Brokpa language
The Brokpa language (Brokpa kay) (Dzongkha: དྲོག་པ་ཁ།, དྲོགཔ་ཁ།, Dr˚okpakha, Dr˚opkha), also called the Merak-Sakteng language after its speakers' home regions, is a Southern Tibetic language spoken by about 5,000 people mainly in Mera and Sakteng Gewogs in the Sakteng Valley of Trashigang District in Eastern Bhutan. Brokpa is spoken by descendants of pastoral yakherd communities.
| Brokpa | |
|---|---|
| Brokpa kay | |
| Region | Bhutan |
Native speakers | 5,000 (2006) |
| Tibetan script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | sgt |
| Glottolog | brok1248 |
| ELP | Brokpake |
The word brokpa has two parts. 'brok' and 'pa'. In Tibetic 'Brok' means pastoral land and 'pa' is a demonym, so the word 'Brokpa' refers to the language spoken by the people living on the mountains. Roger Blench has also recently named a language complex called Senge spoken in three villages northwest of Dirang in West Kameng district.
Dondrup (1993:3) lists the following Brokpa villages.
- West Kameng district
- Lubrung
- Dirme
- Sumrang
- Nyokmadung
- Undra
- Sengedrong
- Tawang district
- Lagam
- Mago
- Thingbu
- Lakuthang
- Bhutan
- Sakteng
- Merak
The 1981 census counted 1,855 Brokpa people in Arunachal Pradesh.