TALKING TO THE KING OF NEPAL.

Courtesy of Mithridates, this vital update on the Nepali royal language:

Nepal’s king has his own type of language like the ‘King’s English’ in Britain. There has been a noticeable change in the King’s language in recent times. The royal family members of Nepal are addressed by the people with some specific words like: ‘maushuph’[he/him or she/her] ‘gari+baksyo’ [did], gari+baksanechha [will do], sukala [sleep], bhuja [lunch or meal] jyunar [eat food], darshan+bhet [seeing, meeting] etc. These terms are only used if one has to address the royal family members.
Before the restoration of democracy in 1990, general public, except for King’s relatives, were not entitled to use the King’s Nepali. Nowadays, general people in urban areas copy King’s Nepali and speak in a kind of fashion. But there is restriction for the general public to formally or publicly speak this language for themselves. Instead, political leaders as well as others do not hesitate to address the king or the royal family members in general terms with media or others like: woha [him], garnu+bhayo [did], bhet [seeing, meeting]. But they must use the King’s Nepali when they are to speak in front of the king or any formal programs.

See the Mithridates entry for more links on Nepali.

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