The Naga languages, spoken by numerous tribes in the hills near the northern part of India's frontier with Burma, are usually included together in the Tibeto-Burman family, but differ considerably one from another and cannot be reckoned one homogeneous group. In this work, an attempt Is made to classify them, both amongst themselves, and also in relationship to the Tibeto-Burman family, and to indicate elements which may be of other origins. I begin by considering aims md methods, the name 'Naga’, the location and distribution of the tribes, and the history of Naga linguistic studies. The Naga languages are then compared In detail with one another, and with neighbouring languages, a the levels of phonology, morphology, vocabulary and syntax. By cross-comparison of the results so obtained, a final classification is suggested. The pattern of language grouping which emerges is reasonably clear, but must be considered provisional, because of the limitations of the available sources.

La population autochtone de la vallée de Kathmandu, les Néwar, a vu sa langue, le néwari ou népalbhasa, et l’une de ses religions, le bouddhisme, se trouver minorées par l’annexion militaire de leur territoire au Népal de la dynastie Shah, hindoue et népaliphone, en 1769. Un siècle plus tard, la politique de discrimination de la langue et de la religion bouddhiste lancée par l’Etat à l’encontre des Néwar a provoqué l’émergence d’une conscience identitaire et d’actes de résistance culturelle. Or, depuis ses débuts, la revendication de l’appartenance au groupe linguistique néwar et, souvent, de sa défense, se double chez ses acteurs d’un rattachement personnel à la religion bouddhiste, sans que cette double appartenance soit pour autant mise en avant dans les discours.La mise en regard de la situation actuelle de la vitalité de la langue et de celle du bouddhisme dans cette population vise d’une part à documenter l’étude des relations entre langue et religion, et d’autre part à proposer l’application d’outils d’évaluation de la vitalité linguistique à celle de la vitalité religieuse. C’est également une confirmation de la nécessité qu’il y a à mettre au jour et à conceptualiser les relations entre la langue et les autres dynamismes sociaux dont elle semble être, si souvent, à la fois le vecteur et l’enjeu. / In 1769, the Shah dynasty from Western Nepal, promoting Hinduism and speaking Nepali, had conquered the Kathmandu Valley and integrated it into a much wider Nepal. As a consequence, the language, as well as the Buddhist tradition of the local indigenous ethnic group, the Newars, became minority ones. A century later, the State launched a repressive policy towards both Newari language and Buddhism, and the result has been the development of identity awareness, both in the linguistic and in the religious fields, among the Newar intelligentsia, who entered cultural resistance. Therefore, since the beginning, both language and religion have been associated, although activists hardly acknowledge this double-sided feature of their commitments.This study of the current situation of both language and religion vitalities among the Newars of the Kathmandu Valley aims primarily at documenting the research on relations between language and religion, and at testing the application of evaluation tools of language vitality to the evaluation of religious vitality. Furthermore, it confirms the necessity we are facing to explore and conceptualize more the links between language and the social dynamics it often sustains but also depends on.