Classical Newar (Modern: पुलां भाय्, Classical: पुलाङ्गु नेपाल भाय्), also known as Old Newar or Classical Nepal Bhasa, is the pre-1850 literary form of
Nepal Bhasa
Newar (), or Newari and known officially in Nepal as Nepal Bhasa, is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Newar people, the indigenous inhabitants of Nepal Mandala, which consists of the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding regions in Nep ...
. It is an important source language for historians and linguists. The classical Newari language has also been considered a hybrid in which an extensive Sanskrit
superstrate
In linguistics, a stratum (Latin for "layer") or strate is a language that influences or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum or substrate is a language that has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum or sup ...
was grafted on to the Tibeto-Burman base.
Ancient era
The earliest known (dated) document in Nepal Bhasa is called "The Palmleaf from Uku Bahal" which dates back to 1114 AD (235 NS).
new, छीन ढाको तृसंघष परिभोग। छु पुलेंग कीत्य बिपार वस्त्र बिवु मिखा तिवु मदुगुन छु सात दुगुनव ल्है।
''chīna ḍhākō tr̥saṃghaṣa paribhōga, chu pulēṃga kītya bipāra vastra bivu mikhā tivu maduguna chu sāta dugunava lhai.''
which is a general discussion of business transactions. This document dates from the
Licchavi period. Hence, it can be inferred that although the official language of the period was Sanskrit, ''Nepal Bhasa'' was already in use.
Medieval era
The language continued growing in the Medieval period, and enjoyed royal patronage. Noted royal writers include
Mahindra Malla
Mahindra may refer to:
Business
* Mahindra & Mahindra, an Indian multinational car manufacturing corporation
** Mahindra Truck and Bus Division, an Indian commercial vehicle manufacturer owned by Mahindra & Mahindra
* Mahindra Group
*Kotak Mahind ...
,
Siddhinarsingh Malla,
Jagatprakash Malla etc. An example of the language used in that period is provided by lines of Mooldevshashidev written by Jagatprakash Malla
[Mooldevshashidev by Jagatprakash Malla, edited by Saraswati Tuladhar]
:धु छेगुकि पाछाव वाहान
:तिलहित बिया हिङ लाहाति थाय थायस
()
which is a description of
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hin ...
, and the use of a tiger skin as a seat for Shiva.
The language replaced
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...
as the administrative language during this period.
History
This language was the official language of Nepal from
Licchavi era to
Malla era of Nepal.
ISO
Classical Nepal Bhasa was introduced in ISO 639-2 code list in 2004.
References
{{Newar
Newar
Newar language
Languages attested from the 12th century