Overview

The Dzongkha Development Authority (DDA), the erstwhile Dzongkha Development Commission (DDC), was initially formed in 1986 by His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuk, to develop and promote Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan. The main role of the Authority is to plan both short and long-term policy of the national language Dzongkha, and other native languages, of the Kingdom of Bhutan. It functions on the basis of its dual-complementary policies— to promote Dzongkha on one hand and to preserve other indigenous languages of Bhutan on the other. It strives to establish Dzongkha as the official and administrative language, lingua franca throughout the kingdom, at the same time studying and preserving Bhutan’s diverse linguistic and cultural heritage. The Authority receives technical advice and expertise on Dzongkha from Dzongkha Expert Committee comprised of 16 members. DDA also has focal representatives in all the Ministries, autonomous organisations, Dzongkhags and corporations to facilitate easy dissemination and promotion of Dzongkha.

The Authority, comprised of two Divisions and one Unit namely Research and Development Division, Literary Promotion Division, and Administrative Support Unit, is headed by the Director General. The Research and Development Division is segregated into Linguistic Section, Audio Visual Section, Computer Support Section, and Programme Section. The Research and Development Division conducts linguistic and etymological research on Dzongkha, documents other native languages of Bhutan, produces Dzongkha audio-visual programmes, makes Dzongkha fonts and develops Dzongkha software, and coordinates and promotes Dzongkha programmes. The Literary Promotion Division is consisted of Literary Section and Translation Section. The Literary Section carries out the literary promotional, editorial, lexicographical and translation works. Translation Section does all translation works between Dzongkha, Choekay, and English. The Administration Support Unit keeps the wheel of the Authority going by supporting the day-to-day administration of the office.

Back to Top

Key Plan Objectives

The broad objectives of the Dzongkha Development Authority are:

1. Formulation of national language policy guidelines and their implementation;

2. Facilitation of research and scholastic activities;

3. Creation of awareness on the importance of Dzongkha;

4. Production of audio-visual programmes and their dissemination;

5. Carrying out linguistic research;

6. Promotion of Dzongkha-literary materials;

7. Standardization of Dzongkha orthography;

8. Development of teaching-learning materials;

9. Development of human resources and institutional-capacity building;

Back to Top

Activities/Programs

  1.      Research and Development Division

           The specific functions of Research and Development Division are:

1. conducting basic linguistic research on Dzongkha and other indigenous languages and dialects of Bhutan;

2. writing grammar of Dzongkha and describing other native languages of Bhutan;

3. documenting endangered languages of Bhutan;

4. developing computer software system in Dzongkha and updating the system for localization;

5. providing support for the Dzongkha-promotional activities;

6. developing audio-visual programmes in Dzongkha and disseminating them.

 2.      Literary Promotion Division

          The specific functions of the Literary Promotion Division are:

1. expanding lexical potentiality, i.e., building the vocabulary of Dzongkha;

2. carrying out lexicographical works, i.e., making monolingual and bilingual dictionaries;

3. encouraging literary works;

4. doing translations from, or to, Dzongkha vis-à-vis other languages such as English and Choekay;

5. writing and editing literary materials.

3.      Administration Support Unit

          The specific function of the Administration Unit is to support:

1. general administration;

2. personnel administration;

3. financial management;

4. coordination of welfare activities.

Back to Top

PUBLICATIONS OF DDA

Back to Top

Overview

Key Plan Objectives

Activities/Programs

Research and Development Division

Literary Promotion Division

Administration Support Unit

Publications of DDA