Dzongkha phrasebook
Dzongkha (རྫོང་ཁ་) is the national language of Bhutan. Most educated Bhutanese are able to communicate in English as well, though attempting to speak Dzongkha will almost certainly impress your hosts.
Pronunciation guide
Vowels
Vowels are [a ɛ e i ø y ɜ ɨ o u]. Diphthongs are [ai au ei øy ɤu/ou iɛ uɔ/yɔ]. The only coda is eng, in /aŋ eŋ oŋ/ and syllabic [ŋ̩].
Consonants
| Bilabial | Labio- dental |
Alveolar | Alveolo- palatal |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ȵ | ŋ | ||||
| Plosive | voiced | b | d | ɡ | ||||
| voiceless | p | t | k | |||||
| aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | kʰ | |||||
| Fricative | voiced | v | z | ɦ | ||||
| voiceless | f | s | ɕ | h | ||||
| Affricate | voiced | dz | dʑ | |||||
| voiceless | ts | tɕ | ||||||
| aspirated | tsʰ | tɕʰ | ||||||
| Approximant | j | |||||||
| Lateral Approximant | l | |||||||
Phrase list
Basics
- Hello (formal)
- Kuzoozangpo la
- Hello (informal)
- Kuzoozangpo
- How are you?
- Gadaybay Zhu yi Ga?
- I'm fine
- Legshom (Layshom) or Legshom bey rang yoe (full)
- What is your name?
- Chhoe gi ming ga chi mo?: What is your name (formal)
- Na ge tshen ga chi zhuwu eena?
- My name is _____
- Nge gi ming _____ in
- I am from ____
- Nga ____ lay in la
- Thank you
- Kadrin chhe
- See you later (formal)
- Shoo lay log jay gay
- See you later (alternate)
- Tama chhay gay
- See you tomorrow
- Naba chhay gay
- Where
- Gatey
- How much
- Gademchi
Problems
Where is the bathroom?
chhab sang gatey inna la?
We need to go to the hospital.
Nga chey (plural)/ nga (singular) menkhang na jo go bay.
Doctor:
Drung tsho
- What is the Problem?
- Choe gi Ka Ngyel ga chi mo?
- Where is the Bank?
- Ngyul Khang Ga teey mo?
Numbers
- 0
- leykor
- 1
- chi
- 2
- nyi
- 3
- sum
- 4
- zhi
- 5
- nga
- 6
- dru
- 7
- dhuen
- 8
- ghay
- 9
- gu
- 10
- chutham
- 11
- chu chi
- 12
- chu nyi
Clock time
- time
- (...)
- o'clock
- bazaar
- 8 o'clock
- bazaar gyed/ chhutsed gyed
Duration
- _____ minute(s)
- karma
- _____ hour(s)
- chhutsed
- _____ day(s)
- Zha/nim
- _____ week(s)
- dhuenthra
- _____ month(s)
- Daw
- _____ year(s)
- Lo
Days
- Monday
- Migmar
- Tuesday
- Lhagpa
- Wednesday
- Phurba
- Thursday
- Pasang
- Friday
- Penpa
- Saturday
- Nima
- Sunday
- Dawa
Months
- January
- indha dangpa
- February
- indha nyipa
- March
- indha sumpa, indha zhipa, indha ngapa, indha drukpa, indha duenpa, indha gyepa, indha gupa and indha chunyepa for December
- Note
- For the months of lunar calendar the prefix is rangda, indha is used for the months of the international calendar.
Colors
- Green
- Changkha
- Red
- Marp
- White
- Karp
- Blue
- Hoem
- Black
- Naap
- Yellow
- Sep
- Orange
- Leewang
Taxi
Identified by the yellow top (hood) and BT registration affixed before the number.
- Taxi
- la khor
- Fare
- la
- how much
- ga day chi in na la
Money
How much is this/it ? Ngultrum ga them chi mo
Eating
Meal : Toh /zhay go
Breakfast: dom zer
Lunch: nima ge toh
Dinner: tsho
eating : zhaygo za ni
delicious : zhim bay
bitter ; khag tay
sweet : ngam
sour ; chup
Water ; chhu
Tea : ja
Curry : tshoem
Soup :thup
Chilli : ema
Cheese :datshi
cook(verb) : toh bey ni
eat : zhey (formal)/ za (informal)
Dry Chilli : ema kam
Bars
- May I please have _____: Nga lu ______ nang mey la
- Alcoholic Beverage
- Changg
- Bar
- Changkhang
- Tip
- soera
- Whats the bill
- Ga de chi mo
- I am drunk
- changg dang so ye
- Water
- chu
HOT Water
Chu-tse
- Local Drink
- Ara
- It is strong(spirit)
- ah ni ga tra du
- It is mild
- lha si si du
Shopping
shop : tsongkhang
how much : ga de chi mo?
discount please : gong phab nang mey la
Driving
Car : Numkhor
Drive : Numkhor tang ni
Licence : Lak Kher
Police : thrim sung
Road : Lam
High speed : joba joba/ shuk bay tang
Low speed : drey gay bay tang
please take caution(driving) : reb drim di tang
Lets go : jogay
stop ; numkor kag nang
Risky : ngyen khag
Love
I love you: nga gi che lu ga
I miss you: nga choe drem mey
I can't stay without you: nga che me pa me cha bay
I will make you a phone call: nga gi che lu juthen tang gay
Do you miss me: che nga dem mey ga
You're so beautiful: che namay samay jarim dhu
I miss you very nuch : na may sa may dren yi