Tshangla language

The Tshangla language is a special kind of language. It belongs to a big group called Sino-Tibetan. It is part of the Bodish branch, which is closely related to the Tibetic languages.

People mainly speak Tshangla in the eastern part of Bhutan. It is easy for many people there to understand, so it is used as a common language for everyone to talk to each other.

Besides Bhutan, Tshangla is also spoken in a nearby area called Tawang in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, as well as in the Pemako region of Tibet. In Bhutan, Tshangla was the main language before Tibetan became more common.

Classification

Tshangla is often thought to be close to the Tibetic languages. Some experts say it belongs to the East Bodish languages, while others are not sure where it fits.

One expert says Tshangla is a Bodish language but notes that it is related to, but not from, Classical Tibetan. Recent research suggests Tshangla might not be very close to Bodish and could be in its own special group.

Varieties

Tshangla has several ways of speaking that can be hard to understand from one another. These include Trashigang, Dungsam, Dirang, and Bjokapakha. The way people speak in Trashigang town helps everyone communicate. Dungsam keeps older features, while Dirang and Bjokapakha sound quite different.

Number of speakers and status of the language

Tshangla is mainly spoken in the east and southeast parts of Bhutan, especially in the Trashigang district. People there call it “Sharchopkha,” which means “the people in the east” in Dzongkha, Bhutan’s national language.

The language is also spoken in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and in southeast Tibet. There are about 170,000 people who speak Tshangla. Most of them live in Bhutan, with smaller groups in India and Tibet. Many children still learn Tshangla as their first language, so it is not in danger of disappearing. In eastern Bhutan, Tshangla is very common and helps people talk to each other.

Even though Tshangla is widely used, it is not officially recognized as a written language in any country. This means it is not taught in schools or used in official documents. However, some people can read and write it using the Tibetan Uchen script. Tshangla is used on radio and television, even though it is not clear exactly how it is written for these broadcasts. The official language of Bhutan is Dzongkha, but Tshangla is one of the country’s many native languages and the most spoken among the native Sino-Tibetan languages.

Writing system

Tshangla is mostly a spoken language and does not have an official status in any country. When people write it, they usually use the Tibetan script. Experts have also made a romanized transcription system to write it with normal letters.

Phonology

The Tshangla language has special sounds, called phonemes, that help people talk. Some sounds not usually used in Tshangla can change a little when people speak them. For example, the sound /ɬ/ often turns into /l/, and /dz/ becomes /z/.

Tshangla has certain sounds at the start of words and some special combinations of sounds. At the end of words, only a few sounds are used, like /p/, /t/, /k/, /s/, /m/, /n/, and /ŋ/.

Tshangla also has different vowel sounds. Some vowels come from other languages like Tibetan, Dzongkha, and Chöke. There are special combinations of vowels in Tshangla words, such as /ai/ and /au/, and sometimes /oi/ and /ui/ appear in certain situations.

Tone

Most dialects of the Tshangla language do not change words based on how they are said. But the language might be starting to develop this feature. Some dialects, like those spoken in Central Monpa and Padma-bkod, now use high and low tones instead of voiced and voiceless sounds.

Grammar

Tshangla grammar has nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs. The usual order of words is subject–object–verb. The language adds meaning by sticking small parts to words, but most everyday words have just one or two sounds.

Nouns can be grouped in different ways. Words that describe how or which noun come before the noun, while words that tell about the noun’s role or number come after it.

Tshangla often leaves out words that are easy to understand from the talk or situation. When talking about two people, you don’t need to say “they,” just the number, like ro nyiktsing, meaning “the two of them.”

Verbs can show if something is done to something else or just happening on its own. For example, yekpa means “to speak” when someone is doing the speaking, but “to be called” when it’s happening without someone doing it on purpose.

Dialects

Tshangla dialects are mostly spoken around the town of Trashigang. This is considered the main dialect by people who speak Tshangla. Even with some differences, speakers can still understand each other. Many words in Tshangla come from Classical Tibetan.

In Arunachal Pradesh, the Monpa tribe speaks Tshangla in areas like Kalaktang and Dirang in West Kameng. Some people also speak Tshangla in Kathmandu, Darjeeling, and Assam.

In Bhutan, Tshangla sounds similar to the Tshangla spoken in southeastern Tibet, called "Mêdog (Bomê) Monpa". Some communities in the Bomê County region of Tibet still speak Tshangla.