Uday Raj Aaley

Uday Raj Aaley is a Nepalese researcher, translator and a native speaker of the endangered Magar language. He has appeared in the documentary film "Gyani Maiya" as the lead interviewer and he was also the lead translator for the film. Through working closely with Gyani Maiya Sen Kusunda, he collected over the years more than 1,000 Kusunda-language words, and published a dictionary titled "Kusunda Jaati ra Sabdakosh". (K.C.) He was involved in this film in assisting with research and translation during and after filming. Aaley's personal interest in studying endangered languages of Nepal spans over years. He has studied several indigenous languages such as Kusunda, (Western) Tharu and Magar and has published his research widely. Apart from the Kusunda dictionary, he is also the author of the book "Tharu, A Revelation, Saga of Struggle and Survival" and editor and compiler of a forthcoming Tharu dictionary. (Kshatri) Aaley and Timotheus A. Bodt of SOAS University of London made 20 hours of audiovisual recordings interviewing Gyani Maiya Sen Kusunda and Kamala Sen Khatri, then the two fluent native speakers, and published the observations under open access. (Aaley and Bodt) References: K.C., Durgalal. "Book That Traces Kusunda Tribe's History Hits Shelves." Kathmandupost.com, The Kathmandu Post, 1 Aug. 2017, kathmandupost.com/art-entertainment/2017/08/01/book-that-traces-kusunda-tribes-history-hits-shelves. Accessed 5 May 2021. Kshatri, Shaurya. "Western Tharu Language Dictionary to Be Published." Risingnepaldaily.com, The Rising Nepal, 19 Mar. 2021, risingnepaldaily.com/main-news/western-tharu-language-dictionary-to-be-published. Accessed 5 May 2021. Aaley, Uday Raj, and Timotheus A. Bodt. "New Kusunda Data: A List of 250 Concepts." Computer-Assisted Language Comparison in Practice, 8 Apr. 2020, eprints.soas.ac.uk/34592/. Accessed 5 May 2021.