21st Century
Language Cousins
room India
Ladhaki (and Balti) languages are very similar to Tibetan. They are the westernmost speakers of Tibeto-Burman languages and so are linguistic cousins of the Burmese. Tibeto-Burman is a family of languages spoken by over 50 million people. The two biggest languages in the family are Tibetan and Burmese. Jingpaw, Chin, Naga, and many languages in Nepal, Northeast India, and Southwest China are also part of this family. The Tibeto-Burman languages closest to Burmese include Yi, Naxi, Lisu, Atsi, and Maru. Ladhaki is spoken in Ladakh. Ladakh was once an independent kingdom but is today part of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.