Sikkimese language

Spoken in

• Sino Tibetan languages Tibeto-Burman languages Bodische languages Tibetan languages Denjongka

Sip

The Denjongka, also Bhutia, Bhotia or Sikkimesisch, is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in the Himalayan region of India in the state of Sikkim and in the district of Darjeeling.

Designation

The proper name Denjongka ( འབྲས་ལྗོངས་སྐད, according to Wylie transliteration: 'bras ljongs skad ) derives from Denjong, the Tibetan name of Sikkim, the " rice - district " means literally. The Speaker of the Denjongka call themselves Denjongpa. There are many different transcriptions, respectively. The name Bhutia and Bhotia is a foreign name, are referred to the Indo-Aryan languages ​​in both language and its speakers. It is derived from Bhota, the Sanskrit name of Tibet (see Tibetan Bod ) ago. But the name is not unique, because the Bhutanese or other related with the Tibetans peoples can be meant by it.

Linguistic relationship

The Denjongka belongs to the Tibetan sub-group of the Tibeto-Burman languages ​​and within this to südtibetanischen branch. It is closely related to Dzongkha, the main language of the neighboring country Bhutan, and some further related to Tibetan. Denjongka and Dzongkha are partially mutually intelligible. The correspondence in vocabulary with the Dzongkha is 65 percent, with the Tibetan 42 percent.

Number of speakers and dissemination

The exact number of Denjongka spokesman is difficult to quantify. In the Indian census 2001 81.012 spokesman for the " Bhotia " were recorded in the whole of India. Of these, however, there were over 28,000 in the north-western Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, which suggests that it is with them to speakers of other Tibetan languages ​​, which are also called Bhotia, but not closely related to the Denjongka are. Accordingly, the number of actual Denjongka spokesman likely be closer to 50,000. Ethnologue gives the number of speakers for 2001, however, with 70,300.

In the state of Sikkim, the Denjongka ( Bhotia ) is spoken by the 2001 census of 42,000 people as a native language. More 6500 Speaker of the Denjongka live in the neighboring federal state of West Bengal, mainly in the area adjacent to Sikkim Darjeeling district. The Speaker of the Denjongka migrated in the 16th century from the Tsang region of Tibet to Sikkim one. By the end of the 19th century Denjongpa and the already established Lepcha longer the dominant populations in Sikkim were. As a result of mass immigration from Nepal but their share has declined significantly. Today Denjongka spokesman make 7.7 percent of the population of Sikkim. After the Nepali Denjongka is the second largest language in the state. The Nepali in Sikkim serves as a lingua franca and is also used by most Denjongka speakers as a second language. According to the 2001 census, 78 percent of Denjongka Speakers are bilingual or multilingual in Sikkim. Many younger Denjongpa have the Denjongka now abandoned in favor of Nepali.

The Denjongpa used during the independence of Sikkim until 1973 Tibetan as a written language. Since then, the Denjongka written in Tibetan script has gradually replaced Tibetan as a written language. It is also taught in schools and used in broadcasting. A literature on Denjongka slowly forms out. In addition to ten other languages ​​the Denjongka in Sikkim is recognized as an official language.