Dzongkha, is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by over half a million people in Bhutan; it is the sole official and national language of the Kingdom of Bhutan. The Tibetan alphabet is used to write Dzongkha. The word dzongkha means "the language of the palace"; dzong means "palace" and kha is language. As of 2013, Dzongkha had 171,080 native speakers and about 640,000 total speakers.
Usage
Dzongkha and its dialects are the native tongue of eight western districts of Bhutan. There are also some native speakers near the Indian town of Kalimpong, once part of Bhutan but now in North Bengal. Dzongkha 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 2003 Bhutanese film Travellers and Magicians is in Dzongkha.
Writing system
The Tibetan alphabet used to write Dzongkha has thirty basic letters, sometimes known as "radicals", for consonants. Dzongkha is usually written in Bhutanese forms of the Uchen script, forms of the Tibetan alphabet known as Jôyi "cursive longhand" and Jôtshum "formal longhand". The print form is known simply as Tshûm.
Romanization
There are various ways of romanization and transliteration systems for Dzongkha, however all possible systems failed to represent the true phonetic sound. A phonetic transcription system known as Roman Dzongkha, devised by the linguist George van Driem, was adopted as the standard romanization system of Dzongkha by the Bhutanese government in 1991.
All consonants may begin a syllable. In the onsets of low-tone syllables, consonants are voiced. Aspirated consonants,, and are not found in low-tone syllables. The rhotic is usually a trill or a fricative trill, and is voiceless in the onsets of high-tone syllables. 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. Syllable-final is often elided and results in the preceding vowel nasalized and prolonged, especially word-finally. Syllable-final is most often omitted when word-final as well, unless in formal speech. In literary pronunciation, liquids and may also end a syllable. Though rare, is also found in syllable-final positions. No other consonants are found in syllable-final positions.
Vowels
When in low tone, vowels are produced with breathy voice.
In closed syllables, varies between and, the latter being more common.
varies between and.
varies between close-mid and open-mid, the latter being common in closed syllables. is close-mid. may not be longer than at all, and differs from more often in quality than in length.
Descriptions of vary between close-mid and open-mid.
is close-mid, but may approach open-mid especially in closed syllables. is close-mid.
is slightly lower than open-mid, i.e..
may approach, especially in closed syllables.
When nasalized or followed by, vowels are always long.
Phonotactics
Many words in Dzongkha are monosyllabic. Syllables usually take 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.
Classification and related languages
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 Chocangaca, Brokpa, Brokkat and Lakha. Dzongkha bears 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. Although spoken Dzongkha and Tibetan are largely mutually unintelligible, the literary forms of both are both highly influenced by the liturgicalClassical 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. 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 a distinct set of rules."
Sample text
The following is a sample text in Dzongkha of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Dzongkha in the Tibetan alphabet Translation
