11 July 202619°CThimphu
All stories
Kuensel

A dialect on the brink

Mongar—A monk walks into a shop in Chhaling Gewog, Mongar, and asks, “Teru gak-pa?”, pointing toward a juice bottle on the shelf. His question, meaning “how much does it cost?”, is spoken in Chhaling Kha, an indigenous local dialect that is quietly fighting for its survival.