Template:Distinguish Template:Infobox language Template:Contains special characters
Dzongkha (Template:Bo-textonly, Template:IPA-all) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by over half a million people in Bhutan; it is the country's sole official and national language.[1] The Tibetan script 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.[2]
Usage
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).[3] 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.[4] 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 script 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 script known as Jôyi "cursive longhand" and Jôtshum "formal longhand". The print form is known simply as Tshûm.[5]
Romanization
There are various systems of romanization and transliteration for Dzongkha, but none accurately represents its phonetic sound.[6] The Bhutanese government adopted a transcription system known as Roman Dzongkha, devised by the linguist George van Driem, as its standard in 1991.[4]
Phonology
Dzongkha is a tone language and has two register tones: high and low.Template:Sfnp The tone of a syllable determines the allophone of the onset and the phonation type of the nuclear vowel.Template:Sfnp
Consonants
All consonants may begin a syllable. In the onsets of low-tone syllables, consonants are voiced.Template:Sfnp Aspirated consonants (indicated by the superscript h), Template:IPA, and Template:IPA are not found in low-tone syllables.Template:Sfnp The rhotic Template:IPA is usually a trill Template:IPAblink or a fricative trill Template:IPAblink,Template:Sfnp and is voiceless in the onsets of high-tone syllables.Template:Sfnp
Template:IPA are dental.Template:Sfnp Descriptions of the palatal affricates and fricatives vary from alveolo-palatal to plain palatal.Template:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp
Only a few consonants are found in syllable-final positions. Most common among them are Template:IPA.Template:Sfnp Syllable-final Template:IPA is often elided and results in the preceding vowel nasalized and prolonged, especially word-finally.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp Syllable-final Template:IPA is most often omitted when word-final as well, unless in formal speech.Template:Sfnp In literary pronunciation, liquids Template:IPA and Template:IPA may also end a syllable.Template:Sfnp Though rare, Template:IPA is also found in syllable-final positions.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp No other consonants are found in syllable-final positions.
Vowels
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | Template:IPA | Template:IPA |
| Mid | Template:IPA | Template:IPA |
| Open | Template:IPA | Template:IPA |
- When in low tone, vowels are produced with breathy voice.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp
- In closed syllables, Template:IPA varies between Template:IPAblink and Template:IPAblink, the latter being more common.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp
- Template:IPA varies between Template:IPAblink and Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp
- Template:IPA varies between close-mid Template:IPAblink and open-mid Template:IPAblink, the latter being common in closed syllables. Template:IPA is close-mid Template:IPAblink. Template:IPA may not be longer than Template:IPA at all, and differs from Template:IPA more often in quality than in length.Template:Sfnp
- Descriptions of Template:IPA vary between close-mid Template:IPAblink and open-mid Template:IPAblink.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp
- Template:IPA is close-mid Template:IPAblink, but may approach open-mid Template:IPAblink especially in closed syllables. Template:IPA is close-mid Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp
- Template:IPA is slightly lower than open-mid, i.e. Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp
- Template:IPA may approach Template:IPAblink, especially in closed syllables.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp
- When nasalized or followed by Template:IPA, vowels are always long.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp
Phonotactics
Many words in Dzongkha are monosyllabic.Template:Sfnp Syllables usually take the form of CVC, CV, or VC.Template:Sfnp Syllables with complex onsets are also found, but such an onset must be a combination of an unaspirated bilabial stop and a palatal affricate.Template:Sfnp The bilabial stops in complex onsets are often omitted in colloquial speech.Template:Sfnp
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.[7] 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 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.[8]
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."[9]
Sample text
The following is a sample text in Dzongkha of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
Dzongkha in the Tibetan script
Romanization
- ’Gro-ba-mi-rigs-ga-ra-dbaṅ-cha-’dra-mtam-’bad-sgyew-las-ga-ra-gis-gcig-gis-gcig-lu-spun-cha’i-dam-tshig-bstan-dgo.[10]
Translation
- All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
See also
References
- ↑ Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan. Art. 1, § 8. Government of Bhutan(2008-07-18). Retrieved 2011-01-01.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedHow many people speak Dzongkha - ↑ Dzongkha{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Research CNWS, School of Asian, African, and Amerindian Studies, Leiden University(1998). ISBN 90-5789-002-X
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Template:Harvp
- ↑ Dzongkha = Rdoṅ-kha{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Research School, CNWS(1998). ISBN 90-5789-002-X
- ↑ See for instance Report on the current status of the United Nations romanization systems for geographical names: Tibetan Report on the current status of the United Nations romanization systems for geographical names: Dzongkha
- ↑ Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages{{#if:van Driem|, van Driem}. Routledge(2007). ISBN 978-0-7007-1197-0
- ↑ Dzongkha{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Research CNWS, School of Asian, African, and Amerindian Studies, Leiden University(1998). ISBN 90-5789-002-X
- ↑ Dzongkha = Rdoṅ-kha{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Research School, CNWS(1998). ISBN 90-5789-002-X
- ↑ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 1) in Sino-Tibetan languages. omniglot.com.
Bibliography
- Template:Cite thesis
- Rigpai Lodap: An Intermediate Dzongkha-English Dictionary (འབྲིང་རིམ་རྫོང་ཁ་ཨིང་ལིཤ་ཚིག་མཛོད་རིག་པའི་ལོ་འདབ།){{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Dzongkha Development Commission(2009). ISBN 978-99936-765-3-9Template:Dead link
- Kartshok Threngwa: A Book on Dzongkha Synonyms & Antonyms (རྫོང་ཁའི་མིང་ཚིག་རྣམ་གྲངས་དང་འགལ་མིང་སྐར་ཚོགས་ཕྲེང་བ།){{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Dzongkha Development Commission(2009)
- The New Dzongkha Grammar (rdzong kha'i brda gzhung gsar pa){{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Dzongkha Development Commission(1999)
- Dzongkha Rabsel Lamzang (rdzong kha rab gsal lam bzang){{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Dzongkha Development Commission(1990)
- English-Dzongkha Dictionary (ཨིང་ལིཤ་རྫོང་ཁ་ཤན་སྦྱར་ཚིག་མཛོད།){{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Dzongkha Development Authority, Ministry of Education(2005)
- Manual of Spoken Dzongkha in Roman Transcription{{#if:Imaeda|, Imaeda}. Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV), Bhutan Coordinator Office(1990)
- The phonetic structure of Dzongkha: a preliminary study. Journal of the Phonetic Society of Japan({Template:Year).
- Mazaudon, Martine. 1985. “Dzongkha Number Systems.” S. Ratanakul, D. Thomas & S. Premsirat (eds.). Southeast Asian Linguistic Studies presented to André-G. Haudricourt. Bangkok: Mahidol University. 124–57
- [{{{url}}} Syllabicity and suprasegmentals: the Dzongkha monosyllabic noun].
- Prosodic Analysis and Asian Linguistics: To Honour R.K. Sprigg{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Pacific Linguistics(1989)
- Prosodic Analysis and Asian Linguistics: To Honour R.K. Sprigg{{#if:Michailovsky|, Michailovsky}. Pacific Linguistics(1989)
- L'énonciation médiatisée{{#if:Tournadre|, Tournadre}. Peeters(1996)
- Guide to Official Dzongkha Romanization{{#if:van Driem|, van Driem}. Dzongkha Development Commission (DDC)(1991)
- The Grammar of Dzongkha{{#if:van Driem|, van Driem}. RGoB, Dzongkha Development Commission (DDC)(1992)
- Template:Cite conference
- The Phonologies of Dzongkha and the Bhutanese Liturgical Language. Zentralasiatische Studien({Template:Year).
- Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages{{#if:van Driem|, van Driem}. Routledge(2007). ISBN 978-0-7007-1197-0
- The First Linguistic Survey of Bhutan{{#if:van Driem|, van Driem}. Dzongkha Development Commission (DDC)(n.d.)
- Template:Cite thesis
- Template:Cite thesis
- Dzongkha{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Research School CNWS, School of Asian, African, and Amerindian Studies(1998). ISBN 90-5789-002-X - A language textbook with three audio compact disks.
- The Grammar of Dzongkha{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Himalayan Linguistics(2019). ISBN 978-0-578-50750-7
External links
Template:InterWiki Template:Commons category Template:Wikivoyage
- Bhutanese literatures
- Dzongkha Development Commission Thimphu, Bhutan
- Dzongkha-English Dictionary
- Dzongkha podcast
- Dzongkha Romanization for Geographical Names
- Free textbooks and dictionaries published by the Dzongkha Development Commission
- Bhutan National Policy and Strategy for Development and Promotion of Dzongkha
- Dzongkha Unicode – site The National Library of Bhutan (en – dz)
Vocabulary
- Online searchable dictionary (Dz-En, En-Dz, Dz-Dz) or Online Dzonkha-English Dictionary – site Dzongkha Development Commission (en – dz)
- Dzongkha Computer Terms(pdf)
- English-Dzongkha Pocket Dictionary(pdf)
- Rigpai Lodap: An Intermediate Dzongkha-English Dictionary(pdf)
- Kartshok Threngwa: A Book on Dzongkha Synonyms & Antonyms(pdf)
- Names of Countries and Capitals in Dzongkha(pdf)
- A Guide to Dzongkha-Translation(pdf)
Grammar
- A colloquial grammar of the Bhutanese language. by Byrne, St. Quintin. Allahabad: Pioneer Press, 1909
- Dzongkha transliteration – site National Library of Bhutan (en – dz)
- Dzongkha, The National Language of Bhutan – site Dzongkha Linux (en – dz)
- Romanization of Dzongkha
- Dzongkha : Origin and Description
- Dzongkha language, alphabet and pronunciation
- Dzongkha in Wikipedia: Русский, Français, 日本語, Eesti, English
- Pioneering Dzongkha Text To Speech Synthesis(pdf)
- Dzongkha Grammar & other materials – site The Dzongkha Development Commission (en – dz)
- Коряков Ю.Б. Практическая транскрипция для языка дзонг-кэ
- Classical Tibetan-Dzongkha Dictionary(pdf)
Template:Sino-Tibetan languages Template:Bodic languages Template:Languages of Bhutan