Magar language

{{Short description|Sino-Tibetan language of Nepal, Bhutan and India}}

{{Distinguish|text=the Magyar language, known in English as Hungarian}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Magar

| altname =

| nativename = मगर ढुट‎ (magar ḍhuṭ)

| states = Nepal, India

| region = Nepal; significant communities in Bhutan; Sikkim; Assam and Darjeeling district of India

| ethnicity = {{sigfig|2.000000|2}} million Magar (2021 census of Nepal)

| speakers = {{sigfig|810,000|2}}

| date = 2001–2006

| ref = e27

| familycolor = Sino-Tibetan

| fam2 = Tibeto-Burman

| fam3 = Himalayish

| fam4 = Mahakiranti

| fam5 = Magaric

| script = Akkha script (official), Devanagari, Latin script

| nation = {{flag|India}}

• Sikkim (additional){{cite web|url=http://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/NCLM50thReport.pdf |page=109 |title=50th Report of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities in India |date=16 July 2014 |access-date=6 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102211909/http://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/NCLM50thReport.pdf|archive-date=2 January 2018|url-status=dead}}

| lc1 = mgp

| ld1 = Eastern Magar

| lc2 = mrd

| ld2 = Western Magar

| glotto = maga1261

| glottorefname = Magar

| notice = IPA

}}

Magar Dhut ({{langx|ne|मगर ढुट}}, {{IPA|ne|ɖʱuʈ|lang}}) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken mainly in Nepal, southern Bhutan, and in Darjeeling, Assam and Sikkim, India, by the Magar people. It is divided into two groups (Eastern and Western) and further dialect divisions give distinct tribal identity.{{cite web|title=The Eastern Magar of Nepal|url=http://www.global12project.com/2004/profiles/p_code2/974.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070318061151/http://www.global12project.com/2004/profiles/p_code2/974.html|archive-date=2007-03-18|url-status=usurped|access-date=2007-09-12}} In Nepal 810,000 people speak the language.

While the government of Nepal developed Magar language curricula, as provisioned by the constitution, the teaching materials have never successfully reached Magar schools, where most school instruction is in the Nepali language.{{cite web |url=http://www.ogmios.org/204.htm |title=Mother Tongue Education for Social Inclusion and Conflict Resolution |author=B. K. Rana |publisher=Foundation for Endangered Languages |access-date=2007-09-12 |work=Appeals, News and Views from Endangered Communities |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030216230828/http://www.ogmios.org/204.htm |archive-date=2003-02-16 }} It is not unusual for groups with their own language to feel that the "mother-tongue" is an essential part of identity.

The Dhut Magar language is sometimes lumped with the Magar Kham language spoken further west in Bheri, Dhaulagiri, and Rapti zones. Although the two languages share many common words, they have major structural differences and are not mutually intelligible.{{cite journal | url=http://www.thlib.org/static/reprints/contributions/CNAS_20_02_02.pdf | title=The Tibeto-Burman Languages of Nepal - A General Survey | first=Tej R. | last=Kansakar | journal=Contributions to Nepalese Studies | volume=20 | issue=2 | pages=165–173 | date=July 1993 | access-date=7 December 2020 }}