Tharu, Rana
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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.
Mahakali zone: Kanchanpur district; Seti zone: Kailali district.
5 (Developing). Language of recognized indigenous nationality: 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, 74%–79% with Kathariya [tkt], 70%–73% with Sonha [soi], 63%–71% with Dangaura [thl], 56%–60% with Madhya Ksetriya 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 in primary schools. Literature. Periodicals. Radio. Videos. Texts. NT: 2017.
Devanagari script [Deva].
Hindu, Christian.