7.6. Frequently Asked Questions about Nepal and Nepal Lipi Online (NLO).
Before you Contact Us, please check below whether you can find an answer for your question.
7.6.1. What is Nepal?
An independent sovereign country located in between China and India in South Asia.
7.6.2. What is Nepal Mandala?
A historical area demarcated as the co-federation of original Nepal before it was fully occupied by the Gorkha army since 1769 AD.
7.6.3. What is Nepal Bhasa?
Bhasa refers to language. Hence Nepal Bhasa here means the language of Nepal. Nepalbhasa originated in this land. It has been the State language of Nepal until it was replaced in 1960s by Nepali, a name usurped from Nepalbhasa to Khas language of the present rulers and their immigrant community.
7.6.4. What is Nepal-lipi?
Lipi refers to script or letters. The script originated in Nepal is called Nepal-lipi. It is primarily used to write Nepalbhasa while several other languages such as Sanskrut, Pali, Maithil and Khas languages were also written in Nepal-lipi in the past.
7.6.5. What is Nepal Samvat?
Samvat refers to calendar. Nepal Samvat here means Nepal calendar in other words the calendar originated in Nepal. It is formally known as Nepal Samvat Naguma (Nepal Era calendar) and shortened as NS. Visit here to view the calendar.
7.6.6. What is Nepal Lipi Online (NLO)?
The Nepal Lipi Online (NLO) is the worldโs first online portal in Nepal-lipi, the original script of Nepal. It is dedicated to revitalize Nepalbhasa, its script – Nepal-lipi and Nepal calendar. The NLO was registered as a website on September 1, 2009 (Yanla 12, 1130 NS).
The Nepal-lipi is a Unicode encoded script from Dec. 16, 2015. Google font created Noto Sans Newa font after the first Nepal-lipi open type font compatible to Unicode was made by our team and several other true-type fonts were made by some enthusiastic members of Nepami community since 2000. You can now read Nepal-lipi websites, including www.nepal-lipi.com on your desktop, PC, tablets, and mobiles as well.ใ
The NLO portal was initiated as a major project of Nepal Study Center, Japan (NSCJ), you can also be a partner/supporter to this group of great members. This portal is run by a team of volunteers led by Dr. Suwarn Vajracharya, who chairs the NSCJ.
7.6.7. What are Nepalbhasa Proficiency Test / Nepal-lipi Proficiency Test?
Nepalbhasa Proficiency Test will certify your knowledge and skills of Nepalbhasa while Nepal-lipi Proficiency Test will certify your proficiency level of Nepal-lipi. Nepalbhasa test takers need not take Nepal-lipi test separately as the Nepalbhasa test is provided in Nepal-lipi.
7.6.8. What does NLO offer to the public?
This portal provides excellent opportunities for the Nepal-lipi literate Nepalbhasa speakers to use the language and the Nepal Calendar online, and for those who have yet to become literate in Nepalbhasa and its Nepal-lipi, and how to use Nepal calendar.
We also provide free download service for fonts of Nepal Lipi โ ttf and otf โ to write on computer (word, excel etc), SSN and websites; Converter from Devanagara script to Nepal Lipi and vice versa (script) free of charge. We also provide support to build websites in Nepal Bhasa and its Lipi; provide translations, and support preparing documents in Nepal Bhasa and its script – the Nepal Lipi.
Please visit pages of Nepalbhasa, Nepal-lipi and Nepal Calendar and recommend them to your family and friends.
7.6.9. How do I get support to learn Nepal-lipi?
We support the learners with their specific needs. The lessons in the pages of Nepalbhasa and Nepal-lipi generally guides the self-learners. Those who require individual support may join the following courses.
- Nepal-lipi for Beginner Level Course for the beginners of Nepalbhasa (NB 5โ4 Grades).
- Nepal-lipi for Intermediate Level Course for those who already have a basic knowledge of Nepalbhasa (NB 3-2 Grades).
- Nepal-lipi for Advanced Level Course for those who already have an intermediate level knowledge of Nepalbhasa (NB 1 Grade).
The levels can be checked by self-testing through the test online.
7.6.10. How to learn to write or type Nepal-lipi?
As for writing, you can write Nepalbhasa on your computer, iPad and mobile, you can type Nepal-lipi in these computers. Several online classes teach Nepal-lipi online free or with affordable fees. Please find them online. You may also get guidance how to learn and type Nepal-lipi from this portal. Please see Products and Tools on the Menu (4.7.5.)
7.6.11. Where to use Nepalbhasa?
As it is said that ‘mother is the first teacher,’ let’s begin from home to use Nepalbhasa. Let’s speak Nepalbhasa at home among father mother and children. Then, speak Nepalbhasa with relatives – uncles and aunts and cousins. Move one step ahead to speak with Nepalbhasa speaking neighbors, then to government and private company offices. For foreign learners, they can practice with Nepalbhasa speaking friends.
7.6.12. Why it is necessary to revitalize Nepalbhasa and its script Nepal-lipi?
Nepalbhasa is the original language of Nepal. Nepalbhasa has been written in its own script known as Nepal-lipi since its inception. However, Nepalbhasa is now in the verge of extinction. In 2003, the UNESCO declared โNepalbhasaโ as a โdefinitely endangered language.โ One of the major reasons is that the language has not been passed on to the next generation for several reasons by the parents. Majority of todayโs teenagers do not speak Nepalbhasa. Many do not correctly use even the name of Nepalbhasa but call it โNewari,โ the term imposed by outsiders. Another major reason is that despite the Government of Nepal has corrected its past policies and directed the government agencies to use the term Nepalbhasa in 1995, some government agencies such as the Department of Statistics have yet to heed the call to use Nepabhasa correctly. Besides, many foreign words have replaced many native terms of Nepalbhasa. Of all that, the majority of Nepalbhasa users are not literate in writing their own language in their own script โ the Nepal-lipi. If something is not done, Nepalbhasa will become a dead language very soon. Therefore, this is a small effort to revitalize the already endangered Nepalbhasa, the original language of Nepal.
7.6.13. How to revitalize the endangered Nepalbhasa?
Nepalbhasa was left endangered because people had to abandon its use because of governmentโs single language policy since 1962. As the saying of โuse it or lose itโ warns us that we may lose our language if we do not use it. It also assures us that if we use the language, it will be revitalized. Let’s use Nepalbhsasa and help save it together. If the present generation of adults and youth become literate in Nepalbhasa and use it in their daily life, it will also encourage the next generation to follow suit and become literate in Nepabhasa and its original script. This will without a doubt contribute to safeguard Nepalbhasa with its own Nepal-lipi for the future generation, and help revitalize Nepalbhasa to its past prestige of a State language of Nepal.
(Last updated AD 2023.01.07 / NS 1143.3(Pohemฬlฤ).16)