Multilingualism and the language situation in Nepal

Abstract

Nepal represents a complex cross-section of linguistic and cultural diversity. The Census Report of 1991 records at least 60 different ethnic communities or castes and a distribution of over 70 languages spoken within the country's present day political boundaries. Grimes (1991) estimates a total of about 100 languages spoken in Nepal. This was perhaps calculated on the basis of over 30 distinct Rai languages which are usually subsumed in the Census Reports under the single heading of "Rai-Kirat", and under the category of "other unspecified languages". These languages and their innumerable satellite dialects have genetic affiliations to at least four language families, namely Tibeto-Burman (about 56 languages), Indo-Aryan (14 languages), Austroasiatic/Munda (1 language), and Dravidian (1 language), together with one controversial language isolate — Kusunda.