| Ladakhi | |
|---|---|
| ལ་དྭགས་སྐད , لداخی زبان La-dwags skad | |
 | |
| Native to | India |
| Region | Ladakh |
| Ethnicity | Ladakhis |
Native speakers | 110,826 (2011 Census)[1] |
| Tibetan script (official, in India and China),Perso-Arabic script (by Muslims, in Pakistan) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:lbj – Ladakhizau – Zangskari |
| Glottolog | kenh1234 |
| ELP | Ladakhi |
 Ladakhi is classified as Vulnerable by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
TheLadakhi language is aTibetic language spoken in the Indianunion territory ofLadakh. It is the predominant language in theBuddhist-dominated district ofLeh, and a minority language in the district ofKargil.
Ladakhi has several dialects: Lehskat, named afterLeh where it is spoken,Shamskat, spoken northwest of Leh, Stotskat, spoken in theIndus valley and which unlike the others is tonal, Nubra, spoken north of Leh, theChangthang language, spoken in theChangtang region by theChangpa people, and theZangskari language, spoken in theZanskar region of Ladakh.
The Ladakhi language (Tibetan:ལ་དྭགས་སྐད་,Wylie:La-dwags skad) is also referred to asBhoti orBodhi.[2][3] Supporters of the Bhoti name hold a"lumper" view of the language: they use the term "Bhoti" to refer toClassical Tibetan and treat as the one, proper form of Tibetic languages across the Himalayas.[4] This section of Ladakhi society has demanded inclusion Bhoti to the8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution. They say that Bhoti is spoken by Ladakhis, Baltis, Tibetans, and throughout theHimalayas fromBaltistan toArunachal Pradesh.[5][6][4]
The name Bhoti orBodhi hasconnotations with Tibetan Buddhism, a major religion in the area. Many Ladakhi people contest this classification as there are also Muslim, Christian, Hindu and Sikh speakers of Ladakhi.[7]
Ladakhi has several dialects:1 :Lehskat, named after Leh where it is spoken.2: Shamskat, spoken northwest of Leh in the sham region of ladakh.3 :Stotskat, spoken in the upper Indus valley of ladakh and which unlike the others is tonal.4 :Nubraskat , spoken north of Leh in the nubra region of Ladakh.5 :The Changthang language, spoken in the Changtang region by the Changpa people .6: The Zangskari language, spoken in the Zanskar region of Ladakh.
Nicolas Tournadre considers Ladakhi,Balti, andPurgi to be distinct languages on the basis ofmutual intelligibility (Zangskari is not as distinct). As a group they are termedLadakhi–Balti orWestern Archaic Tibetan.[8]
Zangskari is a dialect of Ladakhi spoken inZanskar and also spoken by Buddhists in the upper reaches ofLahaul (Himachal Pradesh) andPaddar (Paldar).[citation needed]It has four subdialects, Stod, Zhung, Sham, and Lungna. It is written using theTibetan script by Buddhists and theArabic script by Muslim and Christian Ladakhis.[9]
Ladakhi has a regular five vowel system, but with[a] being replaced with[ə], making it unusual, as most languages have[a].[10]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Mid | e | ə | o |
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Close-mid | e | o | |
| Mid | [ɛ̝] | ə | [ɔ̝] |
| Open-mid | [ɐ] | ||
| Open | [ä] |
Ladakhi is usually written usingTibetan script, and the pronunciation of Ladakhi is much closer to writtenClassical Tibetan than that of most otherTibetic languages. Ladakhis pronounce many of the prefix, suffix and head letters that are silent in many other Tibetic languages, in particular theCentral Tibetan.[11] This tendency is more pronounced to the west of Leh, and on the Pakistani side of theLine of Control, inBaltistan. For example, a Tibetan would pronouncesta ('axe') as [tá], but a Lehpa would say [sta], and aPurgi would pronounce [stare]. While a Tibetan would pronounce འབྲས་’bras ('rice') as [ɳʈɛ́ʔ], Lehpa say [ɖas], and the Purgi pronounce it as [bras].[citation needed] Although the pronunciation is relatively conservative, the Ladakhi language has accumulated significant grammatical differences from the classical, written language.[12]
The question of whether to write colloquial Ladakhi (phalskat) in the Tibetan script or to write an only slightly Ladakhified version ofClassical Tibetan (choskat) is controversial in Ladakh.[13] Muslim Ladakhis speak Ladakhi but most do not read the Tibetan script. Most Buddhist Ladakhis can sound out the Tibetan script but do not understand Classical Tibetan, yet many Ladakhi Buddhist scholars insist that Ladakhi must be written only in a form of Classical Tibetan, seeing the vernacular-based orthography only as deviation from the "proper" language.[12] A limited number of books and magazines have been published in colloquial Ladakhi, one example beingLadags Melong fromSECMOL.[12]
In Ladakhi language, it is customary to add the suffix 'le' at the end of sentences as a sign of respect towards the individual being spoken to.[14] This linguistic convention is a way to express politeness and honor towards the listener, emphasizing the cultural values of respect and courtesy.
Written Ladakhi is most often romanised using modifiedWylie transliteration, withth denoting anaspirated dentalt, for example.
Sino-Tibetan branches | |||||
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| WesternHimalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand,Nepal,Sikkim) |
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| EasternHimalayas (Tibet,Bhutan,Arunachal) | |||||
| Myanmar and Indo- Burmese border |
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| East andSoutheast Asia |
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| Dubious (possible isolates) (Arunachal) |
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