Zangskar Tibetan or more commonly Zangskari, also spelled as Zanksari, (Written Tibetan WT: ཟངས་དཀར དཔེ་ར ; Wylie transliteration: zangs.dkar dpe.ra, Zangskari pronunciation: zãhar ɸera, Leh Ladakhi pronunciation: zaŋskar spera) is a phonologically innovative non-tonal variety of Tibetan spoken in the Zangskar region of Kargil district in the Union Territory of Ladakh, the northwestern part of India. It is classified as Western Innovative Tibetan (WIT), in which the Old Tibetan (OT) consonants and their clusters have been simplified as opposed to Western Archaic Tibetan (WAT) varieties such as Balti, Purik, and Sham Ladakhi, which have retained them. Moreover, in Zangskari, the consonant clusters are simplified majorly by fricativization (which is evident from the autonym of the language itself). In contrast, its sister WIT varieties such as Upper Ladakhi or Changskat, and those spoken in Lahaul-Spiti in the adjoining state of Himachal Pradesh, do so majorly by consonant deletion, tonogenesis (in some of the eastern varieties bordering Tibet), and somewhat by fricativization, which makes Zangskari differ considerably from other Tibetic varieties spoken in the region. For a more detailed classification of Zangskari in the Western Tibetan group, follow this link.
.According to Zeisler (2011:243), the Zanskar dialects are relatively homogeneous, but are classified into four groups by the speakers themselves: Stod or Upper Zangskari along the Doda river, Zhung or Central Zangskari, around the valley of Padum, Sham or Lower Zangskari along the lower course of the Zanskar river, and Lungnak 'Black Valley' along the upper course of the Zanskar river.
Zanskar is a high-altitude, semi-desert region that covers about 7,000 square kilometers at an elevation of 3,500 to 7,135 meters. The region has a population of 13,849, according to a 2006 medical census, the majority of which are Buddhists. However, around 300 Muslims settled in the main town Padum and the neighboring village of Ufti. High mountain ridges cover this region from both sides of the valley, which runs north-west to south-east. Outside access is challenging, and communication with the neighboring Himalayan areas is maintained by crossing the high mountain passes or along the Zanskar River when frozen. It was not until 1979 that the only road to Zanskar from Kargil via the Suru valley over the Penzi-La was built to connect Padum, the administrative center of Zanskar, with the rest of the Himalayan areas. Along with the newly constructed road via the Singe-La, this road remains open for just five months a year, from June to October, due to heavy snowfall in the rest of the months blocking these two high passes. In broad valleys such as the Stod and Upper Zanskar, with villages on both sides, it may need a two-day journey between farms within shouting distances of each other (Osmaston et al. 1994:50). These topographic features make it one of the remotest and harshest inhabitable places on the earth.
Socio-politically, Zangskari is regarded as a dialect of the Ladakhi language along with other varieties such as Lehskat, Shamskat, Nubraskat, and Changskat. However, linguistically, it has a language status of its own and is recognized by the ISO 639-3 Code: zau and Glottocode: zang1248. Ethnologue mentions 11,400 speakers of this language (according to the 2001 census), and its status is listed as 'threatened'. This figure cannot be relied on, since politically, the language is clubbed as a dialect of Ladakhi as well as the source of the census data being nearly two decades old; rather, the actual current figure may be much lower. According to van Driem (2007:347), the possible number of speakers of Zangskar Tibetan is around 8,000, and its status is 'endangered'. Glottolog mentions its AES status as shifting, and the language is 'threatened'.
Due to poor infrastructure for basic necessities, especially education, the younger generation spends their early childhood in the Zanskar valley. In the past couple of decades, Zangskari families send their children to Kargil or Leh even before completing their high school to pursue a better education and a promising future. Since the Zangskari children stay far away from their families, often with no communication at all for months, they are losing native fluency in their mother tongue. Also, when these children migrate to Kargil or Leh town (or even to other parts of India), they start acquiring the local variety along with Hindi-Urdu. Even when they speak Zangskari with their family members or other Zangskari friends, they mix the Leh koiné to a great extent. Most of the younger speakers believe that only the elders speak the pure form of Zangskari as they spend almost all their life in Zanskar itself. Nowadays, in Ladakh, it is not uncommon for a Buddhist person to marry someone outside their linguistic/ethnic area, provided they are Buddhist. Hence a significant amount of Zangskarpas (the Zangskari people) marry other non-Zangskari Ladakhis. In many cases, their children fail to acquire native fluency in Zangskari. Due to all these reasons, the language is obviously experiencing a rapid shift.
My journey into the heart of the Zangskar region in September 2020 marked the beginning of an extensive fieldwork endeavor aimed at documenting the Zangskari language. Over the course of two weeks, I immersed myself in the local culture, engaging with native speakers and recording their linguistic practices. This fieldwork was not just about language documentation; it was an exploration of the rich cultural tapestry of Zanskar. I conducted interviews, recorded narratives, and collected linguistic data that provided invaluable insights into the phonological and syntactic aspects of Zangskari. The experience was enlightening, revealing the nuances of a language shaped by its remote and rugged geographical setting.
The Zangskari language collection, a culmination of my fieldwork, is a testament to the linguistic diversity and cultural richness of the Zanskar region. This collection, housed at the CoRSAL archive, includes a diverse array of materials such as audio-visual recordings of natural conversations, folklore, traditional songs, and personal narratives. These resources not only serve as a linguistic repository but also offer a window into the daily lives and cultural practices of the Zangskari people. The collection is continually being expanded, with new materials being added as part of ongoing documentation efforts.