Jumli or Jumli Khas is an

Indo-Aryan language The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated in India, Pa ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

closely related to Nepali. It is primarily spoken in the

Karnali Province Karnali Province ( ne, कर्णाली प्रदेश) is one of the seven federal provinces of Nepal formed by the new constitution which was adopted on 20 September 2015. The total area of the province is covering 18.97% of the cou ...

of Nepal. The language is occasionally referred to as a dialect of Nepali language however Government of Nepal considers Jumli as a different language and the 2011 Nepal census put the number of native speakers at 851. The Khas language is known as the parent language of

Nepali language Nepali (; , ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Himalayas region of South Asia. It is the official, and most widely spoken, language of Nepal, where it also serves as a '' lingua franca''. Nepali has official status in the Indian st ...

Dialects

* Asi Darali, spoken in 80 Dara, 500 Dara and Sinja Dara of

Jumla district Jumla District ( ne, जुम्ला जिल्ला), is one of the ten districts of the Karnali province of Nepal. This district has Jumla as its headquarters, an area of ; it had populations of 89,427 and 108,921, respectively, in th ...

. * Tribikoti, spoken in 1420 Dara of Jumla district and

Dolpa District Dolpa District ( ne, डोल्पा जिल्ला), is a district, located in Karnali Province of Nepal, It is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal and one of ten district of Karnali. The district, with Dunai as its district h ...

. * Rasakoti, spoken in

Kalikot District Kalikot District ( ne, कालीकोट जिल्ला ), a part of Karnali Province, Karnali province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Manma as its district headquarters, covers an area of , had a popul ...

. * Muhu, spoken in

Mugu District Mugu District ( ne, मुगु जिल्ला ), a part of Karnali Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Gamgadhi as its district headquarters, covers an area of and had a population (2011) of 55,286 ...

and

Humla District Humla District ( ne, हुम्ला जिल्ला), a part of Karnali Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Simikot as its district headquarters, covers an area of and has population of 50,858 a ...

Script

Jumli Khas language uses the

Devanagari Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the ...

script.

History

Khas language is considered to be the parent language of Nepali. The language is considered to developed in

Sinja Valley The Sinja Valley is located in the Jumla District in Karnali Province, of Nepal. The valley was the ancient capital city of the Khasa Kingdom and is considered a historically significant place. The valley is also considered as the birthplace of ...

Karnali province Karnali Province ( ne, कर्णाली प्रदेश) is one of the seven federal provinces of Nepal formed by the new constitution which was adopted on 20 September 2015. The total area of the province is covering 18.97% of the cou ...

2017 Proposed Phonology

On 17 August 2017, a draft regarding 'Jumli Khas language writing style' was proposed. The draft proposed 29 consonants and 6 vowels for writing the language. According to Ramanand Acharya, a linguist and editor of the Jumli Khas dictionary, the proposed draft was prepared based on the Khas language and colloquial language and vernacular spoken in the then Karnali Khas Kingdom. However, on 15 August 2022, the Language Commission of Nepal finalized a phonology with 24 vowels and 41 consonant characters.

Vowels

Unlike Nepali, Jumli Khas only have 6 oral vowels.

Consonants

The standard record regarding the grammar and vocabulary was not collected and standardized as of 2022. On 15 August 2022, at the initiative of the local government, the Language Commission started the process of documenting and archiving the language. According to proposal, 24 vowels and 41 consonant characters were finalized for developing writing system of the language.

Present status

In 2020, twenty-eight schools in Tatopani Rural Municipality of

Jumla District Jumla District ( ne, जुम्ला जिल्ला), is one of the ten districts of the Karnali province of Nepal. This district has Jumla as its headquarters, an area of ; it had populations of 89,427 and 108,921, respectively, in th ...

started teaching in Jumli Khas language.

Dictionary

In 2008, Ramanand Acharya started compiling the first ever Jumli Khas Dictionary titled ''Khasiya Akhar''. ''Khas'' means

Khas people Khas people (; ne, खस) popularly known as Khas Arya are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the Himalayan region of South Asia, what is now present-day Nepal, Indian states of Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Sikkim. Historica ...

and ''Aakhar'' means word or a letter. As of 2019, he had collected around 25 thousands words. The collection process has been at a slow rate due to lack of funding. The

government allocated funds for the process in the budget of the fiscal year 2077/2078 BS (2020/2021).

References

{{Languages of Nepal Indo-Aryan languages Languages of Nepal