Ladakhi

Jammu and Kashmir's claim to fame rests in its mind-blowing landscapes that range from the paradise of Kashmir valley to the pearly white Ladakh valley, wrapped in a blanket of snow. Ladakhi, the language spoken by the residents of the heavenly Ladakh valley is a beautiful language that is interspersed with traces of the Tibetan language.

The hilly frontiers of Ladakh valley abounds in icy glaciers that glisten in the warm early morning snow. A recent survey has revealed approximately 1,00,000 speakers of Ladakhi, out of which about 12,000 reside in Tibet. Amongst the various dialects predominant in Ladakh, Shamma spoken in northwest Ladakh and Stopta spoken in the southeastern parts of Indus Valley and Nubra spoken in the northern region deserve special mention. However, the Ladakhi proper dialect that is predominant in it's capital city, the Himalayan kingdom of Leh is undoubtedly the most popular language.

A slight variation of the Ladakhi language that nonetheless resembles it closely is spoken in the Zanskar valley. Ladakhi language and its colloquial pronunciation twangs are quite similar to Hindi, the principal language of India.

Ladaki is written using the Tibetan script and the similarity between the written Ladakhi script and Tibetan script is indeed a personification of diglossia.

The pleasure of a visit to the Ladakh valley, encircled by the lofty snow clad Himalayan glaciers is further enhanced by a meeting the hospitable and sociable local inhabitants and hear them converse in the local Ladakhi dialects.

Last Updated on 8/29/2011