Nepal speaks more than Nepali

Mothers' group; village women's committee that runs events and cleanups

Evening worship with lamps, bells and songs

Inscription, such as Ashoka's lines on the pillar

Traditional Tibetan doctor who treats with herbs; still practising in Lo and Dolpo

Buddhist nun; Thubten Chholing has a large community

Floor painting in rice paste drawn by Maithil women for rituals

Wild water buffalo, found in Nepal only at Koshi Tappu

Bones or relics; asthi stupa means a relic stupa

Local name for Simraungadh's old earthen ramparts and ditches

Cloud; Badal Danda is the cloud ridge

Tiger

Buddhist monastery courtyard, often hidden behind a narrow passage

The twenty-two hill kingdoms that followed the Khasa empire

Newar Buddhist priestly family who perform rituals at the stupa

Sacrifice or offering to a deity

Local word for a lake or pond, as in barha banda

Monkey

Banyan tree; Nyagrodharama means the banyan grove

Swamp deer; literally twelve horns, for its many-tined antlers

Elected village headman in a Tharu community

Market street; in Bandipur, the whole old town

River confluence, a sacred place for bathing

Flat, low land beside a river

Hidden sacred valley blessed by Guru Rinpoche; Khumbu is one

A vow made to a deity, repaid with an offering when a wish is granted

A pass or saddle on a ridge, common in place names

Porter who carries loads on the back with a head strap

Traditional trailside inn serving food and drink, ancestor of the teahouse

Sheep, the first part of the name Bhedetar

Buddhist monk

Feast, often a community meal after a ritual or festival

Old Nepali name for Tibet, as in Bhote Koshi

Twenty thousand

Slowly; what your guide says on steep steps

Slowly, slowly: the advice every guide gives on the climb to Namche

Tamang shaman and healer

the old religion of Tibet, followed by Lubra's families

Tree, in formal Nepali; locals call the great fig the pakari briksha

The Buddha's birthday, on the full moon of Baisakh

The god of Bungamati, Rato Machhindranath

Small stupa or shrine, often given by a family to earn merit

Bird

Stone resting platform under a shade tree on a trail

home-brewed barley beer, cloudy and mild

Waterfall, as in Patale Chhango (Davis Falls)

House or home

Hard dried cheese chewed slowly like a sweet

Home-brewed beer of fermented millet, rice or barley

Cold water, the source of the village name

Tea garden or estate

Tea field or garden

Sherpa and Tibetan name for Everest

Stupa shrine; walk past it keeping it on your right, or left in Bon villages

Deep pond or pool; Devdaha is the pool of the gods

Round frame drum played for Tamang Selo songs

Hill or ridge

Himalayan monal, Nepal's national bird

Circle song and dance of the far west, sung in call and answer

Small stone shrine, often to a Masto god

Handwoven patterned cloth, a Palpa speciality

Holy place or abode of a deity

Village oracle who speaks for a local god, often Masto

Bow; here, Shiva's bow broken by Rama

Thank you

water spout; Muktinath has 108 of them

Steamed rice-flour cake, made for Maghi and other feasts

Large two-sided Newar drum played in festival processions

Gate or door; guides speak of the east gate, purbi dhoka

Conical bamboo basket carried on the back by porters

Wooden rowing boat, the painted ones for hire on Phewa

Confluence of two rivers

female yak; a male is a yak

meditation cell or retreat house, often a cave

Boat; on the Narayani, often a dugout canoe

Royal palace or court

God or deity, as in Bunga Dyah, the rain god

fortress or fort-palace; Tsarang's stands five storeys high

Tamang greeting, used like namaste

Cow, honoured at Swargadwari as sacred

Rhinoceros; you will hear it shouted softly from the jeep

Garuda, the bird-man who carries Vishnu

Village

Gharial, the slim-snouted fish-eating crocodile

Stone steps on a riverbank, used for bathing and cremation

Horse; with pani, water, it gives Ghorepani its name

Freshwater snail cooked in a spiced curry, a Tharu favourite

Village temple or monastery in Hyolmo place names, as in Tarkeghyang

Crocodile; here the mugger

Buddhist monastery or village temple

Monastery; each Limi village has one

Of Gorkha; once the name for the Nepali language and its people

Herders' shelter or cattle shed on a high pasture

cave; you will hear it for the sky caves of Chhoser

Buddhist monastery, as in Lumbini's monastic zone

Cave

Rhododendron, which reddens the eastern ridges in April

Precious teacher, the Tibetan name for Padmasambhava

Community trust that funds a temple, festival or ritual

king; the title of the rulers of Lo until 2008

Weekly market; Namche's is on Saturday

wind; in Jomsom, the afternoon gale up the valley

Snow mountain or range of snow peaks

Sunken stone water spout, often Licchavi or Malla era

The people and region of Helambu, also written Yolmo

Sacred thread renewed on Janai Purnima

Home-brewed millet or rice beer

Wild elephant

Street festival, often with a chariot or masked dancers

Shaman and healer who dances at Gosaikunda during Janai Purnima

Newar greeting, the local namaste

Hello; the Newar greeting you may hear in the bazaar

Flame; the sacred natural gas fires of Dullu

Go slowly; said to someone leaving, like goodbye

Lotus, growing on the lake edges

Blacksmith; also a caste name for metalworking families

gateway chorten over a trail, painted inside with mandalas

Spouted brass water jug made in Tansen

Small snack house serving afternoon khaja, tea and momo

Pillar or post; locals call the Ashokan pillar the Ashok khamba

Thatch grass cut from the park each winter for roofs

High summer pasture used by herders

White scarf given as blessing, welcome or farewell

Irrigated rice field

River or stream, as in Modi Khola

Curved Nepali knife used on farms and by Gurkha soldiers

Bhaktapur, the Newar name for the town

Kirtipur, the Newar name for the town

Memorial pillar recording a king's deeds

Painted wedding chamber, and the Mithila wall painting made for it

walking clockwise around a holy place as an act of devotion

Fort or hilltop stronghold, the ending of many ridge names

Mist or fog, the low cloud that fills Ilam's valleys most mornings

Irrigation channel carrying water to the terraces

Sacred pond or lake, as in Gosaikunda

Mountain pass, as in Nangpa La, Renjo La, Cho La

Soldier serving abroad, especially in the Gurkha regiments

Red tree rhododendron, Nepal's national flower, blooming on the trails in March and April

Teacher or monk; in Sherpa villages also a married householder priest

High cold hills above the farming zone

High forested hill, colder than the valley

Altitude sickness has struck; what porters say of headaches up high

'Victory to the gods', called at the base camp puja and on passes

temple, literally 'god house'; as in Jampa Lhakhang

New year; Tamu Lhosar falls on 15 Poush, about 30 December

Tall sacred pole raised at a temple, renewed at festivals

The old kingdom of Upper Mustang; its people are the Loba

the people of Lo, Upper Mustang

Raised wooden watchtower for viewing wildlife

Fish; machha tareko is fried fish

Mugger crocodile, the broad-snouted crocodile of lakes and slow rivers

Palace or mansion

Mother; used for local goddesses, as in Kanya Mai

Prayer stone or wall carved with om mani padme hum

Jumla's red rice, grown in high cold valleys

Family of local gods worshipped across the Karnali

Fair or festival gathering, like Ridi's January mela

The Limbu name for the Pathibhara hill

liberation from the cycle of rebirth; Muktinath is its lord

Oral scripture and tradition of the Kirat peoples

Serpent deity; in legend the guardians of Ramagrama's relics

Female yak; the 'yak' cheese and butter come from her milk

Greeting with palms joined; used for hello and goodbye

Tumpline strap across the forehead that takes the weight of a load

Homage to the Buddha; also the name of the pilgrimage site

A name of Vishnu, preserver of the universe

God of music and dance, worshipped by Newar musicians

National park, as in Chitwan Rashtriya Nikunja

salt, the trade that built Tukuche

Mantra of Chenrezig, compassion, carved and chanted everywhere

The five-shrine pilgrimage circuit around Dullu

Water; tato pani is hot water, umaleko pani boiled water

High open meadow; Khaptad is famous for its 22

Open public rest house, often run by a guthi

Newar scroll painting of Buddhist or Hindu deities

Elephant driver; the person who sits on the neck and steers

Open grassland in the Terai forest, as in Shuklaphanta

buckwheat, grown on the terraces and used for bread and dhido

Foot of a hill, the bottom of a climb

The sacred fig, the same species as the Bodhi tree beside Puskarini pond

Pond or lake, as in Dudh Pokhari, 'milk lake'

Respectful greeting, used widely in the plains

Blessed food or offering shared after worship

Prayer ritual; Tengboche's afternoon puja is open to visitors

Full moon; the busiest pilgrimage days

distilled spirit; in Marpha usually made from apples

Queen; Rani Mahal means the queen's palace

Mountain or hill, as in Chhukung Ri, Gokyo Ri

'Precious one', title of a recognised reincarnate lama

Sage or seer; Resunga is the hill of the horned rishi

Traditional gathering of young Gurung people to sing, work and socialise

Hindu ascetic who has renounced home life

A large pond or tank, as in Nigali Sagar

Nepali name for Everest, often glossed as forehead of the sky

Shorea robusta, the tall hardwood tree that dominates Terai forests

Black ammonite fossil from the Kali Gandaki, worshipped as Vishnu

'farming nomads': the Dolpo way of mixing fields and herding

Meat skewers marinated in spices and grilled over charcoal

Greeting used by Limbu and other Kirat people

Black ammonite fossil from the Kali Gandaki, worshipped as Vishnu

'People of the east', from shar (east) and pa (people)

Stone inscription

Newar woodcarver; also a family name

Sherpa name for Solu, the lower part of Solukhumbu

Juniper; its smoke is burned as incense offering at gompas and passes

The Tsum community vow against killing, hunting or selling animals for slaughter

Ritual bath in a sacred river

Dome-shaped Buddhist monument, usually holding relics

title once held by the leading Thakali trading families

Orchid; literally golden flower

Orange or tangerine, Dhankuta's winter fruit

Sunrise

Apple; Solu's orchards are famous for them in autumn

Lake, as in Phewa Tal and Begnas Tal

The Gurung people's own name for themselves

The Gurung language, as Gurungs call it

Island; the reserve is named for the river islands of the Koshi

Flat raised terrace above a river, as in Tumlingtar and Bhedetar

Yam; from the king's saying, Nepal is a yam between two boulders

Greeting used in Manang and the Tibetan settlements of Pokhara

Flat plain or meadow, as in Bhimthang

Thank you

noodle soup with vegetables or meat, eaten everywhere in Lo

Sesame and jaggery sweet eaten at Makar Sankranti

Neighbourhood or street quarter of an old town

Fermented millet drunk hot through a bamboo straw

Mustard; the yellow winter crop in the fields around the pillar

Trident, Shiva's weapon

Sacred confluence of three rivers

Roasted barley flour, a staple mixed with tea

Lake, as in Imja Tsho

lake

Open parade or meeting ground; Bandipur's is on the ridge end

Uphill climb; you will hear it often on the way up

Sugarcane, the main cash crop around the pillar

Vedic fire ritual; the yagya kunda is the sacred fire altar

male yak; the caravan animal of Dolpo

Patan, the Newar name for the city

Kathmandu, the Newar name for the city

Summer herding settlement in high pastures

Legendary wild creature of the high valleys; also migoi in Sherpa

Steamed rice-flour dumpling filled with molasses and sesame

The local mountain god who protects a valley

Yuma Sammang, the ancestral grandmother goddess of the Limbu

the Bon swastika, symbol of the eternal; also names Bon itself