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. Current distribution of Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families. ... Sino-Tibetan languages form a language family of about 250 languages of East Asia, second only to Indo-European in terms of the number of speakers. ... The Tibeto-Burman linguistic subfamily of the proposed Sino-Tibetan language family is spoken in various central and south Asian countries: Myanmar (the Burmese language as well as the languages of minorities like the Karens and Kachins), Tibet (Tibetan language), northern Thailand (Lahu, Lisu, Akha languages), southern China, Nepal, Bhutan... The Tibetan language is typically classified as member of the Tibeto-Burman which in turn is thought by some to be a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. ... ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family. ... ISO 639-2:1998 Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code Twenty-two of the languages have two three-letter codes: a code for bibliographic use (ISO 639-2/B) a code for terminological use (ISO 639-2/T). ... ISO 639-3 is in process of development as an international standard for language codes. ... Image File history File links Created by me. ... The Brahmic family is a family of abugidas used in South Asia, Tibet and Southeast Asia. ... Dzong architecture is a distinctive type of fortress architecture found in the former and present Buddhist kingdoms of the Himalayas, most notably Bhutan. ... Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (b. ...

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. Whereas religious professionals in Spain and Italy study Latin the religious language of Roman Catholicism, 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. The Tibetan language is typically classified as member of the Tibeto-Burman which in turn is thought by some to be a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. ... Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་, Bod, pronounced pö in Lhasa dialect; Chinese: 西藏, Hanyu Pinyin: Xīzàng or Chinese: 藏区, Hanyu Pinyin: Zàngqū [the two names are used with different connotations; see Name section below]) is a region in Central Asia and the home of the Tibetan people. ... Tibetan Buddhism is the body of religious Buddhist doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet, the Himalayan region (including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim), Mongolia, Buryatia, Tuva and Kalmykia (Russia), and northeastern China (Manchuria: Heilongjiang, Jilin). ...

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. Location of Wangdue Phodrang Dzongkhag within Bhutan Wangdue Phodrang (previously spelled Wangdi Phodrang) is a dzongkhag (district), of central Bhutan. ... Punakha is a dzong in Punakha District, Bhutan. ... Location of Thimphu dzongkhag within Bhutan Thimphu (ཐིམ་ཕུ་) is the capital of Bhutan, and also the name of the surrounding valley and dzongkhag. ... Gasa is one of the 20 dzongkhag (districts) comprising Bhutan. ... location of Paro dzongkhag within Bhutan. ... Haa (alternative spelling Ha) is one of the 20 dzongkhag or districts comprising Bhutan. ... Location of Dagana dzongkhag within Bhutan Dagana (also spelled Dhakana, previously known as Daga) is one of the 20 dzongkhag (districts) comprising Bhutan. ... Chukha, previously Chhukha, is one of the 20 dzongkhag (districts) comprising Bhutan. ... Kalimpong is a hill station (a hill town) nestled in the Shiwalik Hills (or Lower Himalaya) in the Indian state of West Bengal. ... West Bengal (Bengali: পশ্চিম বঙ্গ, Hindi: पश्चिम बंगाल, Poshchim Bôngo) is a state in the eastern region of India. ... Lingua franca, literally Frankish language in Italian, was originally a mixed language consisting largely of Italian plus a vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic and used for communication throughout the Middle East. ...

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. The Tibeto-Burman linguistic subfamily of the proposed Sino-Tibetan language family is spoken in various central and south Asian countries: Myanmar (Burmese language), Tibet (Tibetan language), northern Thailand (Mong language), Nepal, Bhutan, India (Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and the Ladakh region of... Sino-Tibetan languages form a language family of about 250 languages of East Asia, second only to Indo-European in terms of the number of speakers. ... Sikkimese (also known as Bhutia) is the sublanguage of South Tibetan (bhutanese-sikkimese, lhoke) language. ... The Wylie transliteration scheme is a method for transliterating the Tibetan script using the keys on a typical English language typewriter. ... Sikkim (Hindi: सिक्किम) is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayas. ... The Tibetan language is typically classified as member of the Tibeto-Burman which in turn is thought by some to be a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. ...

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. Om Mani Padme Hum, the primary mantra of Tibetan Buddhism written in the Tibetan script, on a rock outside the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. ... Ucan script (variant spellings: u-can,u-chan,uchan, u-cen,ucen, u-chen/uchen) is the printed script of the Tibetan alphabet. ... A syllabary is a set of written symbols that represent (or approximate) syllables, which make up words. ...

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. 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Deaths in October 28: Richard Smalley 26: Emil Kyulev 24: José Azcona del Hoyo 24: Rosa Parks 23: Stella Obasanjo 22: Liam Lawlor 22: Shirley Horn 20: Endon Mahmood 17: Ba Jin 10: Milton Obote 7: Charles... Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKSE: 4338) is an international computer technology corporation with 2005 global annual sales of US$42. ... PRC redirects here. ... The 14th and current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso (born 1935) The 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso (1876-1933) In Tibetan Buddhism, the successive Dalai Lamas (Tibetan: ཏ་ཱལའི་བླ་མ་ taa-la’i bla-ma; Simplified Chinese: 达赖喇嘛; Traditional Chinese: 達賴喇嘛; pinyin: Dálài LÇŽmā) form a tulku lineage of Gelugpa leaders which trace... The Tibetan Independence Movement is a movement to establish historical Tibet, comprising the three traditional provinces of Ãœ-Tsang, Amdo, and Kham, as an independent country. ... Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་, Bod, pronounced pö in Lhasa dialect; Chinese: 西藏, Hanyu Pinyin: XÄ«zàng or Chinese: 藏区, Hanyu Pinyin: ZàngqÅ« [the two names are used with different connotations; see Name section below]) is a region in Central Asia and the home of the Tibetan people. ...

Dzongkha is rarely heard outside Bhutan and environs. However, the 2003 Bhutanese film, Travellers and Magicians is entirely in Dzongkha. Travellers and Magicians (Dzongkha: ཆང་ཧུབ་ཐེངས་གཅིག་གི་འཁྲུལ་སྣང) is a 2003 film written and directed by Khyentse Norbu, a reincarnate lama also known as Dzongar Khyentse Rinpoche. ...

References

¹ van Driem, George L. (1998). Languages of the Greater Himalayan Region, Vol. 1, Dzongkha. Leiden: Research School CNWS. ISBN 90-5789-002-X.

Dzongkha Development Commission (1999). The New Dzongkha Grammar (rdzong kha'i brda gzhung gsar pa). Thimphu: Dzongkha Development Commission.

See also

• Wikiquote:Bhutanese proverbs for a list of proverbs given in both romanized Dzongkha and English.

A romanization or latinization is a system for representing a word or language with the Roman (Latin) alphabet, where the original word or language used a different writing system. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

External links

Dzongkha edition of Wikipedia

• Dzongkha Development Authority Thimphu, Bhutan
• Languages on the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas - Nicolas Tournadre
• Ethnologue entry on Dzongkha