Oriental Studies (Apr 2021)
The Written Language Debate in Ladakh: Conservative and Reformist Opinions
Abstract
Ladakhi is an idiom used mainly within Ladakh (a region that until 2019 was part of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir), as well as in the bordering areas of China and Pakistan. Goals. The paper discusses the development of Ladakhi as a written language and the controversy it leads to both in Ladakh and outside. Methods and Materials. The study analyzes various official documents issued by local administrative bodies of Ladakh, academic works and grammatical descriptions of the Ladakhi idiom, as well as interviews with residents of the region. The main methods of the field research conducted in Ladakh in 2010—2011 include participant observation, analysis of documentary sources, and interviewing. Results. Most Ladakhis consider Tibetan and Ladakhi to be the same language, often using the linguonym ‘Bhoti’ to refer to both the languages. Since the independent princedom of Ladakh was established in the 10th century AD, Classical Tibetan has been the dominant written language there, while other idioms have also been used in oral communication. For a long time, Ladakhi has existed in diglossia, its role being that of a ‘low’ language. Most government officials, education workers and Buddhist clerics in Ladakh still believe that Ladakhi is and should remain a spoken version of Classical Tibetan rather than an entirely separate language. They see any attempts to codify the Ladakhi language as sacrilege because in their opinion the Tibetan language was created by Thonmi Sambhota to put down sacred Buddhist texts, and so it should remain unchanged. However, the last four decades have seen some considerable changes. A few dozen books written in Ladakhi or translated into the language have been published. A number of issues of a magazine in spoken Ladakhi released, and Al-Baqarah, the second surah of Quran, was also published in Ladakhi. Whether Ladakhi should become a fully fledged written (literary) language is the subject of hot debates in contemporary Ladakh attracting increasing attention both in and outside the region.
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