Ladakhi language

Ladakhi
Ladakhi
ལ་དྭགས་སྐད་; La-dwags skad
Native to	India, China
Region	Ladakh
Ethnicity	Ladakhis
Native speakers	110,826 (2011 census); Most speakers counted under "Bhoti"[citation needed]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Kanauri Bodish Tibetic Ladakhi–Balti Ladakhi; ; ; ; ;
Writing system	Tibetan script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either:; lbj – Ladakhi; zau – Zangskari
Glottolog	kenh1234
ELP	Ladakhi
	Ladakhi is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

The Ladakhi language is a Tibetic language spoken in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. 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 several dialects: Lehskat after Leh, where it is spoken;shamskat, spoken in the northwest of Leh; Stotskat, spoken in the Indus valley and which is tonal unlike the others; Nubra, spoken in the north of Leh , Changthang language which is spoken in a changthang region and Zanskari language which is spoken in zanskar region of Ladakh

Name

The Ladakhi language (Tibetan: ལ་དྭགས་སྐད་, Wylie: La-dwags skad) is also called Bhoti or Bodhi.^[2]^[3] However, since Bhoti and Bodhi sound like “Buddhist” and can alienate Ladakhi Muslims who speak the same language, most Ladakhis usually refer to their language as Ladakhi.^[4]

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.^[5]

Zangskari is a dialect of Ladakhi spoken in Zanskar and also spoken by Buddhists in the upper reaches of Lahaul (Himachal Pradesh) and Paddar (Paldar).^{[citation needed]} It has four subdialects, Stod, Zhung, Sham, and Lungna. It is written using the Tibetan script by Buddhists and the Arabic script by Muslim and Christian Ladakhis.^[6]

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n̪			ɲ	ŋ
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t̪	t͡s	ʈ	t͡ʃ	k
	aspirated	pʰ	t̪ʰ	t͡sʰ	ʈʰ	t͡ʃʰ	kʰ
	voiced	b	d̪	d͡z	ɖ	d͡ʒ	ɡ
Fricative	voiceless			s	ʂ	ʃ		h
Fricative	voiced			z		ʒ
Trill				r
Lateral	plain			l
Lateral	murmured			lʱ
Semivowel		w				j

/b d ɡ/ can fricative sounds [β ð ɣ] as allophones that occur within free variation.
/k/ has an allophone of a retracted velar stop [k̠].
/l r/ can have allophones [l̥ r̥] when occurring initially before a voiceless consonant.^[7]

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e	ə	o

Vowels with allophones
	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Close-mid	e		o
Mid	[ɛ̝]	ə	[ɔ̝]
Open-mid		[ɐ]
Open		[ä]

Allophones of /ə/ in word-final position are heard as [ä ɐ].
Allophones of /e o/ are heard as [ɛ̝ ɔ̝].
Allophones occur in free variation.^[7]

Script

Ladakhi is usually written using Tibetan script with the pronunciation of Ladakhi being much closer to written Classical Tibetan than most other Tibetic languages. Ladakhis pronounce many of the prefix, suffix and head letters that are silent in many other Tibetic languages, in particular the Central Tibetan.^[8] This tendency is more pronounced to the west of Leh, and on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control, in Baltistan. For example, a Tibetan would pronounce sta 'axe' as [tá], but a Lehpa would say [sta], and a purgi would pronounce [stare]. While a Tibetan would pronounce འབྲས་ (’bras) 'rice' as [ɳʈɛ́ʔ], Lehpa say [ɖas], and the purgii pronounce it as [bras].

The question of whether to write colloquial Ladakhi in the Tibetan script or to write only a slightly Ladakhified version of Classical Tibetan is controversial in Ladakh.^[9] Muslim Ladakhis speak Ladakhi but most do not read the Tibetan script and most Buddhist Ladakhis can sound out the Tibetan script but do not understand Classical Tibetan, but some Ladakhi Buddhist scholars insist that Ladakhi must be written only in a form of Classical Tibetan. A limited number of books and magazines have been published in colloquial Ladakhi.

Written Ladakhi is most often romanised using modified Wylie transliteration, with a th denoting an aspirated dental t, for example.

Recognition

A section of Ladakhi society has been demanding inclusion of a newly named language, Bhoti, to be added to the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution. They claim that Bhoti is spoken by Ladakhis, Baltis, Tibetans, and throughout the Himalayas from Baltistan to Arunachal Pradesh.^[10]^[11]

References

^ "Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues – 2011". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
^ Omniglot Ladakhi Language Introduction, The Himalayan Initiatives, retrieved 23 January 2021.
^ Namgial, Eshay (Spring–Summer 2018), "Ladakhi: An off Shoot of Classical Tibetan Language", The Tibet Journal, 43 (1): 35–47, JSTOR 26634904
^ "Ladakhi Language & Phrasebook". Leh-Ladakh Taxi Booking. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
^ Tournadre, Nicolas (2005). "L'aire linguistique tibétaine et ses divers dialectes" (PDF). Lalies. pp. 7–56.
^ Shakspo, Nawang Tsering (2005). "Tibetan (Bhoti)—An Endangered Script in Trans-Himalaya". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ ^a ^b Koshal, Sanyukta (1979). Ladakhi Grammar. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
^ Bielmeier, Roland. 1985. 'A Survey of the Development of Western and South-western Tibetan dialects', in Barbara Nimri Aziz and Matthew Kapstein (eds.), Soundings in Tibetan Civilisation.
^ van Beek, Martijn (2008). "Imaginaries of Ladakhi Modernity". In Barnett, Robert; Schwartz, Ronald David (eds.). Tibetan Modernities: Notes from the Field on Cultural and Social Change. Brill. pp. 178–179.
^ Tsewang Rigzin (13 September 2013). "National Seminar on 'Bhoti Language' held at Leh". Reach Ladakh. Archived from the original on 24 September 2013.
^ "Ladakh council adopts new emblem replacing J-K logo". Hindustan Times. Press Trust of India. 27 February 2011. Archived from the original on 1 March 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2011.

External links

A. H. Francke 1901 A Sketch of Ladakhi GrammarJournal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal 70.1 Archived 29 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine

[1] "Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues – 2011". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 15 June 2020.

[2] Omniglot Ladakhi Language Introduction, The Himalayan Initiatives, retrieved 23 January 2021.

[3] Namgial, Eshay (Spring–Summer 2018), "Ladakhi: An off Shoot of Classical Tibetan Language", The Tibet Journal, 43 (1): 35–47, JSTOR 26634904

[4] "Ladakhi Language & Phrasebook". Leh-Ladakh Taxi Booking. Retrieved 5 December 2021.

[5] Tournadre, Nicolas (2005). "L'aire linguistique tibétaine et ses divers dialectes" (PDF). Lalies. pp. 7–56.

[6] Shakspo, Nawang Tsering (2005). "Tibetan (Bhoti)—An Endangered Script in Trans-Himalaya". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[:0-7] Koshal, Sanyukta (1979). Ladakhi Grammar. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

[8] Bielmeier, Roland. 1985. 'A Survey of the Development of Western and South-western Tibetan dialects', in Barbara Nimri Aziz and Matthew Kapstein (eds.), Soundings in Tibetan Civilisation.

[van_Beek-9] van Beek, Martijn (2008). "Imaginaries of Ladakhi Modernity". In Barnett, Robert; Schwartz, Ronald David (eds.). Tibetan Modernities: Notes from the Field on Cultural and Social Change. Brill. pp. 178–179.

[10] Tsewang Rigzin (13 September 2013). "National Seminar on 'Bhoti Language' held at Leh". Reach Ladakh. Archived from the original on 24 September 2013.

[11] "Ladakh council adopts new emblem replacing J-K logo". Hindustan Times. Press Trust of India. 27 February 2011. Archived from the original on 1 March 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2011.

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