Alternate Names: Bhujuwar, Kirati-Koits, Koits Lo, Mukhiya, Pirthwar, Sunuwar, Sunwari
Dialects: Surel. Lexical similarity: more than 80% with Surel dialect.
Status Notes: Language of recognized indigenous nationality: Surel. Sunuwar.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 38,200 (2011 census). 37,900 Sunwar, 290 Surel (2011 census). Very few monolinguals. Ethnic population: 95,300 (2001 census).
Language Use: Mixed use: Home, friends, religion, work. Adolescents and older. Some use among children. Language is passed down to children only in village areas (Toba, Toba, and Rai 2002). Positive attitudes. Younger people speak Nepali [npi] for trade, official purposes with low proficiency (1998 SIL). Most speak 2 or more languages, including Nepali (2002 UNESCO). Also use Bhujel [byh], Eastern Tamang [taj]. Used as L2 by Jirel [jul].
Language Development: Literacy rate in L1: 20% (2010 L. Rapacha). Literacy rate in L2: Males 15% in villages, 20% in Kathmandu. Poetry. Magazines. Newspapers. New media. Radio programs. Videos. Dictionary. Grammar. Bible: 2011.
Typology: SOV; postpositions; genitives after noun heads; relatives before noun heads; noun heads both initial and final; 5 noun classes; content q-word initial and in situ; up to 2 prefixes and 3 suffixes; clause constituents indicated by split-case marking; verbal affixation marks person and number; causatives; comparatives; passives and voice; CV, CVC CVV, CCV, CCVC, V, VC; tonal; 24 consonant and 6 vowel phonemes; nasal contrastive pairs.
Writing System: Devanagari
Nation of Origin: Nepal
Other Comments: Traditional religion, Christian, Daoist, Hindu.