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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. Around half of the consonants contain a murmured-voice counterpart, and several consonants include aspirated or dental counterparts. 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.

Consonant Phonemes

	Bilabial		Dental		Alveolar		Palatal		Velar		Glottal
Stop	p pʰ	b bɦ	t̪ t̪ʰ	d̪ʰ d̪	t tʰ	d dɦ			k kʰ	ɡ gɦ	ʔ
Nasal		m mɦ				n nɦ				ŋ ŋɦ
Affricate							j	c cɦ
Murmured Affricate							jɦ
Fricative					s						h hɦ
Approximant					ɹ ɹɦ
Lateral Approximant					l lɦ
Glide	w							y
Murmured Glide	wɦ							yɦ

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 phonemic vowels. This includes 4 dipthongs [ei] [oi] [au] [eu], and 6 monopthongs detailed in the table below.

Vowel Phonemes

	Front	Central	Back
High	i ei oi		u au eu
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 has 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], [bɦ], [d], [dɦ], [g], [gɦ], [c],  [cʰ],  [j], and [jʰ] 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.

Affixation in Magar

The table below lists several 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.	nɦis two rokotyak-ko frog-PL nɦis 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-chanɦ-e IRR-OPT-become-IRR ŋa-o minam im a-tʌ-chanɦ-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 jɦor-ni hello-IMP.HON sita ra-naŋ jɦor-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!'

Nominalization

Nominalization is present within Magar verbs and has a derivational effect. There are 3 nominalizing suffixes: -cyo ~ cʌ, -ke, and -mʌ.

Nominalization Examples in Magar

Nominalization Example (root 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 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

Nouns may be formed via compounding 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 subject of an intransitive clause)

mipruŋ-e

Mirpung-ERG

cho-∅

rice.meal-ABS

mipruŋ-e cho-∅

Mirpung-ERG rice.meal-ABS

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

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 has the form allomorph -i. Note that the Tanahu dialect of Magar differs from the Syangja dialect in that Tanahu only marks agents as ergative in the past-perfective aspect. 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

hahɦ-a

lock-PST

cyu-o mi-talu sisi-aŋ hahɦ-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

dɦari

also

thuprai

many

raɦ-a

come-PST

rokotyak-ko-uŋ mi-ja-ko dɦari thuprai raɦ-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.

S

ram-ke

Ram

O

ŋɦet-ke

cow

V

kas-ak-a

feed

S O V

ram-ke ŋɦet-ke kas-ak-a

Ram cow feed

“Ram feed the cow”

Word Order in Smaller Constituents

Possessee and Possessor Structures

When expressing possession in Magar, the possessor comes after the possessee.

Possessee

ruma-o

Ruma-GEN

Possessor

mi-ja

POSS-child

Possessee Possessor

ruma-o mi-ja

Ruma-GEN POSS-child

"Ruma's child"

Adposition and Noun Phrase Structures

As seen in the example below, in Magar the adposition comes after the noun phrase.

Noun.Phrase

dɦodɦara

log

Adposition

dɦem-aŋ

up-locative

Noun.Phrase Adposition

dɦodɦara dɦem-aŋ

log up-locative

"atop the log"

Determiner and Noun Phrase Structures

In Magar, the determiner precedes the noun phrase.

Determiner

i-se

P.DEM-DEF

Noun.Phrase

bɦormi-ko

men-PL

Determiner Noun.Phrase

i-se bɦormi-ko

P.DEM-DEF men-PL

"these men"

Yes/No Question Particle and Clause Structures

For yes/no questions in Magar, the question particle comes after the clause.

Clause

cho

meal

-

tʌyar

ready

-

chanɦ-a

become-PST

Question.Particle

ma-chanɦ-a

NEG-become-PST

Clause - - Question.Particle

cho tʌyar chanɦ-a ma-chanɦ-a

meal ready become-PST NEG-become-PST

"Is the meal ready, or not?’