Alternate Names: Jiri, Jirial, Ziral
Dialects: Accent differences, but not real dialects. Some comprehension of Lhasa Tibetan , and some Tibetan dialects. Lexical similarity: 67% with Sherpa ,, 65% with Helambu Sherpa ,, 62% with Dolpo , and Loke ,, 60% with Kyerung (Kyirong) ,, 57% with Nubri ,, Lhomi ,, and Walungge ,, 54% with Lhasa Tibetan ,.
Status Notes: Language of recognized indigenous nationality: Jirel.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 4,830 (2011 census), decreasing.
Language Use: Home, friends. Young adults and older. Some use among children and adolescents. Also use Eastern Tamang [taj], Nepali [npi], Sherpa [xsr], Sunwar [suz].
Language Development: Literacy rate in L2: 25%–30% adults, 60% younger people (1991 census). People literate in Nepali [npi] can read Jirel. Dictionary. NT: 1992.
Typology: SOV; postpositions; genitives, demonstratives, adjectives before noun heads; numerals after noun heads; relatives before and without noun heads; content q-word in situ; polar question word final; maximum number of prefixes 1, maximum number of suffixes 4; clause constituents indicated by case-marking; affixes indicate case of noun phrases; ergative; causatives; no passives or voice; CV, CVC, V, VC; tonal.
Writing System: Devanagari
Nation of Origin: Nepal
Other Comments: Buddhist, Christian, traditional religion.