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, Maithili, Bengali, Rajbanshi and Bhojpuri. The lexicon of certain Tharu households is indicative of an archaic, ' indigenous' substratum, potentially predating both Sino-Tibetan 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 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 are mutually-intelligible Tharu variants spoken west of the Gandaki River, 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 and in the Indian states of Uttrakahand and

. It sounds similar to Western Hindi 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 Gandaki River, in and around the Chitwan Valley. Certain Chitwania variants appear to have considerable lexical similarities with Manchad, a Sino-Tibetan language.

Eastern Tharu languages

Kochila Tharu 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 (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 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 sub-metropolitan city of Dang district.

Geographical distribution

Nepal

In Nepal Tharu languages are spoken throughout the Terai region from Mechi river in the east to Mahakali river 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, Morang District, Sunsari District and Udayapur District * Madhesh Province: Parsa District, Bara District, Rautahat District, Sarlahi District, Mahottari District,

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 *

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, Makwanpur District, Sindhuli District 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 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 (

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: Banke District, Bardiya District, Dang District, Kapilvastu District, Parasi District and Rupandehi District * Karnali Province: Surkhet District * Sudurpaschim Province: Kailali District and Kanchanpur District 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 it is spoken in the district of Udham Singh Nagar. In

it is spoken in East Champaran and West Champaran districts. In Uttar Pradesh it is spoken in Lakhimpur Kheri, Balrampur, Shravasti,

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