Central Tibetan languages
Encyclopedia
The Central Tibetan languages are the tonal varieties of Tibetan apart from Khams
Khams Tibetan language
Khams Tibetan is the Tibetan language used by the majority of the people in the Kham region of eastern Tibet . It is one of the four main spoken languages of Tibetan, the other three being those of U-Tsang , Amdo and Western Tibetan...

.

The composition of the Central Tibetan languages per Bradley (1997), with dialect information from the Tibetan Dialects Project at the University of Bern, is:
  • Western ('Western Innovative Tibetan', Lahuli–Spiti)
    • Dialects of Upper Ladakh
      Ladakh
      Ladakh is a region of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of the Republic of India. It lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent...

       and Zanskar
      Zanskar
      Zanskar is a subdistrict or tehsil of the Kargil district, which lies in the eastern half of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The administrative centre is Padum...

      , of the Northwest Indian Border Area (Lahul, Spiti
      Spiti
      -Geographical locations:*Lahaul and Spiti, a district in the state of Himachal Pradesh in India.*Spiti Valley, former heartland of the former Spiti district now combined.*Spiti River, in the Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh.*Spitia River-Language:...

      , and Uttarakhand
      Uttarakhand
      Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...

      ), and of Tholing
      Zanda County
      Zanda County is a county in the Ngari Prefecture to the extreme south west of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China....

       (westernmost Tibet):
      Ethnologue lists Jad, Spiti Bhoti, Stod Bhoti.
  • Dbus Ü (alternate transcriptions of y˧˥˧ʔ; 'Central Tibetan' proper)
    • Most dialects of Ngari Prefecture
      Ngari Prefecture
      Ngari Prefecture is a prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Its capital is Gar County. Its regional headquarters is in the town of Purang. The biggest town is Ali. It includes part of the Aksai Chin area, a disputed region claimed by India but over which China exercises administrative...

       in western Tibet, of the northern Nepalese border area in Nepal, Tsang Province dialects of Xigazê Prefecture
      Xigazê Prefecture
      Xigazê is a prefecture of Tibet Autonomous Region in China.The administrative center of the prefecture is the city of Shigatse ....

      , and Ü Province dialects (Lhokha, Lhasa
      Lhasa
      Lhasa is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China and the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau, after Xining. At an altitude of , Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world...

      , etc.). The basis of Standard Tibetan
      Standard Tibetan
      Standard Tibetan is the most widely used spoken form of the Tibetan languages. It is based on the speech of Lhasa, an Ü-Tsang dialect belonging to the Central Tibetan languages. For this reason, Standard Tibetan is often called Central Tibetan...

      .
      Besides Standard (Central) Tibetan, Ethnologue lists a number of small Dbus languages in Nepal: Dolpo and Tichurong, Helambu Sherpa, Humla, Kagate, Kyerung, Lhomi, Lowa, Mugom
      Mugom language
      Mugom is a Bodish language spoken by over 6,000 people in Nepal and about 500 in India.It is spoken primarily in the Karneli Zone, in the Muga district and in the Jumla district in Nepal. Some speakers of this language have migrated to Katmandu. It is divided into two dialects, Karani and Mugali,...

      , Nubri, Tseku (also in Tibet), Tsum, Walungge.
  • Northern
    • Dialects of Gêrzê
      Gêrzê County
      Gêrzê County is a county in the Ngari Prefecture of the western-central Tibet Autonomous Region of China....

      , of Nagqu Prefecture
      Nagqu Prefecture
      Nagqu Prefecture ; ; Wylie: Nag-chu Sa-khul; simplified Chinese: 那曲地区; pinyin: Nàqū Dìqū) is the largest prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Nagqu has a total area of 450,537 km²...

       in north-central Tibet, and of Nangqên in Southern Qinghai
      Qinghai
      Qinghai ; Oirat Mongolian: ; ; Salar:) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake...

      :
      Ethnologue does not list any of these as separate languages, but subsumes them under Standard Tibetan, unless the uncertain variety Panang (on the Nagqu–Xigazê border) is Northern.
  • Southern
    • Tromowa
      Groma language
      Groma is a language spoken in Sikkim and Tibet. It belongs to the southern group of Tibetan languages. Its speakers identify as Tibetans.-References: See online version: ....

       of Chumbi Valley
      Chumbi Valley
      Chumbi Valley is a valley in Tibet at the intersection of India , Bhutan and China in the Himalayas. Two main passes between India and China open up here: the Nathu La Pass and Jelep La Pass....

       in southern Tsang, Sikkimese in India, Sherpa
      Sherpa language
      Sherpa is a language spoken in parts of Nepal and Sikkim mainly by the Sherpa community. About 130,000 speakers live in Nepal , some 20,000 in India , and some 800 in Tibet ....

       and Jirel in Nepal, and various varieties in Bhutan
      Bhutan
      Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...

      :
      Dzongkha
      Dzongkha language
      Dzongkha , occasionally Ngalopkha, is the national language of Bhutan. The word "dzongkha" means the language spoken in the dzong, – dzong being the fortress-like monasteries established throughout Bhutan by Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in the 17th century."Bhutani" is not another name for...

      , Adap, Brokkat
      Brokkat language
      The Brokkat language is an endangered Southern Tibetan language spoken by about 300 people in the village of Dhur in Bumthang Valley of Bumthang District in central Bhutan. Brokkat is spoken by descendants of pastoral yakherd communities.- External links :*...

      , Brokpa
      Brokpa language
      The Brokpa language is a Southern Tibetan language spoken by about 5,000 people mainly in Merak and Sakten Gewogs in the Sakten Valley of Trashigang District in eastern Bhutan...

      , Chocangaca, Lakha
      Lakha
      Lakha is a Southern Tibetan language spoken by about 8,000 people in Wangdue Phodrang and Trongsa Districts in central Bhutan. Lakha is spoken by descendants of pastoral yakherd communities....

      , Laya
      Laya language
      Layakha is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by indigenous Layaps inhabiting the high mountains of northwest Bhutan in the village of Laya, Gasa District. Speakers also inhabit the northern regions of Thimphu and Punakha Districts. Its speakers are ethnically related to Tibetans...

      , Lunana.


Southern Central Tibetan is sometimes separated as a southern branch of all Tibetan languages, or even southern Bodish
Bodish languages
The Bodish languages, named for the Tibetan ethnonym bod, are the Tibetan languages in a broad linguistic sense, regardless of whether the speakers are considered ethnically Tibetan. Different scholars divide Bodish differently, but the alternate term 'Tibetan' generally excludes East Bodish...

. Because many of southern varieties lie outside the political boundaries of China, they are often considered separate languages, which the other varieties of Central Tibetan are not, despite being mutually unintelligible.

External links

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