Archive · 19 Aug 2026
Teacher Launches Nepali-Tibetan Grammar Book to Preserve Linguistic Links
Dawa Tshering Bhutia has written a book about Nepali and Tibetan grammar.
He spent 26 years completing the 300-page book.
It helps Nepali speakers learn Tibetan and Tibetan speakers learn Nepali.
The first book mainly explains a type of verb called voluntary verbs.
Bhutia plans to write more books about other parts of grammar.
Nepali and Tibetan have some similarities in how verbs are used.
Long ago, traders in Kalimpong learned Tibetan to do business with Tibetan merchants.
Today, many students learn Tibetan because they are interested in Buddhism and want to read old manuscripts.
Bhutia says 38 students are currently taking his class.
Dawa Tshering Bhutia has published a 300-page Nepali-Tibetan grammar book after 26 years of work.
The first volume focuses mainly on voluntary verbs and is designed for Nepali and Tibetan learners.
Bhutia plans additional volumes covering involuntary verbs, relative clauses and other grammar topics.
The book seeks to preserve linguistic ties once strengthened by trade between Kalimpong and Tibet.
Thirty-eight students are enrolled in Bhutia’s Tibetan class, many hoping to understand Buddhist manuscripts.
- Who
- Linguist and Tibetan teacher Dawa Tshering Bhutia, along with Nepali and Tibetan language learners.
- What
- Bhutia launched a 300-page Nepali-Tibetan grammar book, the first volume of a planned series.
- When
- The book took 26 years to complete; the article says 38 students are enrolled in Bhutia’s class this year.
- Where
- The work is connected to Bhutia’s teaching at the Manjushree Centre of Tibetan Language in Darjeeling and the former trading networks of Kalimpong and Tibet.
- Why
- To make Tibetan accessible to Nepali speakers and vice versa, and to preserve linguistic connections between the two Himalayan communities.
- Author
- Dawa Tshering Bhutia, a 68-year-old linguist and Tibetan teacher
- Book length
- 300 pages
- Completion time
- 26 years
- First volume
- Primarily covers voluntary verbs
- Planned volumes
- Future volumes are expected to cover involuntary verbs, relative clauses and other Tibetan grammar topics
- Current students
- Thirty-eight students are enrolled in Bhutia’s Tibetan class
- Historical trade route
- The traditional India-Tibet trade route closed in 1962