Zangskari language
| Zangskari | |
|---|---|
| Zanskari, Zaskari, Zangs-dkar, Z’angkar | |
| ཟངས་དཀར | |
| Native to | India |
| Region | Zanskar, Ladakh |
Native speakers | (12,000 cited 2000)[1] |
| Tibetan script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | zau |
| Glottolog | zang1248 |
| ELP | Zangskari |
Zangskari (Zanskari, Zaskari) is an endangered Tibetic language. It is a dialect of the Ladakhi language. It is mostly spoken in the Zanskar region of the Kargil district of Ladakh, India and also by Buddhists in the upper reaches of Lahaul, Himachal Pradesh, and Paddar, Jammu and Kashmir.[2] It is written using the Tibetan script.[3]
Zangskari is divided into four homogeneous groups, namely Oot (Stod) or Upper Zanskari spoken along the Doda River, Zhung (Gžun) or Central Zanskari mostly spoken in Padum valley, Sham (Gšam) or Lower Zanskari spoken along the lower portions of Zanskar River and lastly Lungnak (Luŋnag) along the upper Zanskar River region.[4] A seminar on the documentation and revitalization of the Zanskari language was once held at GMDC Zanskar.[5]
Phonology
Zangskari shows compensatory lengthening and nasalization of vowels, unlike conservative Western Tibetic languages.[6]
Consonants
| Bilabial | Dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| laminal | apical | ||||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||||
| Stop | aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | t͡sʰ | t͡ʃʰ | ʈʰ | kʰ | ||
| voiceless | p | t | t͡s | t͡ʃ | ʈ | k | (ʔ) | ||
| voiced | b | d | d͡z | d͡ʒ | ɖ | g | |||
| Fricative | voiceless | ɸ | θ | s | ʃ | ʂ | ç | h | |
| voiced | β | ð | z | ʒ | ɹ̝ | ʝ | |||
| Rhotic | r | ||||||||
| Approximant | w | l | j | ɰ | |||||
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| oral | nasal | oral | nasal | oral | nasal | |
| Close | i iː | ĩː | u uː | ũː | ||
| Mid | e eː | o oː | õː | |||
| Open | a aː | ãː | ||||
The diphthongs are /ai/, /ao/, /ui/, /oe/, /oa/, /ea/, /iu/, /ũã/, /õã/, /ũĩ/, and /ĩũ/.
References
- ^ Zangskari at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Beek, Martijn van Pirie, Fernanda (2008). Modern Ladakh : anthropological perspectives on continuity and change. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-16713-1. OCLC 896146052.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Zangskari". Script Source. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
- ^ Mark Turin; Bettina Zeisler (2011). Himalayan Languages and Linguistics: Studies in Phonology, Semantics, Morphology and Syntax. BRILL. p. 243. ISBN 978-9004194489.
- ^ "Seminar on 'Documentation of Zanskari Language and Revitalization' held at GMDC Zanskar. | The Administration of Union Territory of Ladakh | India". Retrieved 12 January 2026.
- ^ Shaikh, Maaz (January 2024). An Acoustic Analysis of the Zangskari Vowels. ResearchGate. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
Further reading
- Paul Hattaway (2004). "Zangskari". Peoples of the Buddhist World: A Christian Prayer Diary. William Carey Library. ISBN 0878083618.
- Braj B. Kachru; Yamuna Kachru; S. N. Sridhar (2008). "Tibeto-Burman". Language in South Asia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521781411.
- Mingle, Jonathan (2015), "Glossary of Zanskari-Ladakhi Words", Fire and Ice: Soot, Solidarity and Survival on the Roof of the World, St. Martin's Press, pp. 405–409
External links
- Endangered Languages Project Profile for Zangskari
- "Zangskari Numerals". Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
- YouTube video of Zangskari on YouTube
- Linguistic Map of Zangskari
- Free-access archived version of Zangskari at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015). Archived 1 December 2016.
- Zangskari at the UNT Digital Library