Languages of Kathmandu

Tibetan is also commonly used in Kathmandu through most men throughout the Valley speak Nepalese. English is understood to varying degrees by the educated and is the lingua franca of tourist shops and the travel trade industry. Hindi is also commonly understood and spoken by all Nepalese within and outside Kathmandu Valley. Most of the traders in Kathmandu are Marwaris who can speak good Nepali. A growing number of guides and agents are multilingual and Nepalese of all types enjoy trying out their linguistic abilities.

Covering a small on the globe, Nepal is rich in language and ethnic deversities. From one mountain to another mountain and from one valley to another, people speak different language and different dialects. Broadly, there are two main ethnic groups-Indo-Aryan and Tibeto Burman. The diversity of language is a constant reminder of the long process of mixing and separation that took place over the centuries. According to the census, there are 16 major languages with more that 100,000 nave speakes. The national language is Nepali, an Indo Aryan Sanskrit based tongue using Devangiri script.

Like the mountains of Nepal, formed by the collision between continental plates, the language, religion, ethnicity and culture of Nepal have also been borne of a collision between north and south.

Newari, a Tebeto Burman languages quite different from Nepali, is the mother tongue of the Newars of the Kathmandu Valley. The Newars are one of the communities in Kathmandu their mother tongue. Newars have been able to preserve their mother tongue. Newars have a long history of literature and stories. There are many interesting stories passed from generation to generation which help to sustain these as a mother tongue. And in particular many religious and other stories are written in Newari. Although it boasts of a classical literature of its own, written in ancient alphabets, Newars today use the same Devanagiri script and derive many Nepali words. In the last five decades of modernization, Nepal has seen the extinction of many local languages and dialects.

Kathmandu is the place where various types people belonging to different ethnic groups dwell and various language are spoken within Kathmandu itself.

Unlike Newars of smaller towns of the Kathmandu Valley, many of the new generation in urban Kathmandu have assimilated and now speak Nepali.

Bilingualism is prevalent all over the country of Nepal while multilingualism is commonly found especially along the borders.


Nepali is closely related to Hindi and other sanskrit based languages. So Nepali speakers and Indians can easily catch the meaning of what the other is saying.

Basic Nepali is surprisingly easy to learn and local people are invariably thrille when travelers make the effort to pick up a few phrases. knowing a little bit of Nepali if of course a bonus for the strangers.