Sikkimese

Sikkimese is a term used to refer to people from Sikkim, a state in northeastern India, and to the language spoken by some of those people. It is most closely associated with the Bhutia or Sikkimese community, who trace their roots to Tibetan-Bhutia cultural and linguistic heritage. The word also helps distinguish Sikkimese identity from other groupings in the state, such as Lepcha and Nepali communities.

The Sikkimese language, sometimes called Bhutia, is a Tibetic language spoken in Sikkim by the Sikkimese people. It belongs to the Bodish subgroup of the Sino-Tibetan language family and is closely related to Dzongkha of Bhutan and Tibetan. It is primarily written in the Tibetan script and has regional dialects within Sikkim. Vocabulary shows borrowings from Nepali and Lepcha due to long-standing contact with those communities.

In modern use, Sikkimese has cultural and educational significance in the region and is one of several languages used in Sikkim. Its prominence varies by community and area, with Nepali often serving as a more widely used language in many parts of the state, while Sikkimese remains an important marker of Bhutia-speaking regional identity and heritage.

See also: Sikkim, Lepcha language, Nepali language, Dzongkha, Tibetic languages.