On the non-Tibetan nature of the East Bodish Languages of Bhutan

Abstract

The�Himalayan�kingdom�of�Bhutan�is�home�to�many�different�ethnolinguistic�groups.�Some�of�these�groups�of�people�speak�Tibetic�languages,�such�as Dzongkha,�the�national�language�of�Bhutan.�Other�groups�speak�languages�that�are�as�different�from�Tibetan�as,�say,�Hindi�and�English�are�from�each�other.�A�group�that�falls�in�the�middle�of�the�Tibetic-non-Tibetic�cline�is�the�East�Bodish�language�sub-family.�East�Bodish�languages�show�some�remarkable�similarities�to�Tibetic�languages�on�the�surface,�but�closer�examination�reveals�much�of�this�similarity�may�be�due�to�borrowing�and�influence.�The�aim�of�this�article�is�to�examine�some�lexical�and�morphological�features�of�the�East�Bodish�languages�in�a�comparative�light.�In�doing�so,�we�illustrate�that�the�relationship�between�Tibetic�and�East�Bodish�languages�is�complex. Show more