Baidya Karunakar. Teach Yourself Nepali - A Tourist Manual

Publisher: Ratna Pustak Bhandar.
Publication date: 1997
Number of pages: 119What is Nepali language?
Nepal, the only independent Hindu kingdom lies at the foot of the mighty Himalayas, sandwiched between the two big countries the People's Republic of China on the north and the Republic of India on the south. This ancient kingdom is inhabited by people of different :astes and creeds, speaking different languages such as Nepali, Newari, Bhutia, Tamang, Lepcha, Magar, Maithili, Hindi etc. The Nepali language (formerly called the Par-batia or the Gorkhali Language) is the National language.
Any foreigner with a little knowledge of spoken Nepali can make himself easily understood in any part of Nepal as it is the "Lingua Franca' of the land.
The Nepali language has no other script than the Deva-nagari script. One who knows how to read and write the Devanagari script, can learn speaking and writing Nepali withm a very short time.