Rana Tharu language

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Rana Tharu
राना थारू‎
Native to India, Nepal
Ethnicity Rana Tharu
Native speakers
230,000 (2003–2021) [1]
Devanagari
Official status
Official language in
Tharuban of Nepal
Language codes
ISO 639-3 thr
Glottolog rana1246

Rana Tharu is a Indo Aryan language spoken by the Rana Tharu people who are part of the Tharu ethnic group in the Sudurpashchim Province of Nepal, specifically in the Kanchanpur district's southern municipalities and Dhangadhi in the Kailali district. [2] Rana Tharu is also spoken in specific areas of Uttar Pradesh, India including the Lakhimpur Kheri district, particularly in Palia Kalan and Chandan Chauki block, situated on the India–Nepal border. Additionally, it is spoken in the Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand state. It exhibits high intelligibility among its dialects, with reported percentages ranging from 96% to 99%. The language has linguistic distinctions with dialects in India and shows lexical similarities with Awadhi and Buksa as well. [3] [4]

In terms of linguistic features, Rana Tharu follows the SOV (Subject-Object-Verb) word order, uses postpositions, and has noun head final structure. It has two genders, employs content question words in situ, and involves a combination of prefixes and suffixes in its morphology. The language demonstrates ergativity, marking tense with four categories (past, present, imminent future, irrealis future). Additionally, it features passives and voice, lacks tonality, and possesses a phonetic inventory of 28 consonant and 11 vowel phonemes. [3] [4] [5]

Rana Tharu is used in various aspects of life, including at home, with friends, and in religious contexts. It is actively spoken outside the home such as in the workplace and education. The language is widely utilized by all members of the community and coexists with the use of Hindi and Nepali. [3] [4] [5]

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Rana Tharu is an ethnic group generally classified as part of the Tharu people of Nepal and India. They are living in Kailali and Kanchanpur Districts of the far western Nepali Terai and also in India, in Udham Singh Nagar district, Uttarakhand and Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh. As of 2001, Rana Tharu people were the largest of five scheduled tribes in Uttarakhand, with a population of 256,129 accounting for 33.4% of all scheduled tribes.

Kathariya Tharu also known as Kathoriya Tharu is one of the Indo Aryan languages spoken by the Tharu people of Nepal and India. It is a language spoken in the Sudurpashchim Province of Nepal, particularly in the Kailali District, including areas like Bardagoriya, Bhajani, Ghodaghodi, Joshipur. Additionally, it is spoken in the Uttar Pradesh state of India, specifically in Bahraich and Lakhimpur Kheri districts near the Nepal border.

The Sonha language also known as Sonaha, Sunha, or Sunah is an Indo-Aryan spoken in Lumbini Province, specifically in Bardiya District, covering Geruwa and Rajapur municipalities. It is also spoken in Sudurpashchim Province, particularly in Kanchanpur District and Bhimdatta of Nepal. Sonha exhibits linguistic similarities with Awadhi, with reported lexical similarities of 69% with Rana Tharu, 73% with Kathariya Tharu, and 72% with Dangaura Tharu. Notably, Sonha and Kathoriya serve as a lexical bridge connecting Rana and Dangaura varieties of Tharu.

References

  1. Rana Tharu at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. Dhakal, Dubi Nanda. "Notes on Rana Tharu language".
  3. 1 2 3 "Rana Tharu". Ethnologue. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 Dubi Nanda Dhakal. 2015. Analyzed Texts in Rana Tharu: with a Grammatical Sketch. (Languages of the World/Text Collection, 36.) München: LINCOM. 142pp.
  5. 1 2 Dubi Nanda Dhakal. 2013. The Documentation of Rana Tharu Language. Research report submitted to Nepal Academy, Kamaladi, Kathmandu.