Are Tibetan and Dzongkha mutually intelligible?

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.

Which language do Ladakhi people speak?

The classical Tibetan is generally known as Bhoti in Ladakh and Yi-ge in Baltistan, where as spoken or colloquial Ladakhi is called phal-skad. Spoken Ladakhi is the mother tongue or first language of the people of Ladakh that identifies and designates certain group of people across the trans-Himalayan region.

Is Hindi spoken in Bhutan?

Almost everyone speaks and understands Hindi Even though the official language of Bhutan is Dzongkha. You will be surprised to learn that most locals in Bhutan speak and understand Hindi and do not shy away from talking to Indian tourists in Hindi.

How do you say hello in Ladakhi?

If you only learn one word, make it “julley” which means “hello”, “thank you” and “goodbye”. The greeting “khamzang?” or “khamzang in-a ley?” means “how are you?” and you can simply answer “khamzang in ley” – “I’m fine, thank you”. The phrasebook “getting started in Ladakhi” is available in bookstores in Leh.

How do you greet in Ladakhi?

Jullay! Jullay (joo-LAY) is the “aloha” of Ladakh: hello, goodbye, thank you, nice weather we’re having, is that your yak?, etc. (OK, maybe not the last two…) Ladakhi, also called Western Archaic Tibetan or Bhoti, is only spoken by 200,000 speakers in India & 12,000 speakers in Tibet.

What is your name in Ladakhi?

Jullay (joo-LAY) is the “aloha” of Ladakh: hello, goodbye, thank you, nice weather we’re having, is that your yak?, etc….Jullay!

Is Ladakhi a Tibetan language?

It is the predominant language in the Buddhist -dominated district of Leh. Though a member of the Tibetic family, Ladakhi is not mutually intelligible with Standard Tibetan . Ladakhi has approximately 30,000 speakers in India, and perhaps 20,000 speakers in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, mostly in the Qiangtang region.

Is Balti a Tibetic language?

The missionary, orientalist and linguist Heinrich August Jäschke (1817–1883) classified Balti as one of the westernmost Tibetic languages. In his Tibetan–English Dictionary, he defines it as “Bal (Balti), the most westerly of the districts in which the Tibetan language is spoken”.

What is the classification of Ladakhi Balti?

Classification. Nicolas Tournadre considers Ladakhi, Balti, and Purgi to be distinct languages on the basis of mutual intelligibility (Zangskari is not as distinct). As a group they are termed Ladakhi–Balti or Western Archaic Tibetan, as opposed to Western Innovative Tibetan languages such as the Lahuli-Spiti languages spoken in Himachal Pradesh .

Can speakers of Sikkimese understand Dzongkha?

Speakers of Sikkimese can understand some Dzongkha, with a lexical similarity of 65\% between the two languages. By comparison, Standard Tibetan, however, is only 42\% lexically similar.