Magar 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. It is not unusual for groups with their own language to feel that the "mother-tongue" is an essential part of their 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.

Geographical distribution

Western Magar

Western Magar (dialects: Palpa and Syangja) is spoken in the following districts of Nepal (Ethnologue).

• Lumbini Province: Palpa District
• Gandaki Province: Syangja District, and a small part of the Tanahun District (west of the Bagmati River)
• Small border area in Gandaki Province: Parbat District
• Scattered throughout Karnali Province: especially in Surkhet District, Jajarkot District, and Dailekh District

Eastern Magar

Eastern Magar (dialects: Gorkha, Nawalparasi, and Tanahu) is spoken in the following districts of Nepal (Ethnologue).

• Zone 1: central mountains of Nepal east of the Bagmati River
  • Gandaki Province: Tanahun District and southern Gorkha District
  • Lumbini Province: Palpa District Kapilvastu District and Nawalparasi District
  • Small border area in Bagmati Province: Dhading District
• Zone 2: eastern Nepal
  • Sindhuli District, Bagmati Province
  • Okhaldhunga District, Koshi Province
  • Udayapur District, Koshi Province
  • Scattered communities in central Koshi Province, Dhankuta District, Bhojpur and southern Koshi Province, Ilam District, Jhapa District
  • Southern Bhutan

India

• Sikkim (Magar language is one of the official languages)
• Darjeeling district and Kalimpong district of West Bengal
• Golaghat district, Sonitpur district and Tinsukia district districts of Assam
• Some parts of Manipur