Tharu, Rana
PrintPrimary tabs
A language of Nepal
336,000 in Nepal (2006), increasing. Population for all Tharu varieties: 1,530,000 (2011 census). Total users in all countries: 486,000.
Sudur Pashchimanchal province: Kanchanpur district, southern municipalities; Kailali district, Danghadi.
5 (Developing). Language of recognized indigenous nationality: Rana Tharu.
96%–99% intelligibility among dialects, 90% of Kathariya [tkt], 51%–88% reported of Dangaura [thl]. Differences with dialects in India. Reportedly similar to Awadhi (Avadhi) [awa]. Lexical similarity: 83%–97% among dialects, 73%–79% with Buksa [tkb], 74%–79% with Kathariya [tkt], 70%–73% with Sonha [soi], 63%–71% with Dangaura [thl], 56%–60% with Central Tharu [the], 68%–72% with Hindi [hin].
SOV; postpositions; noun head final; 2 genders; content q-word in situ; 1 prefix, up to 2 suffixes; clause constituents indicated by case-marking; verbal affixation marks person and number; ergativity; tense (4 tenses: past, present, imminent future, irrealis future); passives and voice; nontonal; 28 consonant and 11 vowel phonemes.
Mother-tongue multilingual education up to grade three in Kanchanpur. Taught as subject in primary schools. Literature. Periodicals. Radio. Videos. Texts. NT: 2017.
Hindu, Christian.