Classical Newar

Classical Nepal Bhasa
Classical Nepal Bhasa
Old Newar
पुलाङु नेपाल भास
	A 14th century palm-leaf manuscript of the Haramekhala, a medical manual written in Classical Newar and the Bhujimola script.
Native to	Nepal, India, Tibet, Bhutan
Era	Developed into Modern Nepal Bhasa in the 19th century
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Himalayish Classical Nepal Bhasa; ; ;
Early forms	Proto-Sino-Tibetan Proto-Tibeto-Burman ;
Writing system	Bhujimol script; Prachalit script; Kutila script; Ranjana script; various Nepalese scripts;
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.