Languages of Bhutan

Languages of Bhutan
Languages of Bhutan
	Sign in Dzongkha and English at the National Library of Bhutan
Official	Dzongkha
Recognised	Tshangla (Sharchop), Nepali, Dzala, Kheng, Bantawa
Minority	Brokkat, Brokpa, Chocangacakha, Khams Tibetan, Lakha, Sikkimese, Bumthang, Chali, Dakpa, Nyenkha, Gurung, Kiranti, Lepcha, Newar, Tamang, Gongduk, Lhokpu, 'Ole
Foreign	English, Hindi
Signed	Bhutanese Sign Language
Keyboard layout	Dzongkha keyboard layout;

Dzongkha

Bumthang

Nepali

Tshangla
(Sharchop)

Major languages of Bhutan

There are two dozen languages of Bhutan, all members of the Tibeto-Burman language family except for Nepali, which is an Indo-Aryan language, and Bhutanese Sign Language.^[1] Dzongkha, the national language, is the only native language of Bhutan with a literary tradition, though Lepcha and Nepali are literary languages in other countries.^[2] Other non-Bhutanese minority languages are also spoken along Bhutan's borders and among the primarily Nepali-speaking Lhotshampa community in South and East Bhutan. Chöke (or Classical Tibetan) is the language of the traditional literature and learning of the Buddhist monastics.

^ Van Driem, George L.; Tshering, K. (1998). Dzongkha. Languages of the Greater Himalayan Region. Vol. 1. Research CNWS, School of Asian, African, and Amerindian Studies. ISBN 90-5789-002-X.
^ Cite error: The named reference vanDriem93 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[vandriem98dzongkha-1] Van Driem, George L.; Tshering, K. (1998). Dzongkha. Languages of the Greater Himalayan Region. Vol. 1. Research CNWS, School of Asian, African, and Amerindian Studies. ISBN 90-5789-002-X.

[vanDriem93-2] Cite error: The named reference vanDriem93 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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