Nepali Language

Nepali Language was previously called Khaskura language. Nepali Language is a very important Indo-Aryan language and is spoken in Bhutan, India and Myanmar apart from Nepal. Nepali Language is also the official language of Nepal and Sikkim. Almost half of the total population of Nepal converses in Nepali. The Nepali Language was an important issue in the civil war of Nepal during 1996 till 2006, as the imposition of Nepali in the court, government and the educational system has initiated controversy in this area.

Nepali Language is also known as Nepalese. As the language of Nepali is spoken by the Gurkhas, it is also called Gurkhali and Parbatiya, that is, the language of the mountains. Nepali Language is a head-final language and it has a Subject-Object-Verb order. There are no prepositions but only postpositions, with a limited grammatical gender.
Nepali first started to be used in writing during the 12th century AD. It is written with the Devanāgarī alphabet, which developed from the Brahmi script in the 11th century AD.
The total speakers of the Nepali Language are approximately thirty-five million whereas there are as many as eleven million people with Nepali as their mother tongue. Nepali is ranked at position number fifty-seven in the world rating for languages. Nepali Language belongs to the Indo-European, Indo-Aryan, Pahari, Eastern Pahari and Indo-Iranian group of languages. The writing script is that of Devnagri. The well renowned creative works in the Nepali Language are Tantrakhyan, Walangata Simule, Swambaraya, Ekadashi Brata and Mooldev Shashidev.

Devanāgarī alphabet for Nepali

Vowels and vowel diacritics

Consonants

Numerals

Sample text in Nepali

Transliteration
Sabai vyaktiharū janmajāt svatantra hun tī sabaikō samān adhikār ra mahatva cha. Nijaharūmā vicāraśakti ra sadvicār bhaēkōlē nijaharūlē āpastmā bhrātr̥tvakō bhāvanābāṭ vyavahār garanu parcha.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

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