Dzala language


The Dzala language, also called Dzalakha, Dzalamat, or Yangtsebikha, is an East Bodish language spoken primarily in northeastern Bhutan, in the Lhuntse and Trashiyangtse Districts, and in Tibet. A 2022 study estimated that there are 40,000 speakers of Dzala.

Classification

Dzala is an East Bodish language, part of a family of seven languages that are primarily located in Bhutan, but extend into Tibet, and possibly into the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The East Bodish languages are related to Classical Tibetan but are not believed to be directly descended from it. The current working hypothesis among researchers on the East Bodish languages is that they descended from a sister language of Classical Tibetan. An alternative possibility is that the similarities between East Bodish and Tibetan stems from language contact.
Dzala is most closely related to Takpa, another East Bodish language in Bhutan, both located on the eastern edge of East Bodish languages. They have substantial overlap in their core vocabulary, and speakers of the languages share the intuition that they are closely related. Dzala has been less influenced by the Central Bodish languages than Takpa.

Phonology

Consonants

Dzala, like the other extant East Bodish languages, has a three-way voicing distinction.

Vowels

Tone

Like other East Bodish languages, Dzala has a developing tonal system. It has a high-low register tone distinction. Tone is contrastive following sonorants but predictable following obstruents.

Grammar

Morphology

Dzala has a loosely-grammaticalized marking system for tense, aspect, and mood plus evidentiality. Ergativity is marked by the -gi suffix.

Vocabulary

The vocabulary of Dzala provides evidence of a close relationship with Takpa, though there are notable differences between the languages. Kinship terms are clear examples of both the overlap and distinctiveness between the languages.
DzalaTakpaEnglish gloss
khakhamouth
khâmakhâhen
burmɪnzhɔmudaughter
zhomozhɔmuyounger sister