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Ethnologue: Languages of the World
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Ethnologue > Web version > Country index > Asia > Bhutan > Khengkha

Khengkha

A language of Bhutan

ISO 639-3: xkf

Population  50,000 (2003 SIL). 60% monolinguals.
Region  Zhemgang, Mongar districts; near Bumthangkha. Middle Kheng in Northwest Zhemgang; Upper Khen northeast of Zhemgang; also Mongar District; Lower Kheng in southern Zhemgang.
Alternate names   Ken, Keng, Kenkha, Khen, Khenkha, Kyengkha
Dialects  Middle Kheng, Upper Kheng, Lower Kheng. Bumthangkha [kjz] most similar related language. Comprehension of Bumthangkha not sufficient for complex discourse. Comprehend Kurtokha [xkz] with difficulty. Lexical similarity: 75%–85% with Bumthangkha, 70% with Kurtokha and Nyengkha [neh], 65% with Adap [adp], 34% with Dzongkha [dzo], 40% with Tshangla [tsj], and 75%–100% between dialects.
Classification  Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Himalayish, Tibeto-Kanauri, Tibetic, Tibetan, Eastern
Language use  Vigorous. 15,000 L2 speakers. Home, commerce, local politics, traditional religion domains, but not allowed in school. All ages. Negative toward Gonphu village speaking style. Lower Kheng considered most backward; Middle Kheng most prestigious. English spoken by educated young people (10%). Nepali [nep] spoken by those who live near the road (20%), Dzongkha [dzo] spoken well only by educated and some older males. Bumthangkha [kjz], Kurtokha [xkz], Nyengkha [neh] spoken by those who travel or have intermarried. Tshangla [tsj] spoken by those who travel on eastern side of Kheng area.
Language development  Literacy rate in L2: 20% in Dzongkha.
Writing system  Tibetan script, Uchen style.
Comments  Middle Kheng region strongest and most developed economically; Lower Kheng least developed. SOV; postpositions; genitives, relatives before noun heads, articles, adjective after noun heads; maximum prefixes 1; maximum suffixes 4; affixes indicate case; ergative; passives; causatives; some comparatives; CCVC; tonal. Swidden agriculturalists. Buddhist.