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Tibet's Minority Languages: Diversity and endangerment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2018

GERALD ROCHE Open the ORCID record for GERALD ROCHE [Opens in a new window]  and
HIROYUKI SUZUKI
GERALD ROCHE
Affiliation:
Asia Institute, University of Melbourne, Australia Email: [email protected]
HIROYUKI SUZUKI
Affiliation:
IKOS, University of Oslo, Norway Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Asia is the world's most linguistically diverse continent and its diversity largely conforms to established global patterns that correlate linguistic diversity with biodiversity, latitude, and topography. However, one Asian region stands out as an anomaly in these patterns—Tibet, which is often portrayed as linguistically homogenous. A growing body of research now suggests that Tibet is linguistically diverse. In this article, we examine this literature in an attempt to quantify Tibet's linguistic diversity. We focus on the minority languages of Tibet—languages that are neither Chinese nor Tibetan. We provide five different estimates of how many minority languages are spoken in Tibet. We also interrogate these sources for clues about language endangerment among Tibet's minority languages and propose a sociolinguistic categorization of Tibet's minority languages that enables broad patterns of language endangerment to be perceived. Appendices include lists of the languages identified in each of our five estimates, along with references to key sources on each language. Our survey found that as many as 60 minority languages may be spoken in Tibet and that the majority of these languages are endangered to some degree. We hope our contribution inspires further research into the predicament of Tibet's minority languages and helps support community efforts to maintain and revitalize these languages.

Type
Research Article
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Modern Asian Studies , Volume 52 , Issue 4 , July 2018 , pp. 1227 - 1278
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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89 Although officially identified Tibetan towns and townships do exist (see Appendix 4), these have no role in terms of autonomy.

90 Also within the TAA in Huangnan TAP.

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