To safeguard spoken Dzongkha terminologies from fading into history, Dzongkha Lapthang Detshen, submitted the Ngar Soel Dzongkha Ngag Jun book to the Department of Culture and Dzongkha Development. The group intends to ensure these words find their place in the department’s Dzongkha Advanced Dictionary. With over 2,000 Dzongkha terms compiled after years of research, the initiative seeks to keep Bhutan’s oral traditions alive for future generations. But will these words make it into the dictionary? That decision now rests with an expert committee of the department.
After working for about ten years, the group submitted both hard copies and a soft copy of the book to the Department of Culture and Dzongkha Development for implementation.
Compiled in Dzongkha alphabetical order, the book features words and terminologies with definitions and examples to make them easier to understand and use.
The group printed 2,000 copies spending over Nu 500,000. They distributed several copies of the book free of cost in schools nationwide to encourage the use of traditional Dzongkha in daily conversations since 2022.
Nearly a thousand members collaborated through WeChat to research and promote these fading Dzongkha words, working together to safeguard Bhutan’s linguistic heritage.
“I believe this initiative would benefit our younger generation by preserving the oral tradition in writing. By forming a group on WeChat, we connected with people from all walks of life, including experts in Dzongkha writing and speaking,” said Sangay Tenzin, chairperson of the Dzongkha Lapthang Detshen.
The group aims to further preserve and promote these terminologies by working with relevant stakeholders to include them in the Dzongkha Advanced dictionary.
However, the Chief Language Development Officer of the Department of Culture and Dzongkha Development stated that an expert committee will first review the terms before deciding which words to add to the official dictionary.
“Our expert committee will review all the terminologies in the book. We hold annual meetings with the committee, and we will include it in this year’s agenda. Only the appropriate terms will be added to the dictionary,” said Ugyen Dorji, chief language development officer at Dzongkha Development Division, Department of Culture and Dzongkha Development.
The group was established in March 2016 and spent five years researching and consulting elderly people and Dzongkha experts before publishing the 350-page book.
Karma Wangdi
Edited by Phub Gyem
