Sunwar language

Sunwar
Region	Nepal, India, Bhutan
Native speakers	38,000 (2011)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Mahakiranti ? Kiranti Western Kiranti Northwestern Kiranti (Sunuwar Kõits) Sunwar
Dialects	Sunuwar proper
Language codes
ISO 639-3	suz
Glottolog	sunw1242

Sunuwar greeting

Sunwar, Sunuwar, or Kõits (कोँइच; kõica; other spellings are Koinch and Koincha) is a Kiranti language spoken in Nepal by the Sunwar people. It was first comprehensively attested by the Himalayan Languages Project. It is also known as Kõits Lo (कोँइच लो ; kõica lo), Kiranti-Kõits (किराँती-कोँइच ; kirā̃tī-kõica), Mukhiya (मुखिया ; mukhiyā).

Vocabulary

Seu+wa+la (Sewala)

Sunuwar	English
Seu	(Respect) / (Greeting) / I bow to you
Maar	What
Dohpachaa	How to
Dohshow	How much
Dohmoh	How big
Go	I
Gopuki	We are
Ge	You
Gepukhi	You are
Goi	You
GoiPuki	You are
Daarshow	Beautiful
MaDarshow	Ugly

Area

Khiji Chandeshwori, Bhuji, Preti, Kaati (Wallo Kirat) Mainland after Kathmandu

Writing systems

Though Sunuwar is most commonly written with the Devanagari script, a native writing system, Jenticha, has seen limited use since the 1940s.

Numerals and alphabet (Devanagari)

Numerals

1	ichi/kaa	2	ni/nishi	3	sa/saam	4	le	5	nga
6	ruku/roku	7	chani	8	sasi	9	van	10	gau

Vowels

अ	a	आ	ā	इ	i	ई	ī	उ	u	ऊ	ū
ए	e	ऎ	ai	ओ	o	औ	au	ऑ	ang	ऒ	aha

Consonants

क

ka

ख

kha

ग

ga

घ

gha

ङ

ṅa

च

ca

छ

cha

ज

ja

झ

jha

ञ

ña

ट

ṭa

ठ

ṭha

ड

ḍa

ढ

ḍha

ण

ṇa

त

ta

थ

tha

द

da

ध

dha

न

na

प

pa

फ

pha

ब

ba

भ

bha

म

ma

य

ya

र

ra

ल

la

व

va

श

śa

ष

ṣa

स

sa

ह

ha

व्ह

hha

External links

• Sunuwar language website