Ladakhi language

The Ladakhi language ({{bo|t=ལ་དྭགས་སྐད་|w=La-dwags skad}}) is also referred to as Bhoti or Bodhi.[https://himalayaninitiatives.org/courses/ladakhi-language/ Omniglot Ladakhi Language Introduction], The Himalayan Initiatives, retrieved 23 January 2021.{{citation |last=Namgial |first=Eshay |title=Ladakhi: An off Shoot of Classical Tibetan Language |journal=The Tibet Journal |volume=43 |number=1 |date=Spring–Summer 2018 |pages=35–47 |jstor=26634904}} Supporters of the Bhoti name hold a "lumper" view of the language: they use the term "Bhoti" to refer to Classical Tibetan and treat as the one, proper form of Tibetic languages across the Himalayas.{{cite web |last1=Sherab |first1= Khanpo K.|title=Bhoti or Ladakhi: What should we call our language? |url=https://stawa.org/bhoti-or-ladakhi-what-should-we-call-our-language/ |website=Stawa}} This section of Ladakhi society has demanded inclusion Bhoti to the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution. They say that Bhoti is spoken by Ladakhis, Baltis, Tibetans, and throughout the Himalayas from Baltistan to Arunachal Pradesh.{{Cite web |url=http://www.reachladakh.com/national-seminar-on-bhoti-language-held-at-leh/1891.html |title=National Seminar on 'Bhoti Language' held at Leh |last=Tsewang Rigzin |date=13 September 2013 |website=Reach Ladakh |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130924101438/http://www.reachladakh.com/national-seminar-on-bhoti-language-held-at-leh/1891.html |archive-date=2013-09-24}}{{Cite news |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/Ladakh-council-adopts-new-emblem-replacing-J-K-logo/Article1-667511.aspx |title=Ladakh council adopts new emblem replacing J-K logo |date=27 February 2011 |work=Hindustan Times |access-date=2011-02-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301060545/http://www.hindustantimes.com//ladakh-council-adopts-new-emblem-replacing-j-k-logo/article1-667511.aspx |archive-date=2011-03-01 |agency=Press Trust of India}}

The name Bhoti or Bodhi has connotations with Tibetan Buddhism, a major religion in the area. Many Ladakhi people contest this classification as there are also Muslim, Christian, Hindu and Sikh speakers of Ladakhi.{{Cite web |last=Wahid |first=Siddiq |date=13 May 2022 |title=Is Bhoti A Language, Religious Affiliation, Sanskrit Diminutive Or Political Tool? |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/national/is-bhoti-a-language-religious-affiliation-sanskrit-diminutive-or-political-tool--news-196525 |access-date=12 May 2023 |website=Outlook}}

Ladakhi has several dialects:

1 :Lehskat, named after Leh where it is spoken.

2: Shamskat, spoken northwest of Leh in the sham region of ladakh.

3 :Stotskat, spoken in the upper Indus valley of ladakh and which unlike the others is tonal.

4 :Nubraskat , spoken north of Leh in the nubra region of Ladakh.

5 :The Changthang language, spoken in the Changtang region by the Changpa people .

6: The Zangskari language, spoken in the Zanskar region of Ladakh.

Nicolas Tournadre considers Ladakhi, Balti, and Purgi to be distinct languages on the basis of mutual intelligibility (Zangskari is not as distinct). As a group they are termed Ladakhi–Balti or Western Archaic Tibetan.{{cite web |first=Nicolas |last=Tournadre |author-link=Nicolas Tournadre |year=2005 |title=L'aire linguistique tibétaine et ses divers dialectes |work=Lalies |volume=25 |pages=7–56 |url=http://tournadre.nicolas.free.fr/fichiers/2005-aire.pdf }}

Zangskari is a dialect of Ladakhi spoken in Zanskar and also spoken by Buddhists in the upper reaches of Lahaul (Himachal Pradesh) and Paddar (Paldar).{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

It has four subdialects, Stod, Zhung, Sham, and Lungna. It is written using the Tibetan script by Buddhists and the Arabic script by Muslim and Christian Ladakhis.{{cite journal |last1=Shakspo |first1=Nawang Tsering |title=Tibetan (Bhoti)—An Endangered Script in Trans-Himalaya |journal=The Tibet Journal |date=2005 |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=61–64 |jstor=43301113 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43301113}}

• {{IPA|/b d ɡ/}} can fricative sounds {{IPA|[β ð ɣ]}} as allophones that occur within free variation.
• {{IPA|/k/}} has an allophone of a retracted velar stop {{IPA|[k̠]}}.
• {{IPA|/l r/}} can have allophones {{IPA|[l̥ r̥]}} when occurring initially before a voiceless consonant.{{Cite book|last=Koshal|first=Sanyukta|title=Ladakhi Grammar|publisher=Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.|year=1979}}

Ladakhi has a regular five vowel system, but with {{IPA|[a]}} being replaced with {{IPA|[ə]}}, making it unusual, as most languages have {{IPA|[a]}}.

• Allophones of {{IPA|/ə/}} in word-final position are heard as {{IPA|[ä ɐ]}}.
• Allophones of {{IPA|/e o/}} are heard as {{IPA|[ɛ̝ ɔ̝]}}.
• Allophones occur in free variation.

Ladakhi is usually written using Tibetan script, and the pronunciation of Ladakhi is much closer to written Classical Tibetan than that of most other Tibetic languages. Ladakhis pronounce many of the prefix, suffix and head letters that are silent in many other Tibetic languages, in particular the Central Tibetan.Bielmeier, Roland. 1985. 'A Survey of the Development of Western and South-western Tibetan dialects', in Barbara Nimri Aziz and Matthew Kapstein (eds.), Soundings in Tibetan Civilisation. This tendency is more pronounced to the west of Leh, and on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control, in Baltistan. For example, a Tibetan would pronounce sta ('axe') as [tá], but a Lehpa would say [sta], and a Purgi would pronounce [stare]. While a Tibetan would pronounce འབྲས་ ’bras ('rice') as [ɳʈɛ́ʔ], Lehpa say [ɖas], and the Purgi pronounce it as [bras].{{citation needed|date=May 2023}} Although the pronunciation is relatively conservative, the Ladakhi language has accumulated significant grammatical differences from the classical, written language.{{cite book|chapter=Why Ladakhi must not be written – Being part of the Great Tradition Another kind of global thinking|first=Bettina |last=Zeisler|date=2006|title=Lesser-Known Languages of South Asia|editor1=Anju Saxena|editor2=Lars Borin|page=178}}

The question of whether to write colloquial Ladakhi (phalskat) in the Tibetan script or to write an only slightly Ladakhified version of Classical Tibetan (choskat) is controversial in Ladakh.{{cite book|title=Tibetan Modernities: Notes from the Field on Cultural and Social Change|editor1-first=Robert|editor1-last=Barnett|editor2-first=Ronald David|editor2-last=Schwartz|publisher=Brill|year=2008|chapter=Imaginaries of Ladakhi Modernity|pages=178–179|first=Martijn|last=van Beek}} Muslim Ladakhis speak Ladakhi but most do not read the Tibetan script. Most Buddhist Ladakhis can sound out the Tibetan script but do not understand Classical Tibetan, yet many Ladakhi Buddhist scholars insist that Ladakhi must be written only in a form of Classical Tibetan, seeing the vernacular-based orthography only as deviation from the "proper" language. A limited number of books and magazines have been published in colloquial Ladakhi, one example being Ladags Melong from SECMOL.

In Ladakhi language, it is customary to add the suffix 'le' at the end of sentences as a sign of respect towards the individual being spoken to.{{Cite web |last=Yangdol |first=Dechen |title=Ladakhi Language |url=https://www.lehladakhtaxis.com/practical-info/ladakhi-language-and-phrasebook }} This linguistic convention is a way to express politeness and honor towards the listener, emphasizing the cultural values of respect and courtesy.

Written Ladakhi is most often romanised using modified Wylie transliteration, with th denoting an aspirated dental t, for example.

{{reflist}}

{{wikibooks|Research on Tibetan Languages: A Bibliography}}

{{Wikivoyage|Ladakhi phrasebook|Lakakhi|a phrasebook}}

• A. H. Francke 1901 [https://www.scribd.com/doc/42478983/Francke-1901-Ladakhi-Sketch-Grammar A Sketch of Ladakhi Grammar]Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal 70.1 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729111835/http://www.scribd.com/doc/42478983/Francke-1901-Ladakhi-Sketch-Grammar |date=29 July 2013 }}

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