The national language of Bhutan — a Sino-Tibetan language of the southern Himalayas closely related to classical Tibetan.
Where it’s spoken
Dzongkha is the native language of western Bhutan — its name means “the language of the dzong (fortress monastery)”. Adopted as Bhutan’s national language in 1971, it is now taught throughout the country alongside English, the medium of education. Roughly 170,000 first-language speakers and several hundred thousand second-language users.
What it sounds like
A tonal language with four or so tones (analyses vary), aspirated and unaspirated stops at the same place of articulation, and the elaborate honorific register typical of Tibetan-family languages.
How it’s written
Dzongkha is written in the Tibetan script (called Joyi when used for Dzongkha), with the same letterforms but adapted spelling conventions reflecting its different sound system. A romanisation called Roman Dzongkha is used for signage and language teaching.
Find more languages by letter
Dzongkha starts with D and ends with A. Browse other languages along the same letter.
Languages that contain a letter from "Dzongkha":