Dzongkha (རྫོང་ཁ, 'the language of the dzong fortress') is the national language of Bhutan and belongs to the Bodish branch of the Sino-Tibetan family. It is closely related to Classical Tibetan and uses the same Uchen (དབུ་ཅན) script — a script developed in the 7th century by the scholar Thonmi Sambhota under Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo. Because Dzongkha liturgical and classical texts are written in Classical Tibetan, educated Bhutanese are typically literate in a form of the language that diverges substantially from spoken Dzongkha, much as medieval Latin differed from vernacular European speech. Dzongkha was formally declared the national language in 1971 and has since been promoted through standardised education. Bhutan's extraordinary linguistic diversity — over 20 languages are spoken within its borders — reflects the many ethnic communities of the Himalayan kingdom, though Dzongkha functions as the unifying official tongue.
