Nepali is the official language of Nepal. It's related to Indo-Aryan languages, such as Hindi and Punjabi, with much Tibetan influence as well. It is normally written with the Devanagari script (as is Hindi). While most Nepalese people speak at least some Nepali, there are more than 100 different languages and dialects spoken in Nepal. An example of other languages spoken in Nepal are Tharu around Chitwan, Newari in the Kathmandu Valley, and Sharwa (Sherpa) in the Everest area.
Educated Nepalis can often speak English, because of the popularity of boarding school as public school can not compete for quality education. Learning even a few words of Nepali can be fun and very useful, especially outside of the tourist district and while trekking.
There are lots words of borrowed from other languages, especially English, so most of the Nepali people understand these words rather then its literal meaning in Nepali e.g. coat, TV, breakfast,basket etc.
h A superscript "h" indicates that the proceeding consonant is aspirated. "Aspiration" just means that the sound involves a more forceful breath. At first it will sound like everyone around you is always on the verge of laughing -- "c -ha!- t" "d -ha!- og!"
n A superscript "n" indicates that the proceeding vowel is nasal. To the English-speaking ear (don't try to visualize that too hard) nasalized vowels just sound like they are followed by a "n." Listen to yourself say words like "injury," "animal," and "young."
! The trickiest sound for non-natives are the "retroflex" consonants. Usually they are represented by a dot under the letter or by bold text, but I find that too easy to overlook so I'm using an exclamation mark.
All the Nepali words you'll see here are written in "Roman Transliteration" -- which just means using the Roman alphabet to try and represent sounds in the Nepali alphabet (which isn't really an "alphabet" per se, but that's another conversation).
In English we use a combination of letters to represent different sounds, so the "a" in "father" is different from the "a" in "made" or "bat". In the transliteration of Nepali, one letter pretty much equals one sound. There are no silent "q"s or "k"s or "e"s. K-n-i-e-f is "K-nief," m-a-d-e is "ma-de," etc.
Consonants, with the exception of the aspirated and retroflex variety are pretty much what you'd expect.
like 'b' in "bed," but with an extra puff of air, like "Bhutan"
ch
like 'ch' in "chat"
chh
like 'ch' at the end of "church"
d
like 'd' in "dog"
dh
like 'd' in "dog" but with an extra puff of air, like "Dhaka"
f
like 'f' in "frog"
g
like 'g' in "go"
gh
like 'g' in "go" but with an extra puff of air, like "Ghana"
h
like 'h' in "help" (often silent in the UK and other Commonwealth countries)
j
like 'dg' in "edge"
jh
k
like 'c' in "cat"
kh
like 'kh' in "Khaki"
l
like 'l' in "love"
m
like 'm' in "mother"
n
like 'n' in "nice"
p
like 'p' in "pig"
ph
like 'ph' in "phone"
q
like 'q' in "quest" (with "u", almost always)
r
like 'r' in "row", like 'r' in "feather" (often silent in the UK and other Commonwealth countries at end of word)
s
like 'ss' in "hiss"
t
like 't' in "top"
v
at the beginning of a word, somewhere between the "v" in "vice" and "w" in "wives." In the middle of a word somewhere between the "v" in "vice" and the "b" in "bike." Spelling-wise, these are interchangable ("Shiva-Shiba" "Vishnu"-"Wishnu"). Err on the side of a "v" sound.
The Nepali Calendar, called Bikram Sambat or B.S., is a lunar calendar based on ancient Hindu tradition. It is roughly 57 years ahead of the Gregorian calendar (the year 2000 AD was equivalent to the years 2056-2057 BS). The beginning of the year usually falls on the 13th or 14th of April. Therefore, the months are not compatible with the Gregorian calendar.
I am an American/Australian/British/Canadian citizen.
ma American/Australian/British/Canadian naagarik hu. (...)
I want to talk to the American/Australian/British/Canadian embassy/consulate.
ma American/Australian/British/Canadian dutaabaas/ baanijya dutaabaas sanga kura garna chahanchhu. (...)
I want to talk to a lawyer.
ma wakil sanga kuraa garna chahanchhu. (...)
Can I just pay a fine now?
ma jariwaanaa maatra tirchhu? (...)
This is a usable phrasebook. It explains pronunciation and the bare essentials of travel communication. An adventurous person could use it to get by, but please plunge forward and help it grow!
