Dzongkha language

Dzongkha
Dzongkha-02.svg
Spoken in
Total speakers First language: 130,000
Second language ~470,000
Language family Sino-Tibetan
  • (Tibeto-Burman)
    • Tibeto-Kanauri
      • Bodish
        • Tibetan
          • Central Tibetan
            • Southern
              • Dzongkha
Writing system Tibetan script
Official status
Official language in  Bhutan
Regulated by Dzongkha Development Commission
Language codes
ISO 639-1 dz
ISO 639-2 dzo
ISO 639-3 dzo
Linguasphere
Indic script
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Dzongkha (རྫོང་ཁ Wylie: rdzong-kha, Jong-kă), occasionally Ngalopkha, is the national language of Bhutan. The word "dzongkha" means the language (kha) spoken in the dzong, – dzong being the fortress-like monasteries established throughout Bhutan by Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in the 17th century.

Dzongkha bears a close linguistic relationship to J'umowa spoken in the Chumbi valley of Southern Tibet and to the Dranjongke language of Sikkim.[1] It has a much more distant relationship to standard modern Central Tibetan. Although spoken Dzongkha and Tibetan are largely mutually unintelligible, the literary forms of both are 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 was used as the language of education in Bhutan until the early 1960s when it was replaced by Dzongkha in public schools.

Dzongkha and its dialects are the native tongue of eight western districts of Bhutan (viz. Phodrang, Punakha, Thimphu, Gasa, Paro, Ha, Dhakana, and Chukha). There are also some speakers found near the Indian town of Kalimpong, once part of Bhutan but now in West Bengal. Dzongkha study is mandatory in all schools in Bhutan, and the language is the lingua franca in the districts to the south and east where it is not the mother tongue.

Linguistically, Dzongkha is a South Bodish language belonging to the proposed Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan group. It is closely related to Sikkimese (Wylie: 'Bras-ljongs-skad), the national language of the erstwhile kingdom of Sikkim; and to some other Bhutanese languages such as Cho-cha-na-ca (khyod ca nga ca kha), Brokpa (me rag sag steng 'brog skad), Brokkat (dur gyi 'brog skad), and Laka (la ka). Modern Tibetan is a Central Bodish language and thus belongs to a different sub-branch.

Dzongkha is usually written in Bhutanese forms of the Tibetan script known as Joyi (mgyogs yig) and Joshum (mgyogs tshugs ma). Dzongkha books are typically printed using Ucan fonts like those to print the Tibetan abugida.

Dzongkha is rarely heard outside Bhutan and environs. However, the 2003 Bhutanese film, Travellers and Magicians is entirely in Dzongkha.

"Bhutani" is not another name for Dzongkha, but the name of a Balochi language. The two are sometimes confused, even in some published ISO 639 codelists.

Contents

Microsoft

In October 2005, an internal Microsoft proposal blocked the term "Dzongkha" from all company software and promotional material, substituting the term "Tibetan - Bhutan" instead. The International Campaign for Tibet cites the memorandum as saying Dzongkha "implies affiliation with the Dalai Lama, which is not acceptable to the government of China".[2][3] The Bhutanese, who have never been under the rule of the Dalai Lamas, even if they revere the 14th Dalai Lama,[4] were dismayed by the decision.[5] Linguists have pointed out that the word "Dzongkha" has no particular association with the Dalai Lama.[2] Ironically, the government of the People's Republic of China continues to use the term "Dzongkha" in its official publications.[6] However, the Chinese government never did use the name "Dzongkha language" (宗喀语), instead, they use the name "Bhutanese language 'Dzongkha'" (不丹语言“宗卡”). The term "Dzongkha" (宗卡) is transcribed in a strange way to make it different to "Tsongkha" (宗喀) in Tsongkhapa.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ van Driem, George (2007). "Endangered Languages of Bhutan and Sikkim: South Bodish Languages". In Moseley, Christopher. Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages. Routledge. p. 294. ISBN 070071197X 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Microsoft Outlaws Dzongkha
  3. ↑ Microsoft Sensitive to Chinese Pressure on Bhutan Tibet Link [http://www.savetibet.org/media-center/ict-news-reports/microsoft-sensitive-chinese-pressure-bhutan-tibet-link Microsoft Sensitive to Chinese Pressure on Bhutan Tibet Link, International Campaign for Tibet
  4. ↑ 30,000 Bhutanese on pilgrimage in India
  5. ↑ Old story, new lessons
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Bhutan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, last updated Jan. 2009. Retrieved on 2009-05-11.

Bibliography

External links