Drokgye Kham

Droklu and Dhampe  |   Drokgye Kham Dictionary

Tsering Lhatso
e-mail: trltso98@gmail.com
Language: Drokgye Kham
Alternative names for Kham: Khams, Khams-Yal, Khams Bhotia, Kam, Khamba, Khampa, Kang
Language code: ISO 639-3: khg
Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Himalayish, Tibeto-Kanauri, Tibetic, Tibetan, Northern

Location: eastern part of Tibet
Population: unknown
Other languages: Yugye Kham (farmer’s), Khamgye (urban), Mandarin
Official language: Mandarin
Language of instruction in school: urban Lhasa, Mandarin
Writing system: Tibetan




Drokgye Kham is spoken among Drokpa (nomads) in eastern Tibet. There is little awareness of the language’s loss among the speakers.
On the other hand, people who speak other languages / dialects are respected.
Even though Tibetan people share common religious beliefs and a writing system, there are three main languages in Tibet:
Kham, Amdo and Lhasa, according to the different regions.
Each of these three languages has three variations within it, urban, nomadic and farmer’s.
Due to a common occupation, the level of mutual intelligibility among speakers of the same variation across these three languages seems to be relatively high:
for instance, Kham nomads and Amdo nomads understand each other quite well.
On the other hand, mutual intelligibility among speakers of different variations in different regions is not as high:
for instance, Kham nomads do not understand Amdo farmers as well as they understand Amdo nomads.
I want to focus on nomad language as it is my mother tongue (Drokgye).

Drokgye is spoken by nomads in Tibet.
The population of its speakers is not certain since there are no reliable statistics.
However, since Tibet is a mountainous area, I believe that at least one sixth of Tibetans speak Drokgye.
As the nomad people live in the mountains, every nomad speaks Drokgye without any age limitation.
However, nowadays, the younger generations arem, influenced by their school teachers from the cities and from mainland China.
Nomads didn’t realize that their language is endangered as a result of the development of their life condition and environment.

I was born as a nomad and grew up as a shepherd from eight until 12 before I went to a city nearby to study.
I remember the name of every single mountain, river and lake in my hometown and I remember most of the name of flowers, herbs and plants.
I can’t speak Drokgye as fluent as I used to; however, I have to use my broken Drokgye to communicate with my mother and my siblings as well as my relatives.
Mostly, I used to be an interpreter for them in most occasions when they were in Lhasa.
When I heard my nomads speak vivid words, I could recall my childhood and my identity.
The more I think about the language I am used to, the more I felt its preciousness.
It’s clear that no one purposely learns it or pays attention to it. I feel pity for its loss and I really do want to do something about it.
No matter what it is that I can do, I know that I won’t give up trying my best for it.
Droklu (nomad song) and Drokzi (nomad food) as well as Drokgye (nomad language) are also part of the Tibetan nomad culture.

Beautiful memory of my childhood as a nomad
(Daily life during different seasons)

In my childhood when my family was chanting Tibetan Sutra before going to bed in a tent I didn’t like it as I was tired.
But now I would do it if even very sleepy; one person from a family chanting conference in a different family was also an expectation even severely icy.
Reciting and singing a Tibetan Legend after dinner has been an unforgettable and only entertainment in a tent.
Skating from top of the mountain to the foot of the mountain and playing and eating snow in winter was better than ice cream in the city.
Expecting to enjoy tiny, pink, beautiful Lugcng (lamb) flowers and the yellowish, slim ‘Budru (Yak) flowers bloom when lambs and calves are born to the world in spring.
Remembering the seven days of horseracing in the summer, the dozens of tents on the green grass gathered all the dressed up nomads.
The best season of digging out ginsengs by nomad girls and women in fall, now I long for it.
Hearing the high pitch Droklu (nomad song) from the top of one mountain to the top of another, with a river in between is a vivid image of nomad’s life.
Everything about my childhood is in my dream from time to time, but the typical and strong words of nomads make me feel nostalgic and passionate.