journal Article Kansakar, T. R. (1996). Multilingualism and the language situation in Nepal. Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area, 19(2), 17-30. https://dx.doi.org/10.32655/LTBA.19.2.02 0731-3500 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/178168 10.32655/LTBA.19.2.02 2 19 17 30 en Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area © 1996 The Editor(s). All rights reserved. application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Arts and Humanities Kansakar, Tej R. Multilingualism and the language situation in Nepal |
| title | Multilingualism and the language situation in Nepal |
| title_full | Multilingualism and the language situation in Nepal |
| title_fullStr | Multilingualism and the language situation in Nepal |
| title_full_unstemmed | Multilingualism and the language situation in Nepal |
| title_short | Multilingualism and the language situation in Nepal |
| title_sort | multilingualism and the language situation in nepal |
| topic | Arts and Humanities |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/178168 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kansakartejr multilingualismandthelanguagesituationinnepal |