Classical Newar
| Classical Nepal Bhasa | |
|---|---|
| Old Newar | |
| पुलाङु नेपाल भास | |
A manuscript from the 16th century written in Classical Newar. | |
| Native to | Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, India |
| Era | Developed into Modern Nepal Bhasa in the 19th century |
Sino-Tibetan
| |
Early forms | |
| Nepalese scripts: Ranjana script, Prachalit script, Bhujimol script Litumol script Other: Brahmi script, Kutila script, Devanagari | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | nwc |
| ISO 639-3 | nwc |
| Glottolog | None |
Classical Newar or Classical Nepal Bhasa (Modern Newar: pulāṃ bhāy, 'old language') also known as Old Newar, is the vernacular and literary form of Nepal Bhasa used prior to the 19th century. The term is most generally used to describe the form of Nepal Bhasa used in manuscripts and other sources from the Malla dynasty.
The antiquity of the Newar language is not known. The Sanskrit stone inscriptions from the Licchavi Dynasty contains frequent use of Tibeto-Burman words, especially for proper nouns like names of person, settlements and rivers, suggesting the existence of a vernacular Tibeto-Burman language, which is believed to be an early form of the Newar language.