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Basic Nepali for Travelers

This is a brief introduction to Nepali, the of . This introduction contains basic instruction about pronunciation and important words and phrases. Anywhere you travel in Nepal, the ability to communicate in Nepali will greatly enhance your experience. Even if you do not plan on studying the language in-depth, we strongly suggest learning and using basic greetings and phrases. The locals will greatly appreciate your efforts and will be all the more welcoming to you during your stay. If you would like to complete a beginning course in Nepali, there are a number of self-study books and tapes. Lonely Planet‟s Nepali Phrasebook (2002) is one of the more helpful books.

Pronunciation

Nepali is written in the script, which is also the script used for , , and many other languages. There are 67 characters, each with only one pronunciation. The Devanagari script is not used in this guide; however, a list of the Devanagari characters can be found at the end of this document.

Nepali has six and two . Five of the vowels can also have nasal pronunciations, which will be indicated by a karat (^) over the letter. The nasals are pronounced with the airstream coming out of the nose, which can also be accomplished by putting a weak „n‟ at the end of the syllable in which the nasal appears. a/â „‟ in cup /ê „e‟ in bet ah/âh „a‟ in father „o‟ in hot /î „ee‟ in see, but shorter /aî „ai‟ in aisle u/û „u‟ in put /aû „ow‟ in vow, but shorter

Generally, Nepali are pronounced the same as in English. b as in bat ng as in finger c as in chew ny as in canyon d as in dog p as in pin g as in get r as in rabbit, but slightly trilled h as in how s as in sit j as in jaw sh as in ship k as in kennel t as in stop l as in last w as in women m as in mill y as in yolk n as in neat

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There are two special types of consonants: aspirated consonants and retroflex consonants. Aspirated consonants are pronounced much more forcefully and with a puff of air. Aspirated consonants are indicated by an „h‟ following the . bh „b‟ as in bus jh „j‟ in jump ch „ch‟ + „h‟ as in punch hard kh „k‟ in kill dh „d‟ in duck ph „p‟ in pit, or like an „f‟ gh „g‟ in go th „t‟ in time

Retroflex consonants are pronounced by touching the tongue to the roof of the mouth while pronouncing the consonants. Only four consonants can be pronounced this way (d, t, n, dh). In this guide, retroflex consonants will be indicated by an underline (d, t, n, dh).

In Nepali, two syllable words are pronounced with a stress on the last syllable. For words with three or more syllables, the stress is on the second to last syllable. In this guide, the stressed syllable will be in italics. Greetings

Welcome swah--tam Introd Hello na--ste uction Goodbye na-ma-ste s See you later. phe-ri bhe-taû-lah Etiquet te 1 How are you? ke ? Note: the I‟m fine, and you? ma-lai san-cai cha ani ta-paî-lai? phrase “t Okay thik cha; hun-cha; has hank you” Cool -ta-rah is rarely used in Nepali. It is generally reserved as a response only to particular favors. 2 2 My name is… me-ro nahm … ho. 06.577.0 515 • inf What is your name? ta-paî-ko nahm ke ho? o@villag I am from America. me-ro desh a-me-ri-kah ho. evolunte Where are you from? ta-paî kun desh--ta au-nu --ko? ers.org • I am a student. ma bi-dyahr-thi hû. www.vill agevolun teers.org Page 2 of 7

1 Thank you dhan-ya-bahd You‟re welcome swah-gat cha 2 Please -hos My deepest sympathy me-ro sa-hah-nu-bhu-ti li-nu-hos Excuse me/I‟m Sorry mahph gar-nu-hos May I? ga-re-hun-cha? Congratulations! ba-dhai

The spoken form of “please,” which is added as a suffix to the infinitive form of the verb being used.

Relationships/Titles

I/me ma-lai

You (formal) ta-paî 3 Sign of You (informal) ti-mi respect o Friend sah-thi r affectio Family -ri-bahr n added Daughter cho-ri to the en Son cho-rah d of a n ame. Brother dai (older); bhai (younger) 2 Sister di-di (older); ba-hi-ni (younger) 06.577.0 Father bu-wah 515 • inf o@villag Mother ah-mah evolunte Husband log-ne (own); sri-mahn (someone else‟s) ers.org • Wife swahs-ni (own); sri-ma-ti (someone else‟s) www.vill Doctor dahk-tar agevolun teers.org Teacher shi-chak P age 3 of Man pu-rus 7 Old Man bu-dho Young Man ke-tah Woman ma-hi-lah Old Woman bu-dhi Young Woman ke-ti 3 Respectful Title -ji

Food and Drinks

I am hungry. ma-lai bhok lahg-yo. I am thirsty. ma-lai tir-khah lahg-yo. I would like… ma-lai … cah-hi-yo Food khah-nah Bread pau-ro-ti Meat mah-su Fish mah-chah Vegetables tar-kah-ri Fruit pahl-phul Chicken ku-khu-rah-ko mah-su Rice bhaht; cah-mal Yogurt da-hi National dish dahl bhaht tar-kah-ri (lentils, rice, vegetable curry) Drinks/beverages pahn Coffee -phi Tea ci-yah Water pah-ni Milk dudh Beer bi-yar

The meal was delicious. khah-nah mi-tho lahg-yo.

Important Locations

Market ba-jahr

Temple (Buddhist) stu-pah Cost Temple (Hindu) man-dir Time o Mosque mas-jid f Day 4 Church gir-jah-ghar U seful Shop pa-sal Words School bi-dyah--ya and Ph Hospital as-pa-tahl rases Home ghar The suffix used de Bathroom snahn kak-sha; bahth-rum pends on Toilet (flushing) bahth-rum the subje Toilet (pit) car-pi ct of the sentence. Toilet (public) shau-cah-la-ya “-Na” is Shower snahn used with Kitchen bhahn-chah I, he, sh e or it. “- Garden ba-gaî-cah Nau” is u sed with you, singular or plural. “-Naû” is used with we. And “-nan” is used with they. The suffix is added to the end of the verb in the sentence. 206.577.0515 • [email protected] • www.villagevolunteers.org Page 4 of 7 How much is this? yo ka-ti pai-sah ho? How many? ka-ti? Money pai-sah Price mol Expensive ma-hâ-go Cheap sas-to

Morning bi-hah-na Afternoon diû-so Evening be-lu-kah Night raht

Yes -jur 4 No hun-dai-na; or, add -na, -nau, -naû or -nan

Maybe shah-yad Sure pak-kah Now a-hi-le Long Life dir-ghah-yu No worries/problems bhai-hahl cha What is this called? yas-lai ke bahn-cha? What is this/that? yo/tyo ke ho? Which way? kun bah-to? I would like… ma-lai … cah-hi-yo I want to go to… ma … -mah jahn-chu. I would like to buy… … kin-na man lahg-yo. I am tired. ma-lai tha-kai lahg-yo. I am lost. ma-lai ha-rau-na lahg-yo. I am ill. ma-lai bi-rah-mi lahg-yo. I am happy. ma-lai khu-si lahg-yo. I don‟t know. ma-lai thah-hah chai-na. I don‟t understand. mai-le bu-jhi-na. How do you say …? …-lai ke bhan-cha? Please say it again. phe-ri bhan-nu-hos. Please speak more slowly. bi-stah-rai bol-nu-hos. Good night shu-bha-rah-tri Help! gu-hahr! Who? ko? Where? ka-hâh? Why? ki-na? What? ke? When? ka-hi-le? How? ka-sa-ri?

Miscellaneous 206.577.0515 • [email protected] • www.villagevolunteers.org Peace shahn-ti Love mah-yah; prem Work kahm Enough pra-shas-ta Beautiful sun-dar Slowly bi-stah-rai Strength bal Bad kah-rahb Good rahm-ro Page 5 of 7

Numbers

The Nepali counting system has no discernable patterns. Below are a few helpful numbers. An easy way of saying numbers not included on this list is to say a larger number, followed by a smaller number – for example, “tis pâhc” (“thirty and five,” “ra” meaning “and”) for thirty-five.

0 sun-ya 14 cau-dha 28 at-thais T 1 ek 15 pan-dhra 29 u-nan-tis he 2 du-I 16 so-hra 30 tis Nep 3 tin 17 sa-tra 40 cha-lis ales e Al 4 cahr 18 a-thah-ra 50 pa-cahs 5 pâhc 19 un-nais 60 sah-thi bet 6 cha 20 bis 70 sat-ta-ri (Dev 7 saht 21 ek-kais 80 a-si ana gari 8 ahth 22 bais 90 nab-be scri 9 nau 23 teis 100 ek say pt) 10 das 24 cau-bis 1,000 ek ha-jahr Vow els 11 e-ghah-ra 25 pac-cis 10,000 das ha-jahr Nasa 12 bah-hra 26 chab-bis 100,000 ek lankh l vow 13 te-hra 27 sat-tais 1,000,000 das lankh els a ٽ). = re indicated by a over the letter (or a half circle and dot a C i O or O{ e P aî P]+ ê P+ au cf} O{+ ah Cf u p or pm o cf] aû cf}+ ai P] ri C pm+ There are also special forms of some vowels whenever they follow consonants. The letter “a” is not on this list, because it is assumed that all consonants are followed by “a” unless otherwise indicated. ahO+ or f â c+ î o f] e ] i l or L p+u or [ âh 206.577.0515cf+ • û [email protected] • www.villagevolunteers.org Page 6 of 7

Consonants

k s d b kh v dh w g u t ^ gh # th & c r d * ch % dh (

j h n g jh Of n )f

p k ng *· ph km ny ` b a m d bh e l n

s if or ; y o sh z w j

t t r / th y h x

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