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Magar
Dhut, मगर भाषा
Native to	Nepal
Ethnicity	1.9 million Magar people and others who claim to be Magar (2011 census)
Native speakers	770,116 (2001)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Magaric Magar
Dialects	Tanahu Syangja
Official status
Official language in	Nepal Sikkim, India
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: mgp – Eastern Magar mrd – Western Magar
Glottolog	maga1261

Magar (Nepali: मगर भाषा Dhut magar bhasa) is a language spoken mainly in West-Central Nepal, Southern Bhutan, Darjeeling, India, and Sikkim, India, by the Magar people. Magar belongs to the Bodic branch of the Tibeto-Burman language family, and contains two dialects: Tanahu, the western branch of Magar, and Syangja, an eastern branch of Magar. In 2001, it was estimated that there were approximately 770,116 speakers of the language. Even with this large number of speakers, the language is still considered endangered at level 6b (threatened) since the number of children using and learning the language is rapidly declining.

While the government of Nepal developed Magar language curricula, as provisioned by constitution, the teaching materials have never successfully reached Magar schools, where most school instruction is in Nepali language. It's not unusual for groups with their own language to feel that the "mother-tongue" is an essential part of identity. Dhut Magar language is sometimes lumped with Kham magar language spoken further west in Bheri, Dhaulagiri, Karnali and Rapti zones. Although the two languages have a large number of words in common, 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 Zone: Palpa District
• Gandaki Zone: Syangja District, and Tanahu District
• Small border area in Dhawalagiri Zone: Parbat District
• Scattered throughout Bheri Zone: especially in Surkhet District, Jajarkot District, and Dailekh District
• Magars are also live in the district named parbat which is located in the western part of Nepal.

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 Zone: Tanahu District and southern Gorkha District
  • Lumbini Zone: Palpa District and Nawalparasi District
  • Small border area in Bagmati Zone: Dhading District
• Zone 2: eastern Nepal
  • Sindhuli District, Janakpur Zone
  • Okhaldhunga District, Sagarmatha Zone
  • Scattered communities in central Kosi Zone and southern Mechi Zone

Phonology

Consonants

The Magar language contains 37 consonants, the majority of which are detailed in the table below. Magar features 6 different places of articulation, and 5 difference manners of articulation. (For places of articulation in the table below, voiced consonants appear in the right sub-column and their voiceless counterparts appear in the left sub-column.) Magar also contains 4 affricate consonants: [ t͡z ],  [ t͡zʰ],  [d͡z], [d͡zʰ]. Around half of the consonants contain a murmured-voice counterpart, and several consonants include aspirated or dental counterparts.

Consonant Phonemes

	Bilabial		Dental		Alveolar		Palatal		Velar		Glottal
Stop	p pʰ	b b̤	t̪ t̪ʰ	d̪ʰ d̪	t tʰ	d d̤			k kʰ	ɡ g̤	ʔ
Nasal		m m̤				n n̤				ŋ ŋ̤
Fricative					s						h h̤
Approximant					ɹ ɹ̤			j j̤		w w̤
Lateral Approximant					l l̤

All 37 consonants are found in the Tanahu dialect of Magar, while the Syangja dialect of Magar does not contain the dental stops [t̪ ], [t̪ʰ], [d̪ʰ], [d̪]. Within Tanahu, the words containing [t̪ ], [t̪ʰ], [d̪ʰ], [d̪] are borrowed from the Nepali language.

Vowels

The Magar language contains 10 vowels. This includes 4 dipthongs [ei] [oi] [au] [eu], and 6 monopthongs detailed in the table below.

Vowel Phonemes

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Close-mid	e		o
Open-mid			ʌ
Low		a

Magar's six-vowel system /i e ʌ u o a/ is similar to that of Nepali, likely as a result of language contact with Nepali. Additionally, the dipthong [eu] is found primarily in words borrowed from the Nepali language.

Syllable Structure

Magar supports the syllable template (O)(A)(G)V(G)(C), where O represents an obstruent, A represents an approximant, and G represents a glide. Within Magar the simplest allowable syllable structure is V, and the most common syllable structure is CV where C is either an obstruent or approximant.

Syllable structure in Magar is organized according to the sonority hierarchy, with more sonorant consonants such as glides located closer to the vowel nucleus of the syllable. In syllables with complex onsets, the first consonant is usually an obstruent. All consonants are allowed in simple onsets, with the exception of /r/ which appears in consonant clusters of (O)(R)(G). While native Magar codas typically consist of at most a single consonant, words borrowed from the Nepali language may include consonant clusters (e.g. sʌrk ''cobbler'). Codas in Magar also exclude [h]. Furthermore, the consonants [b], [b̤], [d], [d̤], [g], [g̤], [ t͡z ],  [ t͡zʰ],  [d͡z], and [d͡zʰ] only appear in the codas of words borrowed from the Nepali language, and not in the codas of native Magar words.

Syllable Pattern Examples

Template	Instantiation	Translation
CV	/jʌ.nʌ/	'people'
CCV	/chu/	'touch'
CVCC	/sʌrk/	'cobbler'
CCVC	/pruŋ/	'bud'
CCCVC	/khyo.mo/	'emerge'

Stress and Tone

Within Magar, stress is predictable and typically falls on the root morpheme of the word. If the root consists of multiple syllables, then the stress will fall on the last syllable, e.g. the stressed syllable is "dam" in the morpheme / lu.kuj.'dam/ ('owl'). Magar originally did not make use of tone, but there is ongoing development of two distinct registers: a clear register, and a murmured register resulting from borrowed elements of the Nepali language.

Morphology

Magar is classified as an agglutinative language and makes use of prefixes, circumfixes, and suffixes. Verbs in Magar also make use of circumfixes. Compared to other Himalayish languages, Magar contains more suffixes relative to prefixes.

Inflectional Affixes

Affixes in Magar are primarily inflectional. The table below lists major uses of affixation and examples, including number, tense, classifier, aspect, and mood.

Affixation and Function	Example(s)
prefix mi- Indicates inalienable posession.	mi-mik POSS-eye 'my eye'
suffix -ko Indicate plural nouns.	n̤is two rokotyak-ko frog-PL n̤is rokotyak-ko two frog-PL 'two frogs'
suffix -jʌnʌ Classifier referring to the class of humans.	lokanda-ko groomsman-PL som-jʌnʌ three-H.NUM lokanda-ko som-jʌnʌ groomsman-PL three-H.NUM 'three groomsmen'
suffix -wotʌ (in Tanahu) suffix -gotʌ (in Syangja) Classifier referring to the class of non-humans.	buli-gotʌ four-N.H.NUM la-ke take-NOM buli-gotʌ la-ke four-N.H.NUM take-NOM 'I'll take four (items)'
suffix -a Past tense marker. In Magar, the non-past tense is unmarked.	ja-ja child-child si-a die-PST ja-ja si-a child-child die-PST 'The child died.'
le and suffix -le Imperfective aspect marker. In Magar, the perfective aspect is unmarked.	ho-se-e D.DEM-DEF-ERG mis-ke sleep-NOM le IMPF ho-se-e mis-ke le D.DEM-DEF-ERG sleep-NOM IMPF 'He has yet to sleep.' ho-se-e D.DEM-DEF-ERG mis-le sleep-IMPF ho-se-e mis-le D.DEM-DEF-ERG sleep-IMPF 'He sleeps.'
circumfix a-Σ-e Irrealis mood marker, used to describe situations that are potential and speculative rather than truthful. In contrast, the realis mood, which is used to express reality, is unmarked.	Realis mood: ram Ram im-aŋ house-LOC le COP ram im-aŋ le Ram house-LOC COP 'Ram is in the house.' Irrealis mood: ram Ram im-aŋ house-LOC a-ule-e IRR-COP-IRR ram im-aŋ a-ule-e Ram house-LOC IRR-COP-IRR 'Ram may be in the house'
prefix -tʌ Optative mood marker, used to describe the speaker's hope for a situation to be realized. This is only present in the Syangha dialect of Magar.	ŋa-o IS-GEN minam new im house a-tʌ-chan̤-e IRR-OPT-become-IRR ŋa-o minam im a-tʌ-chan̤-e IS-GEN new house IRR-OPT-become-IRR 'May I have a new house.'
suffix -ni (in Tanahu) suffix -nis (in Synagja) Honorific imperative mood marker, used to signify a command or request to someone in a position of higher status.	sita Sita ra-naŋ come-SIM j̤or-ni hello-IMP.HON sita ra-naŋ j̤or-ni Sita come-SIM hello-IMP.HON 'When Sita is coming, say hello!'
suffix -iŋ Inclusive hortative mood marker, used to make a polite suggestion to the effect of "let us".	ga-iŋ drink-HORT ga-iŋ drink-HORT 'Let us drink!'

Derivational Affixes

Nominalization

Nominalization is present within Magar verbs in the form of derivational affixes. There are 3 nominalizing suffixes: -cyo ~ cʌ, -ke, and -mʌ.

Nominalization Examples in Magar

Nominalization Example (nominalized verb in bold)	Additional Notes
rup-cyo-ko sew-NOM-PL 'tailors'	-cyo is used within the Tanahu dialect of Magar to derive free-standing agent and patient nominals from verbs.
sya-cʌ dance-NOM 'dancer'	-cʌ is used within the Synagja dialect of Magar where -cyo is used within Tanahu .
khus-ke thieve-NOM 'theft'	-ke is used to derive actions and events from verbs
l̤iŋ-mʌ sing-NOM 'singing'	-mʌ is less commonly used as a nominalizer than -cyo ~ cʌ and -kʌ. It is primarily used in the derivation of gerunds.

Reduplication

In Magar, reduplication most commonly has an intensifying effect, with some examples given in the table below.

Reduplication Examples in Magar

Reduplication Example	Reduplication Function
phal-phal fruit-fruit ‘lots of fruit’	conveys plurality and multiplicity
ja-ja child-child 'very little children'	diminutive effect
mit-mit bondfriend-bondfriend 'very close friends'	increases endearment

In some instances, reduplication has a derivational effect. For example, /siŋgar/ is a verb meaning 'adorn', and the reduplicated form /siŋgar-paŋgar/ is the noun meaning 'adornment'.

Compounding

Compounding is present within nouns in Magar. Nouns can be combined with other nouns, quantifiers, or verbs, as shown in the table below.

Compounding Examples in Magar

Noun Compounding Type	Example
Noun combined with another noun	nam-khan-du 'sky + heat + insect' 'cicada'
Noun combined with verb	nam-su 'sky-blow' 'wind'
Noun combined with quantifier	kat-yak 'one + day' once upon a time'

Case

Magar makes use of an ergative/absolutive case system. There are four grammatical case clitics present in both dialects of Magar: absolutive, ergative, dative, and genitive.

Absolutive Case

In Magar, the absolutive case is zero-marked. The absolutive case is used to indicate the object of a transitive verb or the subject in an intransitive clause.

mipruŋ-∅

Mirpung-ABS

mis-a

sleep-PST

mipruŋ-∅ mis-a

Mirpung-ABS sleep-PST

'Miprung slept' (Example marking the object of a transitive verb)

mipruŋ-e

Mirpung-ERG

cho-∅

rice.meal-ABS

mipruŋ-e cho-∅

Mirpung-ERG rice.meal-ABS

'Miprung ate a meal' (Example marking the subject of an intransitive clause)

Ergative Case

The ergative case, which is used to identify the subject of a transitive verb, is marked with the suffix -e. If the ergative case-marked directly follows the vowels /e/, /a/, or /ʌ/, it takes on the allomorph -i. The following examples from the Syangja dialect of Magar shows the ergative case over all tense-aspect combinations:

hari-e

Hari-ERG

beskaŋ

bread

jya-a

eat-PST

hari-e beskaŋ jya-a

Hari-ERG bread eat-PST

'Hari ate the bread.'

hari-e

Hari-ERG

beskaŋ

bread

jya-mʌ-le-a

eat-NOM-IMPF-PST

hari-e beskaŋ jya-mʌ-le-a

Hari-ERG bread eat-NOM-IMPF-PST

'Hari was eating bread.'

hari-e

Hari-ERG

beskaŋ

bread

jya-le

eat-IMPF

hari-e beskaŋ jya-le

Hari-ERG bread eat-IMPF

'Hari eats bread.'

hari-e

Hari-ERG

beskaŋ

bread

jya-mʌ-le

eat-NOM-IMPF

hari-e beskaŋ jya-mʌ-le

Hari-ERG bread eat-NOM-IMPF

'Hari is eating bread.'

Dative Case

The dative case, which is used to indicate the noun to which an object is given, is marked with the suffix -ke. The following examples show the dative case markers occuring in clauses with ditransitive verbs:

ram-e

Ram-ERG

ŋa-o

IS_GEN

wa-ke

chicken-DAT

charo

chicken.food

kas-aŋ

feed

ram-e ŋa-o wa-ke charo kas-aŋ

Ram-ERG IS_GEN chicken-DAT chicken.food feed

'Ram fed my chicken chicken feed.'

ŋa-e

IS-ERG

chiniŋ

today

naŋ-ko-ke

2-P-DAT

hi

what

ahan

story

set-le-aŋ

tell-IMPF-1PRO

ŋa-e chiniŋ naŋ-ko-ke hi ahan set-le-aŋ

IS-ERG today 2-P-DAT what story tell-IMPF-1PRO

'Today, what story will I tell you?'

Genitive Case

The genitive case indicates the relationship of possession. In the singular case, the genitive case is marked with the suffix -o as in the following example:

cyu-o

dog-GEN

mi-talu

POSS-head

sisi-aŋ

bottle-LOC

hah̤-a

lock-PST

cyu-o mi-talu sisi-aŋ hah̤-a

dog-GEN POSS-head bottle-LOC lock-PST

'The dog's head got stuck in the bottle.' In the plural case, the genitive case is marked with the suffix -uŋ, as shown in the following example:

rokotyak-ko-uŋ

frog-PL-GEN

mi-ja-ko

POSS-child-PL

d̤ari

also

thuprai

many

ra-a

come-PST

rokotyak-ko-uŋ mi-ja-ko d̤ari thuprai ra-a

frog-PL-GEN POSS-child-PL also many come-PST

'The frogs' many children also came'

Syntax

Basic Word Order

Magar makes use of a subject-object-verb word order, as shown in the example below. Since the verb follows the object, the verb phrase is head-final in Magar.

S

ram-ke

Ram

O

ŋ̤et-ke

cow

V

kas-ak-a

feed

S O V

ram-ke ŋ̤et-ke kas-ak-a

Ram cow feed

“Ram feed the cow”

Headedness

For head and complement pairs, Magar makes use of both head-initial and head-final orders in the language, though head-final is used more often as shown in the following examples:

TODO remove mention of head final and head initial

say possesee comes before possessors

Possessee and Possessor Complement Pairs

When expressing possession in Magar, the item being possessed (the head) has a head-final relationship with the possessor (the complement).

Complement

ruma-o

Ruma-GEN

Head

mi-ja

POSS-child

Complement Head

ruma-o mi-ja

Ruma-GEN POSS-child

"Ruma's child"

Adposition and Noun Phrase Complement Pairs

In Magar, the adposition (head) has a head-final relationship with the noun phrase (complement).

Complement

d̤od̤ara

log

Head

d̤em-aŋ

up-locative

Complement Head

d̤od̤ara d̤em-aŋ

log up-locative

"atop the log"

Determiner and Noun Phrase Complement Pairs

In Magar, the determiner (head) has a head-initial relationship with a noun phrase (complement).

Head

i-se

P.DEM-DEF

Complement

b̤ormi-ko

men-PL

Head Complement

i-se b̤ormi-ko

P.DEM-DEF men-PL

"these men"

Yes/No Question Particle and Clause Complement Pairs

For yes/no questions in Magar, the question particle (head) has a head-final relationship with the clause (complement).

Complement

cho

meal

-

tʌyar

ready

-

chan̤-a

become-PST

Head

ma-chan̤-a

NEG-become-PST

Complement - - Head

cho tʌyar chan̤-a ma-chan̤-a

meal ready become-PST NEG-become-PST

"Is the meal ready, or not?’