Lost syllables and tone contour in Dzongkha (Bhutan)

The tonal system of Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan, linguistically a Tibetan dialect, is presented synchronically and diachronically. The tone registers are similar to those of Central Tibetan. But in Dzongkha, many disyllabic words containing a derivational suffix have been reduced to monosyllables by apocope, the old suffix-initial functioning as the syllable final, and these monosyllables are distinguished from inherited monosyllables by tone contour, which thus differs functionally and historically from its CT counterpart.Le système tonal du Dzongkha (langue nationale du Bhoutan) est présenté, en particulier les contours mélodiques, orthogonaux avec les registres. Le rôle diachronique de la réduction de disyllabes du tibétain commun en monosyllabes en Dzongkha dans le développement des oppositions tonales est étudié