The Tharu ( Tharu: थारु, ) or Tharuhat () languages are any of the

Indo-Aryan languages The Indo-Aryan languages, or sometimes Indic languages, are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. As of 2024, there are more than 1.5 billion speakers, primarily concentrated east ...

spoken by the

Tharu people The Tharu people are an ethnic group living in the Terai in southern Nepal and northern India. They speak Tharu languages. They are recognized as an official ethnicity by the Government of Nepal. In the Indian Terai, they live foremost in Uttara ...

of the

Terai The Terai or Tarai is a lowland region in parts of southern Nepal and northern India that lies to the south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Sivalik Hills and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This lowland belt is characterised by ...

region in Nepal, and neighboring regions of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

and

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

in India. Tharu languages are spoken in the Tharu community. These languages are similar to other neighboring languages. Tharu language is one of the major languages spoken in

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

. Although their own precise classification within Indo-Aryan remains uncertain, Tharu languages have superficial similarities with neighbouring languages such as Kumaoni,

Awadhi Awadhi may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Awadh or Oudh region in Uttar Pradesh, northern India ** Awadhi people, ethnic group of India *** Awadhi language Awadhi, also known as Audhi, is an Indo-Aryan language belonging ...

, Maithili,

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

, Rajbanshi and

Bhojpuri Bhojpuri may refer to: * Bhojpuri language, an Indo-Aryan language of India and Nepal * Bhojpuri grammar, grammatical rules of the language * Bhojpuri nouns, nouns of the language * Bhojpuri people, people who speak the language * Bhojpuri region ...

. The lexicon of certain Tharu households is indicative of an archaic, '

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

' substratum, potentially predating both

Sino-Tibetan Sino-Tibetan (also referred to as Trans-Himalayan) is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. Around 1.4 billion people speak a Sino-Tibetan language. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 ...

or Indo-Aryan settlement. Tharu languages appear to be transitional within the context of Indo-Aryan.

Languages and dialects

Tharu communities in different parts of Nepal and India do not share the same language like the other ethnic groups as it varies between the eastern, central and western Terai. There are various Tharu languages spoken by the several

endogamous Endogamy is the cultural practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting any from outside of the group or belief structure as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relatio ...

subgroups of Tharu that are scattered over most of the Terai region.

Lexical similarity In linguistics, lexical similarity is a measure of the degree to which the word sets of two given languages are similar. A lexical similarity of 1 (or 100%) would mean a total overlap between vocabularies, whereas 0 means there are no common words. ...

between various Tharu languages varies between 81% and 51% depending upon the Tharu language.

Western Tharu languages

Dangaura and

Kathariya Tharu Kathariya Tharu also known as Kathoriya Tharu is one of the Indo Aryan languages spoken by the Tharu people of Nepal and India. It is a language spoken in the Sudurpashchim Province of Nepal, particularly in the Kailali District, including areas ...

are mutually-intelligible Tharu variants spoken west of the

Gandaki River The Gandaki River, also known as the Narayani and Gandak, is one of the major rivers in Nepal and a left-bank tributary of the Ganges in India. Its total catchment area is , most of it in Nepal. In the Nepal Himalayas, the Gandaki is notable f ...

, by approximately 1.3 million people. Furthermore, an additional variant of Tharu, known as Sonha, is largely mutually intelligible with Dangaura. Rana Tharu and Buksa are mutually-intelligible Tharu variants spoken by approximately 250,000 people west of

Karnali river Karnali may refer to: Places in Nepal * Karnali Bridge, a bridge over the Karnali River in Nepal * Karnali Highway, a vital transport link in Nepal * Karnali Province, a federal province in Nepal * Karnali River also known as Ghaghara and Sarayu, ...

and in the Indian states of Uttrakahand and

. It sounds similar to

Western Hindi The Western Hindi languages, are a branch of the Indo-Aryan language family spoken chiefly in Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, in Northwest and Central India. The Western Hindi languages evolved from Saur ...

and Awadhi. The Nepal Charter dated 18 May 2020 lists Rana Tharus as a distinct ethnic group and their language as a distinct language.

Central Tharu languages

Chitwania Tharu also known as Lalpuriya Tharu, Madhya Ksetriya Tharu or Central Tharu is spoken by approximately 250,000 speakers east of the

, in and around the Chitwan Valley. Certain Chitwania variants appear to have considerable lexical similarities with Manchad, a

language.

Eastern Tharu languages

Kochila Tharu Kochila Tharu also called Morangiya, Saptari or Saptariya Tharu, Madhya-Purbiya Tharu, and Mid-Eastern Tharu (), is a diverse group of language varieties within the Tharu group of the Indo-Aryan languages. The several names of the varieties ref ...

also called Morangiya, Saptariya Tharu, Madhya-Purbiya Tharu or Mid-Eastern Tharu is a diverse Tharu variant, spoken by approximately 250,000 people, in regions of eastern and central Nepal. Kochila Tharu communities are not found in isolation, but live in districts intermixed with speakers of other languages. “In contrast with western Terai where the Tharus are the only and dominant ethnic minority, the eastern – especially the far eastern – Terai is inhabited by several ethnic groups with very different linguistic affiliation”. Kochila has three main dialects spoken throughout mid-central and eastern Nepal which are ''Western Kochila'', ''Saptariya Kochila'' and ''Morangiya Kochila'' on the basis of their intelligibility.

Official Status

Tharu language is the fourth most commonly spoken language of Nepal accounting for 5.88% of total population of Nepal as per the 2021 census. According to The

Constitution of Nepal 2015 The Constitution of Nepal () is the present governing Constitution of Nepal. Nepal is governed according to the Constitution which came into effect on 20 September 2015, replacing the Interim Constitution of 2007. The constitution of Nepal is di ...

(2072 B.S.) all native languages spoken in Nepal are National languages of Nepal including Tharu. The Language Commission of Nepal has recommended Tharu be made an official administrative language in

Lumbini Lumbinī (, "the lovely") is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi District of Lumbini Province in Nepal. The Buddhist commentaries state that Maya Devi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama in Lumbini around 624 BCE. Gautama is bel ...

and Sudurpaschim Province. The commission has also recommended Tharu be made the additional official language in all the provinces of Nepal i.e Bagmati, Koshi, Madhesh, Gandaki and Karnali province for specific regions and purposes in the province. At local level, Tharu has official status in

Ghorahi ''Ghorahi'' (Nepali: घोराही उपमहानगरपालिका) is the largest sub-metropolitan city by area and population of Lumbini Province. The city (formerly Tribhuvannagar) lies in Lumbini Province in the Mid-Weste ...

sub-metropolitan city of Dang district.

Geographical distribution

Nepal

In Nepal Tharu languages are spoken throughout the Terai region from

Mechi river The Mechi River is a trans-boundary river flowing through Nepal and India. It is a tributary of the Mahananda River. Course The Mechi originates in the Mahabharat Range in Nepal. It flows through Nepal, forms the boundary between India and Nepal ...

in the east to

Mahakali river The Sharda River is the downstream of Kāli River (or Mahakali River) that originates in the northern Uttarakhand state of India in the Great Himalayas on the eastern slopes of Nanda Devi massif, at an elevation of in the Pithoragarh distr ...

in the west in following districts: *

Koshi Province Koshi Province () is an autonomous Provinces of Nepal, province of Nepal adopted by the Constitution of Nepal on 20 September 2015. It covers an area of , about 17.5% of the country's total area. With the industrial city of Biratnagar as its cap ...

Jhapa District Jhapa District (; ) is a district of Koshi Province in eastern Nepal named after a Rajbanshi Surjapuri language word "Jhapa", meaning "to cover" (verb). The 2021 Nepal Census, puts the total population of the district at 994,090. The total ar ...

, Morang District,

Sunsari District Sunsari District is one of 14 districts in Koshi province of eastern Nepal. The district is located in the eastern part of the Outer Terai and covers an area of . According to the 2011 Nepal census, the population was 753,328. The district head ...

and

Udayapur District Udayapur District (, is one of the 14 districts of Koshi Province in eastern Nepal. The district, with Triyuga as its district headquarters, covers an area of and in 2001 had a population of 287,689, in 2011 of 317,532, in 2021 of 342,773 Rive ...

Madhesh Province Madhesh Province () is a Provinces of Nepal, province of Nepal in the Terai region with an area of covering about 6.5% of the country's total area. It has a population of 6,126,288 as per the 2021 Nepal census, making it Nepal's most densely po ...

Parsa District Parsa District (), a part of Madhesh Province in Terai plain, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Birgunj as its district headquarters, covers an area of and has a population (2001) of 497,219. According to the lo ...

Bara District Bara District ( ) is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal, located in the western part of the Madhesh Province. The district is third richest district in Nepal after Kathmandu and Morang with 3.3% share of total GDP of Nepal and highest ...

Rautahat District Rautahat District (), a part of Madhesh Province, is one of the List of districts of Nepal, seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district headquarter is Gaur, Nepal, Gaur, including municipalities like Katahariya, Garuda, Nepal, Garuda, Chandrapur ...

Sarlahi District Sarlahi ( ; Maithili: सर्लाही), a part of Madhesh Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. According to new laws, a combination of more than two or four villages makes a municipality, which covers an area of and ...

Mahottari District Mahottari District (, ), a part of Madhesh Province, is one of the List of districts of Nepal, seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Jaleshwar as its district headquarters, covers an area of and had a population of 553,481 in 2001 ...

Siraha District Siraha District (; ), a district in Madhesh Province, is one of the List of districts of Nepal, seventy-seven districts of Nepal. It is situated in the Terai#Outer Terai, Terai belt of Nepal. The district, with Siraha as its district headquarters ...

and

Saptari District Saptari (), is Located in the easternmost part of Madhesh Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. Its district headquarter is Rajbiraj. Saptari is an Outer Terai district. This district covers an area of and has a population ...

Bagmati Province Bagmati Province (, ''Bāgmatī pradēśa'') is one of the seven Provinces of Nepal, provinces of Nepal established by the constitution of Nepal. Bagmati is Nepal's second-most populous province and fifth largest province by area. It is bordered ...

Chitwan District Chitwan District (, , ) is one of seventy-seven districts of Nepal, and takes up the southwestern corner of Bagmati Province. Bharatpur, largest city of Nepal after Kathmandu, is its administrative centre. It covers , and in 2011 had a popul ...

Makwanpur District Makwanpur District (; ), in Bagmati Province, earlier a part of Narayani Zone, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The city of Hetauda serves as the district headquarters and also as the provincial headquarters. The district covers a ...

Sindhuli District Sindhuli District (), a part of the Bagmati Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal, a landlocked country located in South Asia. The district, with Sindhulimadhi Kamalamai as its headquarters, covers an area of . As per the 20 ...

and a sizeable population in

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

(

Kathmandu District Kathmandu District (; Nepal Bhasa: ये: जिल्ला) is a district located in Kathmandu Valley, Bagmati Province of Nepal. It is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal, covers an area of , and is the most densely populated dist ...

Bhaktapur District Bhaktapur District ( ; ) located in the eastern part of Kathmandu valley, is the smallest among seventy-seven districts of Nepal. It is part of Bagmati Province. Bhaktapur District Post Office is 44800. The district, with Bhaktapur as its ...

and Lalitpur District) *

Gandaki Province Gandaki Province ( ) ), is one of the seven federal provinces established by the current constitution of Nepal which was promulgated on 20 September 2015. Pokhara is the province's capital city. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region in Southw ...

: Nawalpur District and a sizeable population in

Kaski District Kaski District (, ), a part of Gandaki Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The name is disambiguated from Kaskikot, the ancient Kaski Kingdom. The district, with Pokhara as its district headquarter, covers an area of 2,01 ...

(

Pokhara Pokhara ( ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city located in central Nepal, which serves as the capital of Gandaki Province. Named the country's "capital of tourism" it is the List of cities in Nepal, second largest city after Kathmandu, with 599,5 ...

) *

Lumbini Province Lumbini Province () is a Provinces of Nepal, province in western Nepal. The country's Provinces of Nepal, third largest province in terms of area as well as List of Nepalese provinces by population, population, Lumbini is home to the World Herita ...

Banke District Banke District (; , a part of Lumbini Province, is one of the 77 districts of Nepal. The district, located in midwestern Nepal with Nepalganj as its district headquarters, covers an area of and had a population of 385,840 in 2001 and 491,313 in ...

Bardiya District Bardiya District (), one of the seventy-seven Districts of Nepal, is part of Lumbini Province of Nepal. The district, with Gulariya as its headquarters, covers an area of and according to the 2001 census the population was 382,649 in 2011 it h ...

, Dang District,

Kapilvastu District Kapilvastu District ( ), often Kapilbastu, is one of the districts of Lumbini Province, Nepal. The district, with Kapilbastu municipality as its district headquarters, covers an area of and in 2001 had a population of 481,976, which increased t ...

Parasi District Nawalparasi (West of Bardaghat Susta) district or Nawalparasi West, as known commonly ( ), also frequently referred to as just Parasi District, is a district located in Lumbini Province of Nepal. It is 1 out of 12 districts of Lumbini Province. T ...

and

Rupandehi District Rupandehi District (; ), a part of Lumbini Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal and covers an area of . The district headquarter is Bhairahawa. As per the national census 2011, the population of Rupandehi was 880,196. Etymo ...

Karnali Province Karnali Province () 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 , making it the largest province in Nepal with 18.97% of the country's ...

Surkhet District Surkhet District (, ) is a district in Karnali Province of mid-western Nepal. Surkhet is one of the ten districts of Karnali located about west of the national capital Kathmandu. The district's area is . It had 288,527 population in 2001 and 350 ...

* Sudurpaschim Province:

Kailali District Kailali District (), a part of Sudurpashchim Province in Terai plain, is one of the 77 districts of Nepal. The district, with Dhangadhi as its district headquarters, covers an area of and has a population of 911,155 (2021 census) and (775,709 ...

and

Kanchanpur District Kanchanpur District ( ), a part of Sudurpashchim Province in the Terai plain, is one of seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Bhimdatta as its district headquarters, covers an area of and had a population of 134,868 in 2001 and ...

With an increase in internal migrants and international emigration Tharu-speaking people have emerged in every district of Nepal and various countries such as the US, Japan, Qatar, UAE and Australia.

India

In India Tharu language is spoken in border side areas of Nepal. In the state of

Uttrakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the northwest, Tibet to the north, Nepal to the east, Uttar Pradesh to the south and sout ...

it is spoken in the district of

Udham Singh Nagar Udham Singh Nagar is a district of Uttarakhand state in northern India. Rudrapur, Uttarakhand, Rudrapur is the district headquarter. The district consists of nine Tehsils named Bajpur, Gadarpur, Jaspur, Kashipur, Uttarakhand, Kashipur, Khatima, ...

. In

it is spoken in

East Champaran East Champaran or Purvi Champaran is an administrative district in the Tirhut division of the state of Bihar in India. The district headquarter is located at Motihari. Prior to 1971, there was a single Champaran District. On 1 December 1971, ...

and

West Champaran West Champaran is an administrative district in the state of Bihar in India, located just west of Birgunj. It is the largest district in Bihar with an area of 5,228 km2(2,019sq mi). It is a part of Tirhut Division. The district headquart ...

districts. In Uttar Pradesh it is spoken in

Lakhimpur Kheri Lakhimpur Kheri district is the largest Districts of Uttar Pradesh, district in Uttar Pradesh, India, on the border with Nepal. Its administrative capital is the city of Lakhimpur, Uttar Pradesh, Lakhimpur. Lakhimpur Kheri district is a part o ...

Balrampur Balrampur is a town and a municipal board in Balrampur district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is situated on the bank of river Rapti and is the district headquarters of Balrampur district. History Balrampur town is in close vici ...

Shravasti Shravasti (, ; ) is a town in Shravasti district in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was the capital of the ancient Indian kingdom of Kosala which was ruled by Lava and the place where the Buddha lived most after his enlightenment. It is n ...

Gorakhpur Gorakhpur is a city in the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, along the banks of the West Rapti River, Rapti river in the Purvanchal , Purvanchal region. It is situated 272 kilometres east of ...

, Basti,

Bahraich Bahraich is a city and a municipal board in Bahraich district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Located on the Saryu River, a tributary of the Ghaghara river, Bahraich is north-east of Lucknow, the state capital. The districts of B ...

and Gonda districts.

Phonology

The following consists mostly of the Daungara and Rana dialects:

Consonants

* can be heard as a palatal when preceding a palatal affricate. * /, / may be in free variation with trill sounds in the Rana dialect. * Palato-alveolar affricate sounds /, , , / are heard as alveolar affricate sounds , , in the Rana dialect.

Vowels

* Nasalization also occurs as /, , , , , /. * Vowels /, , , / are heard as , , when in lax form. * is heard as when preceding or following velar or glottal consonants. * can be heard as when following or as when following .

References

{{Uttarakhand Languages of Nepal Bihari languages Endangered languages of India Languages of Bagmati Province Languages of Koshi Province Languages of Lumbini Province Languages of Madhesh Province Languages of Sudurpashchim Province Languages of Gandaki Province Languages of Karnali Province Tharu culture Languages written in Devanagari Languages of Uttarakhand Languages of Uttar Pradesh Languages of Bihar