Social:Classical Newar

Short description: Early form of Newar language

Classical Nepal Bhasa
Old Newar
पुलाङु नेपाल भाषा
A 14th century palm-leaf manuscript of the Haramekhala, a medical manual written in Classical Newar and the Bhujimola script.
Native to	Nepal, India, Tibet, Bhutan
Era	Developed into Modern Nepal Bhasa in the 19th century
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Newaric Classical Nepal Bhasa
Early forms	Proto-Sino-Tibetan Proto-Tibeto-Burman?
Writing system	Bhujimol script Newar script Kutila script Ranjana script various Nepalese scripts
Language codes
ISO 639-1	nwc
ISO 639-3	nwc
Glottolog	None

Classical Newar or Classical Nepal Bhasa (Modern Newar: pulāṃ bhāy, 'old language') also known as Old Newar, is the vernacular and literary form of Nepal Bhasa used prior to the 19th century. The term is most generally used to describe the form of Nepal Bhasa used in manuscripts and other sources from the Malla dynasty.

The antiquity of the Newar language is not known. The Sanskrit stone inscriptions from the Licchavi Dynasty contains frequent use of Sino-Tibetan words, especially for proper nouns like names of person, settlements and rivers, suggesting the existence of a vernacular Sino-Tibetan language which is believed to be an early form of the Newar language. Classical Newar language was the official language and lingua franca of Nepal Mandala during the medieval period.

History

Licchavi period

Newar words appeared in Sanskrit inscriptions in the Kathmandu Valley for the first time in the fifth century. The words are names of places, taxes and merchandise indicating that it already existed as a spoken language during the Licchavi period (approximately 400–750 AD). The inscriptions from the Licchavi period includes Newari words.

Medieval period

The earliest known (dated) document in Nepal Bhasa is called "The Palmleaf from Uku Bahal" which dates back to 1114 AD (235 NS). The earliest dated stone inscription in Thakuri dynasty is in Newar, dated Nepal Sambat 293 (1173 CE).

The earliest important books of Classical Newar from the 14th century are Haramekhalā (1374), Mānava Nyāyaśāstra (1380), Amarkośa (1381), and Gopālarāja Vaṃśāvalī (1389). The language continued growing in the Medieval period and enjoyed royal patronage. Some noted royal writers include Mahindra Malla, Siddhi Narasimha Malla, Jagatprakash Malla and Pratap Malla.

Grammar

Noun cases

Classical Newar has six cases and they are differentiated based on whether the term in question is animate or inanimate. The following charts provide case endings that can be affixed on the end of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in IAST transliteration for Classical Newar.

Noun Case Endings in Classical Newar

	Inanimate	Animate/non-honorific		Animate/honorific
Case	Singular	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Instrumental/Ergative	-n	-n	-taseṃ	-n, -seṃ	-paniseṃ
Absolutive	-ø	-ø	-ta, -to	-ø	-pani
Sociative	-va	-va	-mis(a)va	-va	-panis(a)va
Dative	-taṃ, -yātā	-taṃ, -yātaṃ	-mistaṃ	-yātaṃ	-panistaṃ
Genitive	-yā	-yā	-tas, -mis	-yā	-panis
Locative	-s	-(s)ke, -yāke	X	-(s)ke, -yāke	-paniske

ISO

Classical Nepal Bhasa was introduced in ISO 639-2 code list in 2004.

See also

• Newar language
• Nepalese scripts

References

Bibliography

• Acharya, Baburam (1952). Nepal, Newar and Newari Language. Kathmandu: Nepal-Sanskritik Parisad. 
• Anderson, George (1913). Transactions. 3. Authority of the Society. p. 49. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Transactions/NSdIAQAAMAAJ. 
• Dahal, Peshal (2000) (in ne). Nepalko itihas. M.K. Publishers and Distributors. p. 3. https://archive.org/details/nepalko-itihas-by-peshal-dahal/page/3/mode/1up. 
• Hopkinson, Alan (2008). UNIMARC Manual: Bibliographic Format. Walter de Gruyter. 
• Levy, Robert Isaac; Rājopādhyāya, Kedar Rāj (1990) (in en). Mesocosm: Hinduism and the Organization of a Traditional Newar City in Nepal. University of California Press. pp. 36. ISBN 978-0-520-06911-4. https://books.google.com/books?id=ngacsMPGJPcC. 
• Malla, Kamal P.. "The Earliest Dated Document in Newari: The Palmleaf from Uku Bahah NS 234/AD 1114". Kailash. http://www.kpmalla.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/kailash_16_0102_02.pdf. Retrieved 27 January 2012. 
• Malla, Kamal Prakash; Kansakar, Tej Ratna, eds (1978). Occasional Papers in the Humanities & Social Sciences. Kathmandu: Institute of Humanities & Social Sciences, Tribhuvan University. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Occasional_Papers_in_the_Humanities_Soci/5BsEAAAAYAAJ. 
• Malla, Kamal Prakash (1982) (in English). Classical Newari Literature: A Sketch. Kathmandu: Educational Enterprise. https://books.google.com/books?id=nqsPAAAAYAAJ. 
• Malla, Kamal Prakash; Tamot, Kasinath; Kansakar, Tej R. (2000). A Dictionary of Classical Newari. Kathmandu: Nepal Bhasa Dictionary Committee. ISBN 99933-316-0-0. https://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/malla/test_index.html. 
• Otter, Felix (2021). A Course in Reading Classical Newari. Heidelberg: CrossAsia. ISBN 978-3-946742-94-4. https://doi.org/10.11588/xabooks.764. 
• Shrestha, Purushottam Lochan (2001) (in ne). Tripura ra Yuthunimama Durbara. Bhaktapur Offset Prints. p. 4. ISBN 99933-622-0-4. https://archive.org/details/TripurRaYuthunimamRajkulPurushottamLochanShrestha. 
• Tuladhar, Prem Shanti (2000). Nepal Bhasa Sahityaya Itihas: The History of Nepalbhasa Literature. Kathmandu: Nepal Bhasa Academy. ISBN 99933-56-00-X. 
• "ISO 639-2 Code Changes". Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_changes.php. 

Further reading

• Jørgensen, Hans (1936). A Dictionary Of The Classical Newari. København: Levin & Munksgaard. https://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/jorgensen/. 
• Jørgensen, Hans (1941). A Grammar Of The Classical Newari. København: Levin & Munksgaard. https://archive.org/details/agrammaroftheclassicalnewarihansjorgensen_202003_471_E.