Sikkimese Bhutia

Tibetic language of Nepal and Sikkim, India

Key facts

Region: India Sikkim , Nepal ( Koshi Province ), and Bhutan
Ethnicity: Bhutia
Native speakers: 25,000 (2019)
Language family: Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Tibeto-Kanauri (?) Bodish Tibetic Dzongkha–Lhokä Sikkimese
Writing system: Tibetan script
Official language in: India Sikkim
Iso 639 3: sip
Glottolog: sikk1242

via Wikipedia infobox

Article

The Sikkimese Bhutia language (Tibetan: འབྲས་ལྗོངས་སྐད་, Wylie: 'bras ljongs skad, THL: dren jong ké, Tibetan pronunciation: [ɖɛ̀n dʑòŋ ké]; 'rice valley language') is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Bhutia people of the Indian state of Sikkim and parts of Koshi province in eastern Nepal, and Bhutan. It is one of the official languages of Sikkim.

The Bhutia refer to their own language as Drendzongké (also spelled Drenjongké, Dranjoke, Denjongka, Denzongpeke or Denzongke) and their homeland as Drendzong (Tibetan: འབྲས་ལྗོངས་, Wylie: 'bras-ljongs, 'Rice Valley'). Up until 1975, Sikkimese was not a written language. After gaining Indian statehood, the language was introduced as a school subject in Sikkim and the written language was developed.