Dzongkha language

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{{language |name=Dzongkha |nativename=Template:Lang |familycolor=Sino-Tibetan |region=Bhutan |speakers=130,000 |fam2=Tibeto-Burman |fam3=Himalayish |fam4=Tibeto-Kanauri |fam5=Tibetic |fam6=Tibetan |fam7=Southern |nation=Bhutan |iso1=dz|iso2=dzo|iso3=dzo |map= |notice=Indic}}

Dzongkha (རྫོང་ཁ) is the national language of the Kingdom of Bhutan. The word "dzongkha" means the language (kha, ཁ་) spoken in the dzong (རྫོང་), dzongs being the fortress-like monasteries established throughout Bhutan by Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyel in the 17th century.

Dzongkha bears a linguistic relationship to modern Tibetan as that between Spanish and Italian. The modern language pairs have lost mutual comprehensibility but they share a common ancestor language which is still used in liturgical contexts. Thus religious professionals in Spain and Italy study Latin the religious language of Roman Catholicism, while monks in Tibet and Bhutan study Old Tibetan the sacred language of Tibetan Buddhism. In Bhutan this preserved sacred language is referred to as Chhokey.

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 or Dranjongke ('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)<i>, and Laka <i>(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 the Ucan fonts developed to print the Tibetan syllabary.

In October 2005, an internal Microsoft memorandum barred the term "Dzongkha" from all company software and promotional material, substituting the term "Tibetan - Bhutan" instead. This was done at the request of the mainland Chinese government, who insisted the name "Dzongkha" implied an affiliation with the Dalai Lama, and hence, with Tibetan independentism.[1] The Bhutanese, who have never been under the rule of the Dalai Lama, nor revered him especially, were dismayed by the decision.[2] Linguists have pointed out that the word "Dzongkha" has no particular association with the Dalai Lama. The Bhutanese, leaving their dread unspoken, are no doubt more concerned by what it portends, as the PRC government periodically states that the entire Tibetan cultural region, and thus Bhutan, is Chinese territory.

Dzongkha is relatively unheard to western ears. The 2005 Bhutanese film, Travellers and Magicians was entirely in Dzongkha.

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