Dzongkha

Dzongkha or Bhutanese is spoken by about 130,000 people in Bhutan, where it is the national language, and also in Nepal and India. It is a Sino-Tibetan language which is closely related to Tibetan and distantly related to Chinese.

Dzongkha is written with the Tibetan alphabet, which was introduced by Thonmi Sambhota, however the main written language in Bhutan is Classical Tibetan, which differs as much from Dzongkha as French from Latin. There is also official way of writing Dzongkha with the Latin alphabet known as Roman Dzongkha.

Dzongkha alphabet

Consonants

Dzongkha consonants

Vowel diacritics

Dzongkha vowels

Conjunct consonants

This is a small selection of conjunct consonants, which are used when two consonants occur without a vowel between them.

Dzongkha conjunct consonants

Sample text in Dzongkha

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Dzongkha

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)