Dzongkha (;
Wylie:
rdzong-kha, Roman Dzongkha:
Dzongkha), occasionally
Ngalopkha ("language of the
Ngalop people"), is the national language of
Bhutan. The word "dzongkha" means the language (
kha) spoken in the
dzong "fortresses"—the fortress-like
dzong architecture characterises monasteries established throughout Bhutan by its unifier,
Ngawang Namgyal, 1st
Zhabdrung Rinpoche, in the 17th century.