The number of languages listed for Bhutan is 24. Of those, all are living languages. Also includes Assamese 30,000, Western Gurung, Limbu, Eastern Magar, Santali, Sherpa, Eastern Tamang, Assamese 30,000, Gurung, Limbu, Santali, Sherpa. Deaf population 105,435.

National Language Dzongkha

Dzongkha is the modern Bhutanese vernacular language derived from Old Tibetan through many centuries of separate evolution on Bhutanese soil. Modern Dzongkha differs from Classical Tibetan as much as modern French does from Classical Latin. Only a few decades ago, the first attempts were undertaken to write in the vernacular in Bhutan, and the strong liturgical tradition in Bhutan has maintained the use of Classical Tibetan as the literary language to the present day. At the request of the Royal Government of Bhutan, George van Driem produced a linguistic description of Dzongkha, the national language of the Kingdom of Bhutan.

The Dzongkha grammar in English was meant to serve both as a reference grammar and as a language textbook. The first edition of the Dzongkha grammar was published by the Royal Government of Bhutan in Thimphu (van Driem 1992b). The revised and much expanded edition was published in a hardback edition on acid-free paper and comes with three audio compact disks in a multi-box (van Driem 1998a). The Dzongkha Development Commission in Thimphu also commissioned George van Driem to devise a phonological romanization of the national language for the rendering of Dzongkha in the Roman alphabet.

This phonemically accurate and complete transcription, entitled Roman Dzongkha, was officially adopted in 1991 (van Driem 1991e). In 1994, a diachronic study of modern Dzongkha phonology was presented in light of the Bhutanese liturgical language, and more details on this topic are provided in the 1998 edition of the Dzongkha grammar.