Languages
Native
Nepali
45%
Maithili
12%
Secondary languages
English
15%
Language Samples
नमस्ते, तपाईं कस्तो हुनुहुन्छ?
Namaste, tapaaiin kasto hunuhunchha?
Hello, how are you?
म ठीक छु, धन्यवाद।
Ma theek chhu, dhanyavaad.
I am fine, thank you.
एक, दुई, तीन, चार, पाँच, छ, सात, आठ, नौ, दस
Ek, dui, teen, chaar, paanch, chha, saat, aath, nau, das
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
Linguistic History
Nepali belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of Indo-Iranian languages and is written in the Devanagari script, shared with Hindi and Sanskrit. It is the official language of Nepal and serves as the lingua franca of a country with over 120 languages from both the Indo-Aryan and Sino-Tibetan families. Nepali developed from Sanskrit through Prakrit, and was historically called Khaskura or Gorkhali — the language of the Gorkha kingdom that unified Nepal in the 18th century. Nepal's geographical position between India and Tibet has made it a meeting point of Indo-Aryan and Tibeto-Burman language communities.
Similar Languages
Hindi
55%
Sanskrit (classical ancestor)
50%
Maithili
45%
Urdu
40%
Media
Mount Everest — known in Nepali as Sagarmatha (सगरमाथा) — towers over the linguistic crossroads between Indo-Aryan and Tibeto-Burman speaking communities.
Photo: I, Luca Galuzzi · CC BY-SA 2.5
Did You Know
01
Nepal is home to over 120 languages from two completely unrelated language families — Indo-Aryan and Sino-Tibetan — reflecting its position as a geographic bridge between the Indian subcontinent and the Tibetan plateau.
02
The word 'Namaste' (नमस्ते), used across South Asia as a greeting, is originally a Sanskrit phrase meaning 'I bow to the divine in you' — a living link to the ancient language that gave birth to Nepali.
03
Nepal's flag is the only non-rectangular national flag in the world — the Devanagari script on official documents and signage matches the uniquely shaped emblem of the nation.