The recent executive order issued by the Honourable Prime Minister of Bhutan mandating the use of Dzongkha as the medium of communication in official meetings, conferences, and correspondence has sparked vigorous debates and discussions across print and social media. The development of writing, reading, and speaking skills in our national language is of paramount importance, especially in light of the dominance of foreign languages like English, which are deeply rooted in their own cultures and worldviews. Language is a vital component of any culture, serving as a vessel for its values, traditions, and identity.
According to sociologist Anthony Giddens, cultural aspects such as language, customs, and foods are the unifying elements of a society. These cultural components bind the people of a country together and serve as symbols of unity and identity for a nation. This is why it is crucial to continually remind our citizens to preserve and promote our core cultural values, one of the four pillars of Gross National Happiness (GNH). These cultural aspects act as a bridge between generations, ensuring the continuity and cohesion of our national identity.
People of my generation were raised in villages or attended schools without mobile phones and other modern gadgets. Nowadays, children wake up with a mobile phone in their hands. Additionally, we learned classical language (chhoe-ked) as part of our vernacular. Amidst the rapid technological, digital, economic, and political changes, it is imperative to safeguard our identity by promoting cultural elements like Dzongkha. This ensures that our cultural heritage remains intact and continues to be a fundamental part of our national identity.
Keeping this in mind, the development of our national language in written form was emphasized through several Royal decrees, the first of which was issued by Drukgyal Sumpa on July 30, 1970. Lam Nado and Lam Pemala, Buddhist scholars and saints, were pioneers who dedicated their lives and efforts to the task of Dzongkha development. They faced strong resistance from traditionalists who feared the relegation and residualization of “chhoe-ked,” the dominant language of official written communication and the medium for the study of Buddhism at that time. Despite the initial challenges, the Dzongkha Development Commission, with which I was also associated in the beginning, has made significant progress and reached the present level of development.
In the capacity of Deputy Director of Education with teaching background and also being a bilinguist, I served as an active member of the Dzongkha Development Commssion (DDC) in 1980s under the chairmanship of the Minister of Finance, late Lyonpo Dorji Tshering, who I adored and respected as a down-to-earth and honest professional. It was thanks to the profound knowledge of both Lam Nado and Lam Pemala that the DDC was able to develop handbooks and guidelines including drel-shaes (འགྲེལ་བཤད) for written dzongkha.
The language as such is very complex. American linguists attempted to pronounce an English word by its spelling like liuetanent, either, etc. There is some limitation in every language. They could not change the pronounciation of either ‘put’ to ‘cut’ or vice versa. Similarly, Dzongkha drel shaes (འགྲེལ་བཤད) handbook says that the conversion of ra-tag in chhoe-ked can be changed to ya-tag in dzongkha. For example, dro (འགྲོ) to jo (འགྱོ), drag (བྲག) to jag (བྱག) , and so on. But there are limitations that all ra-tag words in chhoe-ked cannot be changed to ya-tag like tra-shi (བཀྲ་ཤིས). Over the years, comprehensive handbooks and guidelines for the use of Dzongkha were developed, mainly through the ingenuity of Secretary of DDC, late Dasho Sangay Dorji.
There is difference in word order between English and Dzongkha. The standard word order in an English sentence is subject + verb + object, whereas in a Dzongkha sentence it is subject + object + verb. This difference in word order sometime confuse our children in learning both languages simultaneously.
Like in any language, it is important to develop dictionaries in Dzongkha. The DDC has put in a lot of effort to develop dictionaries – Dzongkha to Dzongkha dictionary and English to Dzongkha dictionary. Our distinguished educationists like the former minister of education T.S. Powdel were invloveld in the writing of voluminuous dictionaries. Obviously, these dictionaries need to be constantly updated and revised incorporating new words including digital terms like AI. As the English language borrows words from many other languages, our Dzongkha should also keep borrowing words so as to make it rich like English.
We attach great importance to our National Language, Dzongkha, as evidenced by the Royal Decrees and Excutive Orders. It is an irony that the erstwhile DDC was dissolved and brought as a unit under the Department of Culture and Dzongkha Development (DCDD). However, I was heartened to attend the MOU Signing Ceremony between DCDD and Educare Skill (iBEST) on August 2, 2024 at the Pemako Hotel to develop the Dzongkha online learning platform. In other words, DCDD is outsourcing the development and simplification of Dzongkha to private entrepreneurs.
Given that there is a pool of experts in Dzongkha and translators in the market, it is a good move on the part of the government to outsource such technical works. This will also contribute towards the growth of private sector – the engine of growth. However, the private sector, particularly small businesses and industries should not be affected by the changes of governments. In a small country like ours, we cannot afford to emulate or adopt the practices of big countries like America.
Similar to those video cartoons in English and other languages, the development of such video cartoons and rhymes in Dzongkha by the Educare and Skill would inspire and encourage our children to learn Dzongkha. I believe, the Educare and Skill has developed the necessary expertise, knowledge and skills over the years to develop Apps for online Dzongkha learning in particular and other educational materials in general.
In 1980s, all public servants irrespective of their positions were required to speak Dzongkha in all meetings and official functions, and classes and crash courses were organised by the government for those who needed help. Those days, the representatives from the East and the South had difficulty to articulate their views and points in Dzongkha, the medium of communication, in the National Assembly of Bhutan. People are now writing novels in Dzongkha. The development of film industry and the organisation of national talent shows in Dzongkha have contributed to the promotion of the national language and other cultural aspects, strengthening the unity and identity of Drukyuel.
Nowadays, there are several private institutes which offer courses in dzongkha at all levels. This will ease the burden on the government to conduct crash courses for public servants in Dzongkha. However, the government should come up with some schemes to incentivise both individuals and institutions who earnestly and faithfully implement the Executive Order of the honourable Prime Mninster of the Kingdom of Bhutan. Let us be mindful of a Preacher’s phrase “do as I say and not as I do”.
Contributed by
Dasho Zangley Dukpa,
Thimphu