Sikkimese is a Southern Tibetic language spoken by the Bhutia (Denzongpa) people mainly in the State of Sikkim in the northeast of India between Bhutan and Nepal, and also in Koshi Province in eastern Nepal. There are about 70,000 speakers of Sikkimese
It is also known as Sikkimese Tibetan, Bhutia, Dranjongke (འབྲས་ལྗོངས་སྐད་), Dranjoke, Denjongka, Denzongpeke or Denzongke.
Sikkimese is closely related Dzongkha and there is some mutual intelligibility between them. It is less closely related to Tibetan, though many Sikkimese speakers also speak Tibetan, as well as Nepali.
For most of its history, Sikkimese was an oral language. After Sikkim became a state of India in 1975, Sikkimese started to be taught in schools in Sikkim, and a way to write it with the Tibetan alphabet was developed. By 2001, about 68% of Bhutia people were literate in their language.
Literature in Sikkimese includes novels, plays and poetry, and translations of Tibetan works. There is also one Sikkimese newspaper and several dictionaries.
Information about Sikkimese | Numbers
Information about the Sikkimese
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikkimese_language
http://www.indianetzone.com/56/sikkimese_language_india.htm
http://www.thlib.org/static/reprints/bot/bot_1995_01_24.pdf
Amdo Tibetan, Choni, Dzongkha, Jirel, Kagate, Khams Tibetan, Khengkha, Ladakhi, Lhowa, Sherpa, Sikkimese, Tibetan, Tshangla
Amdo Tibetan, Balti, Bokar, Chocha Ngacha, Choni, Dzongkha (Bhutanese), Jirel, Khams Tibetan, Khengkha, Ladakhi, Sikkimese, Tibetan, Sherpa, Tamang, Tshangla
Page last modified: 16.01.24
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