Language in Bhutan — one national tongue, a dozen valley languages, and the English a visitor speaks throughout.

Dzongkha, the language of the dzong

Bhutan's national language is Dzongkha — literally 'the language (kha) of the dzong', the fortress-monasteries from which the country was governed, and the tongue native to the western valleys around Thimphu, Paro, Punakha, Wangdue, and Ha. It belongs to the Tibetic branch of the great Sino-Tibetan family, a cousin of classical and modern Tibetan, and it is written in the Bhutanese form of the Tibetan script. Long the language of administration in the west, Dzongkha was made the national language as the modern state took shape, and it is now taught in every school and promoted by a dedicated commission charged with standardising its spelling and growing its vocabulary for the modern world. A visitor sees it everywhere — on every dzong, every signboard, every banknote — paired with English.

Tshangla and the east

The east of Bhutan — the populous dzongkhags of Trashigang, Mongar, and their neighbours — speaks Tshangla, often called Sharchopkha, 'the language of the easterners'. It is one of the most widely spoken mother tongues in the country, a distinct language rather than a dialect of Dzongkha, and the first tongue of a great many Bhutanese. A visitor travelling east will hear it everywhere, and will notice the guide switching between Tshangla, Dzongkha, and English as easily as the country itself does. The eastern valleys, with their own language, weaving, and rhythm of life, are among the least-visited and most rewarding parts of Bhutan for the traveller willing to go the distance.

Choekey, the script, and English

Two further languages run through Bhutanese life. The first is Choekey — classical literary Tibetan, the language of the Buddhist scriptures, the prayers, and the canon, the way Latin was once the language of the Western church. It is not a spoken vernacular but the learned language of the Dharma, mastered by monks across long years of study; the texts in the dzongs and the National Library, and the prayers a visitor hears chanted, are in Choekey. Both Choekey and Dzongkha are written in the Tibetan script, in two forms: the upright, headed Uchen used for printing, and the flowing cursive Joyig used for handwriting — a calligraphy of real beauty, taught among the thirteen traditional arts. The second is English, the medium of instruction in every Bhutanese school since the modernising reforms of the 1960s, and now the shared language of government, business, and higher learning. It is the great practical gift to the visitor: Bhutanese are widely fluent in English, signage is bilingual throughout, and a traveller can move across the whole country, understood and understanding, in English alone.

Common questions

What language is spoken in Bhutan?

The national language is Dzongkha — 'the language of the dzong' — a Tibetic language written in the Tibetan script, native to the western valleys and taught in every school. But Bhutan is remarkably multilingual: more than a dozen distinct languages are spoken across its valleys, chief among them Tshangla in the east, the central East Bodish tongues (Bumthangkha, Khengkha, and their kin), and Lhotshamkha — a form of Nepali — in the southern foothills. English is the medium of education and is widely spoken, and classical Choekey is the language of Buddhist scripture.

Can I get by in English in Bhutan?

Yes, entirely. English has been the medium of instruction in every Bhutanese school since the 1960s, so Bhutanese are widely fluent, signage is bilingual throughout, and a visitor can travel across the whole country — understood and understanding — in English alone. The matched guide is fluent in English and in the local languages both.

Why does such a small country have so many languages?

Because of the land. Bhutan is a country of deep valleys divided by high passes, and for most of its history each valley was largely a world to itself, so each kept its own tongue. The result is a rich patchwork of more than a dozen distinct languages — not dialects of one another but separate tongues — which makes the kingdom one of the more linguistically diverse places on earth for its size, with Dzongkha and English serving as the shared languages that link the valleys.

What is Choekey?

Choekey is classical literary Tibetan — the language of the Buddhist scriptures, prayers, and canon, the way Latin was once the language of the Western church. It is not a spoken vernacular but the learned language of the Dharma, mastered by monks across long years of study. The texts in the dzongs and the National Library, and the chanted prayers a visitor hears, are in Choekey, written in the same Tibetan script as Dzongkha.

What are a few useful words of Dzongkha?

Kuzu zangpo la is the everyday greeting (hello / how are you), with the 'la' an honorific particle that dignifies the speech. Kadrin chhe la is thank you. Zhimbey means delicious — useful after a good meal. No Dzongkha is needed to travel in Bhutan, but a few words offered with a smile are warmly received, and the courtesy of the attempt is appreciated far more than the accent.