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Tibet is one of the most linguistically diverse places in the world. This is in danger of extinction

Three days after he was released from prison in December, a Tibetan village leader named Gonpo Namgyal . As his body was being prepared for traditional Tibetan funeral rites, marks were found indicating he had been brutally .

His crime? Gonpo Namgyal had been part of a in China.

Gonpo Namgyal is the victim of a slow-moving conflict that has dragged on for nearly 75 years, since China invaded Tibet in the mid-20th century. Language has been central to that conflict.

Tibetans have worked to protect the Tibetan language and resisted efforts to enforce Mandarin Chinese. Yet, Tibetan children are losing their language through in state boarding schools where they are being educated nearly exclusively in Mandarin Chinese. Tibetan is typically only taught a few times a week—not enough to sustain the language.

My research, published in a in 2024, provides unique insights into the struggle of other minority languages in Tibet that receive far less attention.

My research shows that language politics in Tibet are surprisingly complex and driven by subtle violence, perpetuated not only by Chinese authorities but also other Tibetans. I've also found that outsiders' efforts to help are failing the minority languages at the highest risk of extinction.

Tibetan culture under attack

I lived in Ziling, the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau, from 2005 to 2013, teaching in a university, studying Tibetan and supporting local non-government organizations.

Most of my research since then has focused on language politics in the on the northeast Tibetan Plateau. From 2014 to 2018, I interviewed dozens of people, spoke informally with many others, and conducted hundreds of household surveys about language use.

I also collected and analyzed Tibetan language texts, including government policies, online essays, social media posts and even .

When I was in Ziling, Tibetans launched a against Chinese rule just before the Beijing Olympics in 2008. These protests led to harsh , including mass arrests, increased surveillance, and restrictions on freedom of movement and expressions of Tibetan identity. This was largely focused on language and religion.

Years of unrest ensued, marked by more demonstrations and individual acts of sacrifice. Since 2009, more than 150 Tibetans have set themselves on fire to .

Not just Tibetan under threat

Tibet is a linguistically diverse place. In addition to Tibetan, about . About 4% of Tibetans (around 250,000 people) speak a minority language.

Government policy forces all Tibetans to learn and use Mandarin Chinese. Those who speak only Tibetan have a harder time finding work and are faced with discrimination and even violence from the dominant Han ethnic group.

Meanwhile, support for Tibetan language education has slowly been whittled away: the government even recently from having private Tibetan lessons or tutors on their school holidays.

Linguistic minorities in Tibet all need to learn and use Mandarin. But many also need to learn Tibetan to communicate with other Tibetans: classmates, teachers, doctors, bureaucrats or bosses.

In Rebgong, where I did my research, the locals speak a language they call Manegacha. Increasingly, this language is being replaced by Tibetan: of all families that speak Manegacha are now teaching Tibetan to their children (who also must learn Mandarin).

The government refuses to provide any opportunities to use and learn minority languages like Manegacha. It also tolerates constant against Manegacha speakers by other Tibetans.

These assimilationist state policies are causing linguistic diversity across Tibet to collapse. As these minority languages are lost, people's and their are destroyed.

Why does this matter?

Tibetan resistance to Chinese rule dates back to the People's Liberation Army invasion in the early 1950s.

When the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959, that resistance movement went global. Governments around the world have continued to support Tibetan self-determination and combat Chinese misinformation about Tibet, such as the US Congress passage of the in 2024.

Outside efforts to support the Tibetan struggle, however, are failing some of the most vulnerable people: those who speak .

Manegacha speakers want to maintain their language. They resist the pressure to assimilate whenever they speak Manegacha to each other, post memes online in Manegacha or push back against the discrimination they face from other Tibetans.

However, if Tibetans stop speaking Manegacha and other minority languages, this will contribute to the Chinese government's efforts to erase Tibetan identity and culture.

Even if the Tibetan language somehow survives in China, the loss of even one of Tibet's minority languages would be a victory for the Communist Party in the conflict it started 75 years ago.