The Magar languages (or Magaric languages) are a small proposed family of
Sino-Tibetan languages
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 ...
spoken in Nepal, notably including
Magar and
Kham
Kham (; ) is one of the three traditional Tibet, Tibetan regions, the others being Domey also known as Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The official name of this Tibetan region/province is Dotoe (). The original residents of ...
. ''(
Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensive catalogue of languages. It w ...
'' considers each to be a cluster of languages.) They are often classified as part of the
Mahakiranti family, and Van Driem (2001) proposes that they are close relatives of Mahakiranti.
Several neighboring languages with uncertain affiliation may prove to belong to a larger Magar family ("
Greater Magaric"). These are
Chepangic, and possibly also
Raji–Raute and
Dura languages.
Thurgood & LaPolla (2003) included
Kham
Kham (; ) is one of the three traditional Tibet, Tibetan regions, the others being Domey also known as Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The official name of this Tibetan region/province is Dotoe (). The original residents of ...
in LaPolla's speculative '
Rung
Rung may refer to:
* Rung (band), a Pakistan band
* ''Rung'' (album), an album by Hadiqa Kiyani
* Rung languages, a proposed group of Tibeto-Burman languages
* Rung, an ethnic group of people inhabiting the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand, ...
' proposal, but found the inclusion of Magar and Chepang less probable, suggesting that the evidence for even a Magar–Kham connection is far from clear-cut.
The
Kaike language is also spoken by the
Magar people
The Magars, also spelled Mangar and Mongar, are the largest ethnic group native to Nepal and Northeast India, representing 6.9% of Nepal's total population according to the 2021 Nepal census. They are one of the main Gurkha tribes.
The first ...
, but is a
Tamangic rather than a Magaric language.
Classification
Schorer (2016:293)
[Schorer, Nicolas. 2016. ''The Dura Language: Grammar and Phylogeny''. Leiden: Brill.] classifies Magaric as part of his newly proposed
Greater Magaric group.
*
Greater Magaric
**Proto-Dura
***''
Dura''
***''
Tandrange''
**Magaric: ''
Kham
Kham (; ) is one of the three traditional Tibet, Tibetan regions, the others being Domey also known as Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The official name of this Tibetan region/province is Dotoe (). The original residents of ...
'', ''
Magar''
**Chepangic-Raji
***
Chepangic: ''
Chepang'', ''
Bhujel
Bhujel are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group now living in Nepal, India, and Bhutan. They are scattered in several districts, mostly in Tanahu and Syangja. The inhabitants living near the Bhuji Khola river called Bhujel. Bhujel are divided into four ...
''
***
Raji-Raute: ''
Raji'', ''
Raute'', ''
Rawat''
References
Bibliography
* George van Driem (2001) ''Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region.'' Brill.
* Thurgood, Graham (2003) "A subgrouping of the Sino-Tibetan languages: The interaction between language contact, change, and inheritance." In G. Thurgood and R. LaPolla, eds., ''The Sino-Tibetan languages,'' pp 14–17. London: Routledge.
{{Languages of Nepal
*