नमस्ते

'Hello' in Nepali

Photo by Raimond Klavins

Language

Nepali

Indo-Aryan Family

Left to Right Script

Romanization Enabled

Gendered Language

Nepali, an Indo-Aryan language, is spoken by about 32 million native speakers, primarily in Nepal and among significant communities in India (particularly Sikkim, West Bengal, and Assam), Bhutan, and Myanmar. It uses the Devanagari script, shared with Hindi and Sanskrit, reflecting its deep roots in the Indo-Aryan language family. Known for its Subject-Object-Verb word order, Nepali grammar features two grammatical genders (masculine, feminine), postpositions instead of prepositions, and an elaborate system of verb conjugations that encode tense, aspect, mood, and levels of formality. Its honorific system distinguishes between intimate, familiar, and respectful registers, influencing pronouns and verb forms. Its vocabulary derives from Sanskrit, with loanwords from Tibetan, Persian, English, and neighboring languages due to Nepal's position between South and Central Asia. As Nepal's official language, Nepali is central to its diverse culture, literature, and national identity. Romanization is enabled for Nepali on this platform in addition to the original script. Romanization is the representation of a non-Latin script language in the Latin alphabet to aid pronunciation and understanding for those unfamiliar with the original script.

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