Introduction

Introduction

Magar is one of the numerous Tibeto-Burman languages spoken in Nepal. According to the 2011 Population Census figures, Magar is the third largest ethnic group in this country. Nevertheless, there has been relatively little research done, and even less material produced for Magar language documentation so far. One of the reasons lies probably in the fact that there is a huge diversity of dialects in the language. This of course is not peculiar to Magar alone but a common phenomenon among the minority languages of Nepal. However, considering the number and complexity of Magar dialects that come with the sizable population and with that being scattered in a large geographical area, the task can be daunting to anyone who wants to work with the Magar language.

 

In an attempt to draw a dialect map of Magar, we may call versions spoken east of Kathmandu Eastern Magar (a fairly homogenous dialect group according to a research carried out by LINSUN: Sociolinguistic Survey of Eastern Magar in Nepal, TU and SIL International 2013), and those spoken west of Kathmandu might be lumped together as Western Magar. In this latter group however, there is a great diversity of sub-dialects.

 

The short glossary published here has been compiled in one sub-dialect of Western Magar. This dialect might be further specified as a central one – at least geographically. Calling it central does not hint at this version having any prestigious status among the many other Magar dialect variations. (A standard or literary form of Magar has not emerged yet.) The term refers simply to the geographical location of the area where it is spoken in the hilly region of Nawalparasi District. This area is east and south of some other parts of the Baarha Magar heart-land in West Nepal, such as Palpa, Syangja, Tanahu (not to mention hinterlands further west with Magar population, e.g. Surkhet); and west of Gorkha and those eastern districts where Magar is spoken, such as Sarlahi, Bhojpur, Dhankuta, Morang etc.

 

The data published here has been elicited from speakers from three different villages in the hilly region of Nawalparasi: Bandipur, Dedgaun and Arkhala. This small step of starting a glossary in one of the many Magar dialects is aimed at documenting and preserving the Magar language which is one of the endangered languages of Nepal. This initial work may be elaborated later by adding other dialect variations to it.

 

Glosses have been added in three other languages: Nepali, English and Hungarian (also called Magyar). Hungarian/Magyar is the researcher’s mother-tongue who came to Nepal to meet and, in some small ways, to serve her distant “relatives”. (The quest for Hungarian ancestors in South Asia started a long time ago, most prominently pursued by a 19th century Hungarian linguist Sándor Kőrösi Csoma. The topic has also been a point of interest for Magar scholars as reflected in Harsha Bahadur Buda Magar’s book Magar and Magyar: In Search of Ancestors – In the Context of Origin, Language and Script, 1996.)

 

The spelling of Magar entries reflects the rules as specified in the Proposed Writing Guide for the Magar Language published by MTCN (Mother Tongue Centre Nepal) in July 2016.

 

 

-Andrea Csépe, July 2017