Tibetic

Tibetic is a term used to describe the Tibetic languages, a subgroup of the Bodic branch within the Sino-Tibetan language family. They are spoken on the Tibetan Plateau and in neighboring regions, with speaker communities across China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai, Sichuan, and Gansu; the Indian union territories of Ladakh and Sikkim; parts of Nepal and Bhutan; and the Baltistan area of Pakistan. The most widely known variety is Central Tibetan (often called Lhasa Tibetan), which functions as a prestige form and is used in education and literature, while Amdo and Kham Tibetan are other major varieties. Dzongkha (Bhutan), Sikkimese, Ladakhi, and Balti are sometimes treated as Tibetic but differ in status and dialectal development.

In classification, Tibetic languages form a subgroup within the Bodic branch of Sino-Tibetan; they share historical origins and substantial vocabulary with Tibetan religious and cultural texts. They are related but not mutually intelligible across all varieties.

The writing system is the Tibetan script, used by most Tibetic languages for religious and secular texts; Dzongkha and Sikkimese also employ the script. Orthography generally preserves older pronunciations more than phonetic details.

Linguistically, Tibetic languages are typically analytic with subject–object–verb order and extensive use of particles and suffixes; many varieties have consonant clusters and ejective consonants in some dialects, and some show tone or pitch distinctions in certain forms. The group remains central to the linguistic and cultural landscape of the high Himalayas and adjacent regions.