| Dzala | |
|---|---|
| Dzala 'Mat | |
| Region | Bhutan,Tibet |
Native speakers | 20,000-40,000 (2022)[1] |
| Tibetan script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | dzl |
| Glottolog | dzal1238 |
TheDzala language, also calledDzalakha,Dzalamat, orYangtsebikha, is anEast Bodish language spoken primarily in northeasternBhutan, in theLhuntse andTrashiyangtse Districts, and inTibet.[2] A 2022 study estimated that there are 40,000 speakers of Dzala.[1]
Dzala is anEast Bodish language, part of a family of seven languages that are primarily located in Bhutan, but extend intoTibet, and possibly into theIndian state ofArunachal Pradesh.[3] The East Bodish languages are related toClassical Tibetan but are not believed to be directly descended from it. The current working hypothesis among researchers on the East Bodish languages is that they descended from asister language of Classical Tibetan. An alternative possibility is that the similarities between East Bodish and Tibetan stems fromlanguage contact.[1]
Dzala is most closely related toTakpa, another East Bodish language in Bhutan, both located on the eastern edge of East Bodish languages. They have substantial overlap in theircore vocabulary, and speakers of the languages share the intuition that they are closely related. Dzala has been less influenced by theCentral Bodish languages than Takpa.[1][4]
Dzala, like the other extant East Bodish languages, has a three-wayvoicing distinction.[1]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Open | a |
Like other East Bodish languages, Dzala has a developing tonal system. It has a high-lowregister tone distinction. Tone iscontrastive followingsonorants but predictable followingobstruents (with high tone following voiceless obstruents).[5][6]
Dzala has a loosely-grammaticalized marking system fortense, aspect, and mood plusevidentiality.Ergativity is marked by the-gi suffix.[1]
The vocabulary of Dzala provides evidence of a close relationship with Takpa, though there are notable differences between the languages.Kinship terms are clear examples of both the overlap and distinctiveness between the languages.[4]
| Dzala | Takpa | English gloss |
|---|---|---|
| kha | kha | mouth |
| khâma | khâ | hen |
| burmɪn | zhɔmu | daughter |
| zhomo | zhɔmu | younger sister |
For example, it may be extended to other languages of the region Dakpa, Chali, Dzala, Bumthap, and Khengkha, which all appear to be developing tone in a similar manner.
Sino-Tibetan branches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WesternHimalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand,Nepal,Sikkim) |
|  | |||
| EasternHimalayas (Tibet,Bhutan,Arunachal) | |||||
| Myanmar and Indo- Burmese border |
| ||||
| East andSoutheast Asia |
| ||||
| Dubious (possible isolates,Arunachal) |
| ||||
| Proposed groupings | |||||
| Proto-languages | |||||
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches. | |||||
Authority control databases: National |
|---|