Dzongkha ( རྫོང་ཁ་ ; [d͡zòŋkʰɑ́] ) is a Tibeto-Burman language that is the official and national language of Bhutan . It is written using the Tibetan script .
55-436: The word dzongkha means "the language of the fortress", from dzong "fortress" and kha "language". As of 2013, Dzongkha had 171,080 native speakers and about 640,000 total speakers. Dzongkha is a South Tibetic language . It is closely related to Laya and Lunana and partially intelligible with Sikkimese , and to some other Bhutanese languages such as Chocha Ngacha , Brokpa , Brokkat and Lakha . It has
110-727: A dzongkhag court presided over by a dzongkhag drangpon (judge), who is appointed by the Chief Justice of Bhutan on the advice of Royal Judicial Service Council. The dzongkhags , and their residents, are represented in the Parliament of Bhutan , a bicameral legislature consisting of the National Council and the National Assembly . Each dzongkhag has one National Council representative. National Assembly representatives are distributed among
165-454: A dzongdag (administrator), assisted by a dzongrab (deputy district collector), carry out administrative activities, while the DYT coordinates all developmental activities within the dzongkhag . Each DYT includes representatives of the municipalities and the towns within the dzongkhag , who elect a chairperson from among themselves. The DYTs also had non-voting members, which included
220-751: A Khams dialect in Kachin , Myanmar . Tournadre (2005) classifies the Tibetic languages as follows. The other languages ( Thewo-Chone , Zhongu , Khalong , Dongwang , Gserpa , Zitsadegu , Drugchu , Baima ) are not mutually intelligible , but are not known well enough to classify. mDungnag , a Tibetan language spoken in Gansu , is also divergent and is not mutually intelligible with either Khams or Amdo . Tournadre (2013) adds Tseku and Khamba to Khams , and groups Thewo-Chone , Zhongu , and Baima as an Eastern branch of Tibetic. According to Bradley,
275-769: A Tibetic language originally spoken in the western region. Although non-Tibetic languages ( Tshangla , East Bodish ) are dominant in many parts of the country, Dzongkha is also widely used there as a second-language. Other Tibetic varieties of Bhutan include Choča-ngača, Brokpa and Lakha . Within areas administrated by Pakistan , Balti is spoken in Gilgit-Baltistan . Within areas administrated by India , some Tibetic varieties are spoken in Ladakh , Sikkim , Himachal Pradesh ( Kinnaur , Lahul and Spiti ), West Bengal ( Darjeeling and Kalimpong ), as well as Uttarakhand . As with Bhutan and Nepal , there reside
330-455: A West Himalayish superstratum, but its substratum is derived from a different Sino-Tibetan branch. Only a few language clusters in the world are derived from a common language which is identical to or closely related to an old literary language. This small group includes the Tibetic languages, as descendants from Old Tibetan (7th–9th centuries), but also the Romance languages with Latin ,
385-592: A brief overview of Tibetic varieties in the country. He estimates there are about 300 Khams Tibetan speakers inhabiting at least four villages in Dazundam Village Tract, Pannandin Sub-township, Nogmong Township , Putao District , Kachin State. The four villages he mentions are Tahaundam , "Shidudan" ( Japanese : シドゥダン ) , Sandam, Madin, the second of which he provides no romanization because
440-554: A close linguistic relationship to J'umowa, which is spoken in the Chumbi Valley of Southern Tibet . It has a much more distant relationship to Standard Tibetan . Spoken Dzongkha and Tibetan are around 50% to 80% mutually intelligible, with the literary forms of both highly influenced by the liturgical (clerical) Classical Tibetan language, known in Bhutan as Chöke, which has been used for centuries by Buddhist monks . Chöke
495-640: A distinct set of rules." The following is a sample vocabulary: The following is a sample text in Dzongkha of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights : འགྲོ་ ’Gro- བ་ ba- མི་ mi- རིགས་ rigs- ག་ ga- ར་ ra- དབང་ dbaṅ- ཆ་ cha- འདྲ་ ’dra- མཏམ་ mtam- འབད་ ’bad- སྒྱེཝ་ sgyew- ལས་ las- ག་ ga- ར་ ra- གིས་ gis- གཅིག་ Districts of Bhutan Parliament Judiciary The Kingdom of Bhutan
550-632: A more distant relationship to Standard Tibetan . Spoken Dzongkha and Tibetan are around 50 to 80 percent mutually intelligible . Dzongkha and its dialects are the native tongue of eight western districts of Bhutan ( viz. Wangdue Phodrang , Punakha , Thimphu , Gasa , Paro , Ha , Dagana and Chukha ). There are also some native speakers near the Indian town of Kalimpong , once part of Bhutan but now in North Bengal , and in Sikkim . Dzongkha
605-425: A more efficient distribution of personnel and administrative and technical skills." Dzongdeys acted as the intermediary administrative divisions between the dzongkhag administration and the central government. Although Thimphu dzongkhag and Thimphu thromde (municipality) were within the boundaries of Zone I, they stayed outside the zonal system. By 1991, however, only Eastern dzongdey (Zone IV)
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#1732764701709660-684: A number of Tibetan refugees across the country, notably in Dharamshala where the headquarters of the Central Tibetan Administration is located. In Myanmar , a variant of Khams Tibetan is spoken near the Hkakabo Razi , Kachin State which is adjacent to Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture , Yunnan and Tibet Autonomous Region . Suzuki (2012) describes the phonology of the Sangdam dialect, as well as giving
715-403: A substitute for the term "Tibetan languages/dialects" used in the previous literature; the distinction between "language" and "dialect" is not straightforward, and labeling varieties of Tibetic as "Tibetan dialects" could be misleading not only because those "dialects" are often mutually-unintelligible , but also the speakers of Tibetic do not necessarily consider themselves as ethnic Tibetan , as
770-505: Is Baima , which retains an apparent Qiangic substratum , and has multiple layers of borrowing from Amdo , Khams , and Zhongu , but does not correspond to any established branch of Tibetic. The two major Tibetic languages used for broadcasting within China are Standard Tibetan and Amdo Tibetan . Tournadre & Suzuki (2023) recognize 8 geographical sections , each with about 7-14 groups of Tibetic dialects. This classification
825-567: Is a revision of Tournadre (2014). Tournadre (2014) classifies the Tibetic languages as eight geolinguistic continua , consisting of 50 languages and over 200 dialects. This is an updated version of his work in 2008. The Eastern and Southeastern branches have lower internal mutual intelligibility , but it is more limited in the Northwestern branch and between certain southern and northern Khams dialects. These continua are spread across five countries with one exception, this being Sangdam,
880-532: Is also spoken in diaspora communities in Europe , North America (e.g. Little Tibet, Toronto ), Asia and Australia . Within China , the great majority of Tibetic speakers are officially classified into the " Tibetan nationality " (藏族), which however includes speakers of other Trans-Himalayan languages such as Rgyalrongnic . Aside from Tibet Autonomous Region , there are several autonomous prefectures for
935-742: Is divided into 20 districts ( Dzongkha : dzongkhags ). Bhutan is located between the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and India on the eastern slopes of the Himalayas in South Asia . Dzongkhags are the primary subdivisions of Bhutan . They possess a number of powers and rights under the Constitution of Bhutan , such as regulating commerce, running elections, and creating local governments. The Local Government Act of 2009 established local governments in each of
990-658: Is mainly used for interethnic communication; those with primary education can speak and write Burmese as well, while they are illiterate in their own language. Most Tibetic languages are written in one of two Indic scripts . Standard Tibetan and most other Tibetic languages are written in the Tibetan script with a historically conservative orthography (see below) that helps unify the Tibetan-language area. Some other Tibetan languages (in India and Nepal) are written in
1045-729: Is the case with Sherpas , Ladakhis , Baltis , Lahaulas , Sikkimese and Bhutanese . Marius Zemp (2018) hypothesizes that Tibetan originated as a pidgin with the West Himalayish language Zhangzhung as its superstratum , and Rgyalrongic as its substratum (both languages are part of the broader Sino-Tibetan family). However, there are many grammatical differences between the Rgyalrongic and Tibetic languages; Rgyalrongic tend to use prefixes such as *kə-, *tə-, etc., while Tibetic languages use suffixes such as -pa/-ba, -ma, -po/-bo, -mo, etc. Similarly, Tamangic also has
1100-684: Is the least densely populated, with 1.3 people per square kilometre (3.4/sq mi). The largest dzongkhag by land area is Wangdue Phodrang , encompassing 4,308 km (1,663 sq mi), while the smallest is Tsirang , encompassing 639 km (247 sq mi). Medieval Bhutan was organized into provinces or regions headquartered in dzongs (castles/fortresses) which served as administrative centres for areas around them. The dzongs of Paro, Dagana and Trongsa were headed by penlops (provincial lords/governors) while other dzongs were headed by dzongpons (fortress lords). Penlops and dzongpons gained power as
1155-536: Is the major literary language, particularly for its use in Tibetan Buddhist scriptures and literature. Tibetan languages are spoken by some 6 million people, not all of whom are Tibetan people . With the worldwide spread of Tibetan Buddhism , the Tibetan language has also spread into the western world and can be found in many Buddhist publications and prayer materials, while western students also learn
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#17327647017091210-427: Is usually a trill [ r ] or a fricative trill [ r̝ ] , and is voiceless in the onsets of high-tone syllables. /t, tʰ, ts, tsʰ, s/ are dental . Descriptions of the palatal affricates and fricatives vary from alveolo-palatal to plain palatal. Only a few consonants are found in syllable-final positions. Most common among them are /m, n, p/ . Syllable-final /ŋ/ is often elided and results in
1265-530: Is usually written in Bhutanese forms of the Uchen script , forms of the Tibetan script known as Jôyi "cursive longhand" and Jôtshum "formal longhand". The print form is known simply as Tshûm . There are various systems of romanization and transliteration for Dzongkha, but none accurately represents its phonetic sound. The Bhutanese government adopted a transcription system known as Roman Dzongkha , devised by
1320-478: The dzongdag , the dungpa ( dungkhag (sub-district) head) (where a dungkhag exists) and the dzongkhag officials from various sectors such as the chief engineer, and the planning, finance, education, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and health officers. The Constitution of 2008 laid basic provisions for an elected dzongkhag tshogdu and dzongkhag courts in each dzongkhag . The Local Government Act of 2009 further codified
1375-432: The dzongkhag , composed of the gup ( gewog head) and the mangmi (elected representatives of the gewogs ) from each gewog (block of villages), and representatives from the thromdes of that dzongkhag . They are empowered to enforce rules on health and public safety, regulate environmental pollution, advertise in regard to environmental aesthetics, regulate broadcast media in accordance with
1430-566: The dzongkhags in proportion to their registered voter population as recommended by the Delimitation Commission , provided that "no dzongkhag shall have less than two and more than seven National Assembly constituencies." As of the 2017 census, Thimphu is the most populous dzongkhag , with 138,736 residents; Gasa is the least populous, with 3,952 residents. Thimphu is the most densely populated, with 67.1 people per square kilometre (174/sq mi), whereas Gasa
1485-614: The Arabic languages (or "dialects") with Classical Arabic , the Sinitic languages with Middle Chinese , the modern Indic languages with Vedic Sanskrit . The more divergent languages are spoken in the north and east, likely due to language contact with the Qiangic , Rgyalrongic languages . The divergence exhibited in Khalong may also be due to language shift . In addition, there
1540-701: The Qiang peoples of Kham are classified by China as ethnic Tibetans (see Gyalrongic languages ; Gyalrong people are identified as 'Tibetan' in China), the Qiangic languages are not Tibetan, but rather form their own branch of the Tibeto-Burman language family . Classical Tibetan was not a tonal language , but many varieties such as Central and Khams Tibetan have developed tone registers. Amdo and Ladakhi-Balti are without tone. Tibetan morphology can generally be described as agglutinative . Although
1595-513: The "nationality" in Sichuan , Qinghai , Gansu , and Yunnan . Lhasa Tibetan , or more technically, Standard Tibetan (natively called སྤྱི་སྐད spyi skad ) is used among post-1950s Tibetan emigrants to Nepal . Other Tibetic varieties such as Sherpa , Jirel and Yolmo are spoken in districts along the China-Nepal border . The national language of Bhutan is Dzongkha ,
1650-469: The 11th/12th centuries). According to Nicolas Tournadre, there are 50 Tibetic languages, which branch into more than 200 dialects, which could be grouped into eight dialect continua . These Tibetic languages are spoken in Tibet , the greater Tibetan Plateau , and in the Himalayas in Gilgit-Baltistan , Ladakh , Aksai Chin , Nepal , and in India at Himachal Pradesh , and Uttarakhand . Classical Tibetan
1705-490: The 20 dzongkhags overseen by the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs . Each dzongkhag has its own elected government with non-legislative executive powers, called a dzongkhag tshogdu (district council). The dzongkhag tshogdu is assisted by the dzongkhag administration headed by a dzongdag (royal appointees who are the chief executive officer of each dzongkhag ). Each dzongkhag also has
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1760-478: The 9th century the process of cluster simplification, devoicing and tonogenesis had begun in the central dialects, as can be shown by Tibetan words transliterated into other languages, particularly Middle Chinese but also Uyghur . The combination of the abovementioned evidence enables us to form the following outline of the evolution of Tibetan. In the 9th century, as shown by the bilingual Tibetan– Chinese treaty of 821–822 found in front of Lhasa 's Jokhang ,
1815-500: The Information, Communications, and Media Act, regulate gambling, and raise their own funds. They also oversee the dzongdag . A dzongdag , in turn, is responsible for maintaining law and order , and for enforcing the driglam namzha (rules for disciplined behavior). Tibetic languages The Tibetic languages form a well-defined group of languages descending from Old Tibetan (7th to 9th centuries, or to
1870-1364: The Tibetic languages, has been reconstructed by Tournadre (2014). Proto-Tibetic is similar to, but not identical to, written Classical Literary Tibetan . The following phonological features are characteristic of Proto-Tibetic (Tournadre 2014: 113). Reconstructed Proto-Tibetic forms from Tournadre (2014) include: Pre-Tibetic is a hypothetical pre-formation stage of Proto-Tibetic. *ty-, *ly-, *sy- were not palatalized in Pre-Tibetic, but underwent palatalization in Proto-Tibetic (Tournadre 2014: 113-114). Posited sound changes from Pre-Tibetic to Proto-Tibetic include *ty- > *tɕ-, *sy- > *ɕ-, *tsy- > *tɕ-, and *ly- > *ʑ-. However, Tournadre (2014: 114) notes that many Bodish languages such as Basum , Tamang , and Kurtöp ( East Bodish ) have not undergone these changes (e.g., Bake ( Basum ) ti 'what' vs. Proto-Tibetic *tɕ(h)i and Bake tɨ 'one' vs. Proto-Tibetic *g(ǝ)-tɕ(h)ik; Kurtöp la: 'iron' and Bumthap lak 'iron' vs. Proto-Tibetic *ltɕaks). Some Pre-Tibetic reconstructions, along with reconstructed Proto-Tibetic forms and orthographic Classical Literary Tibetan, from Tournadre (2014: 114-116) are listed below. The numerals in different Tibetan/Tibetic languages are: For
1925-536: The complex initial clusters had already been reduced, and the process of tonogenesis was likely well underway. The next change took place in Tsang (Gtsang) dialects: The ra -tags were altered into retroflex consonants, and the ya -tags became palatals. Later on the superscribed letters and finals d and s disappeared, except in the east and west. It was at this stage that the language spread in Lahul and Spiti, where
1980-442: The coronal sounds i , d , s , l and n . The same holds for Tsang with the exception of l , which merely lengthens the vowel. The medials have become aspirate tenues with a low intonation, which also marks words having a simple initial consonant; while the former aspirates and the complex initials simplified in speech are uttered with a high tone, shrill and rapidly. Proto-Tibetic, the hypothetical proto-language ancestral to
2035-532: The cultural aspects of their region which has shared a close history with neighbours like Kashmiris and Punjabis since the arrival of Islam in the region many centuries ago. Old Tibetan phonology is rather accurately rendered by the script. The finals were pronounced devoiced although they are written as voiced, the prefix letters assimilated their voicing to the root letters. The graphic combinations hr and lh represent voiceless and not necessarily aspirate correspondences to r and l respectively. The letter '
2090-574: The election process of dzongkhag tshogdu , the appointment process of dzongkdag , and the role of dzongkhag courts within the judicial system of Bhutan . It also repealed all previous acts and laws regarding local governments, including the Dzongkhag Yargay Tshogdu Chathrim of 2002. Under the Local Government Act of 2009 , the dzongkhag tshogdu is the non-legislative executive body of
2145-692: The face of strong Punjabi cultural influence throughout Pakistan, has fostered renewed interest in reviving the Tibetan script and using it alongside the Perso-Arabic script . Many shops in Baltistan's capital Skardu in Pakistan's "Northern Areas" region have begun supplementing signs written in the Perso-Arabic script with signs written in the Tibetan script. Baltis see this initiative not as separatist but rather as part of an attempt to preserve
2200-483: The form of CVC, CV, or VC. Syllables with complex onsets are also found, but such an onset must be a combination of an unaspirated bilabial stop and a palatal affricate. The bilabial stops in complex onsets are often omitted in colloquial speech. Dzongkha is considered a South Tibetic language . It is closely related to and partially intelligible with Sikkimese , and to some other Bhutanese languages such as Chocha Ngacha , Brokpa , Brokkat and Lakha . Dzongkha bears
2255-473: The increasingly dysfunctional dual system of government eventually collapsed amid civil war. The victorious Penlop of Trongsa Ugyen Wangchuck gained de jure sovereignty over the entire realm in 1907, marking the establishment of the modern Kingdom of Bhutan and the ascendancy of the House of Wangchuck . At the direction of the fourth Druk Gyalpo (Bhutan head of state), Jigme Singye Wangchuk ,
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2310-414: The language for the translation of Tibetan texts. Outside of Lhasa itself, Lhasa Tibetan is spoken by approximately 200,000 exiled Tibetans who have moved from Tibet to India , Nepal and other countries. Tibetan is also spoken by groups of ethnic minorities in Tibet who have lived in close proximity to Tibetans for centuries, but nevertheless retain their own languages and cultures. Although some of
2365-716: The languages cluster as follows (dialect information from the Tibetan Dialects Project at the University of Bern): Some classifications group Khams and Amdo together as Eastern Tibetan (not to be confused with East Bodish , whose speakers are not ethnically Tibetan). Some, like Tournadre, break up Central Tibetan. Phrases such as 'Central Tibetan' and 'Central Bodish' may or may not be synonymous: Southern (Central) Tibetan can be found as Southern Bodish, for example; 'Central Tibetan' may mean dBus or all tonal lects apart from Khams; 'Western Bodish' may be used for
2420-474: The linguist George van Driem , as its standard in 1991. Dzongkha is a tonal language and has two register tones: high and low. The tone of a syllable determines the allophone of the onset and the phonation type of the nuclear vowel. All consonants may begin a syllable. In the onsets of low-tone syllables, consonants are voiced . Aspirated consonants (indicated by the superscript h ), /ɬ/ , and /h/ are not found in low-tone syllables. The rhotic /r/
2475-508: The non-tonal western lects while 'Western Tibetan' is used for the tonal lects, or 'Bodish' may even be used for other branches of the Tibeto-Kanauri languages . Amdo Tibetan has 70% lexical similarity with Central Tibetan and Khams Tibetan, while Khams Tibetan has 80% lexical similarity with Central Tibetan. The Tibetic-speaking area spans six countries: China (PRC), Nepal , Pakistan , India , Bhutan , and Myanmar . Tibetan
2530-465: The placename is uncharted on the map available to him. According to Suzuki's consultant , they migrated from Zayu County , Tibet more than a century ago although they still have contact with relatives living there, and there are few differences between the dialects of the four villages . Since Rawang people are the ethnic majority of the area, the Tibetans also have a command of Rawang , which
2585-431: The preceding vowel nasalized and prolonged, especially word-finally. Syllable-final /k/ is most often omitted when word-final as well, unless in formal speech. In literary pronunciation, liquids /r/ and /l/ may also end a syllable. Though rare, /ɕ/ is also found in syllable-final positions. No other consonants are found in syllable-final positions. Many words in Dzongkha are monosyllabic . Syllables usually take
2640-563: The process of decentralisation of local administration started in 1981 with the formation of a dzongkhag yargye tshogchung (DYT, district development committee) in each of the newly created dzongkhags . Four dzongdeys (zones) were established in 1988 and 1989: Zone I, including four western districts, seated at Chhukha ; Zone II, including four west-central districts, seated at Damphu ; Zone III, including four east-central districts, seated at Geylegphug ; and Zone IV, including five eastern districts, seated at Yonphula; to "provide
2695-641: The related Devanagari script, which is also used to write Hindi , Nepali and many other languages. However, some Ladakhi and Balti speakers write with the Urdu script ; this occurs almost exclusively in Pakistan . The Tibetan script fell out of use in Pakistani Baltistan hundreds of years ago upon the region's adoption of Islam . However, increased concern among Balti people for the preservation of their language and traditions, especially in
2750-424: The superscribed letters were silent, the d and g finals were hardly heard, and as , os , us were pronounced ai , oi , ui . The words introduced from Tibet into the border languages at that time differ greatly from those borrowed at an earlier period. Other changes are more recent and restricted to Ü and Tsang. In Ü, the vowel sounds a , o , u have now mostly umlauted to ä , ö , ü when followed by
2805-491: The term "Tibetic" had been applied in various ways within the Sino-Tibetan research tradition, Nicolas Tournadre defined it as a phylum derived from Old Tibetan . Following Nishi (1987) and Beyer (1992), he identified several lexical innovations that can be used as a diagnosis to distinguish Tibetic from the other languages of the family, such as བདུན bdun "seven". The "Tibetic languages" in this sense are
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#17327647017092860-521: Was declared the national language of Bhutan in 1971. Dzongkha study is mandatory in all schools, and the language is the lingua franca in the districts to the south and east where it is not the mother tongue. The Bhutanese films Travellers and Magicians (2003) and Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (2019) are in Dzongkha. The Tibetan script used to write Dzongkha has thirty basic letters , sometimes known as "radicals", for consonants . Dzongkha
2915-597: Was fully functional. Zone I, Zone II and Zone III were "indefinitely" disabled in early 1991. Zone IV also ceased to function in mid-1992. Dzongdeys slowly lost relevance and went defunct as they were not included in the Constitution of Bhutan and the Local Government Act of 2009, which repealed the previous local governments and administrative divisions. Under the Dzongkhag Yargay Tshogdu Chathrim (District Development Council Act) of 2002,
2970-490: Was pronounced as a voiced guttural fricative before vowels but as homorganic prenasalization before consonants. Whether the gigu verso had phonetic meaning or not remains controversial. For instance, Srongbtsan Sgampo would have been pronounced [sroŋpʦan zɡampo] (now pronounced [sɔ́ŋʦɛ̃ ɡʌ̀mpo] in Lhasa Tibetan) and ' babs would have been pronounced [mbaps] (pronounced [bapˤ] in Lhasa Tibetan). Already in
3025-438: Was used as the language of education in Bhutan until the early 1960s when it was replaced by Dzongkha in public schools. Although descended from Classical Tibetan, Dzongkha shows a great many irregularities in sound changes that make the official spelling and standard pronunciation more distant from each other than is the case with Standard Tibetan. "Traditional orthography and modern phonology are two distinct systems operating by
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