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Encyclopedia > Official Tibetan transcription

The official Tibetan transcription is based on the Lhasa dialect and reflects the pronunciation very accurately, except that it doesn't mark tones. It is the official transcription system for Tibetan in China. Lhasa prefecture-level city in Tibet Autonomous Region Lhasa (Tibetan: ལྷ་ས་; Wylie: lha-sa; Simplified Chinese: 拉萨; Traditional Chinese: 拉薩; pinyin: Lāsà), sometimes spelled Llasa, is the traditional capital of Tibet and the capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region of the Peoples Republic of China. ... A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος, dialektos) is a variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area. ... Pronunciation refers to: the way a word or a language is usually spoken; the manner in which someone utters a word. ... Transcription may be one of the following: In linguistics, transcription is the conversion of spoken words into written language. ... The Tibetan language is typically classified as member of the Tibeto-Burman which in turn is thought by some to be a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. ...

Contents


Initials

The tone of a syllable depends mostly on its initial consonant. In this table, each initial is given in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) with the vowel a and a tone mark to present tone register (high/low). A syllable (Ancient Greek: ) is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. ... A consonant is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by a closure or stricture of the vocal tract sufficient to cause audible turbulence. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ...

IPA Wylie transliteration official
p, sp, dp, lpa b
rb, sb, db, sbr b
mpà lb, ’b b
pʰá ph, ’ph p
pʰà b p
rm, sm, dm m
m, mr m
w, db w
t, rt, lt, st, tw, gt, bt, brt, blt, bst, bld d
ntá lth d
rd, sd, gd, bd, brd, bsd d
ntà zl, bzl, ld, md, ’d d
tʰá th, mth, ’th t
tʰà d, dw t
rn, sn, gn, brn, bsn, mn n
n n
kl, gl, bl, rl, sl, brl, bsl l
l, lw l
ɬá lh lh
tsá ts, rts, sts, tsw, gts, bts, brts, bsts z
tsà rdz, gdz, brdz z
ntsà mdz, ’dz z
tsʰá tsh, tshw, mtsh, ’tsh c
tsʰà dz c
s, sr, sw, gs, bs, bsr s
z, zw, gz, bz s
ʈʂá kr, tr, pr, dkr, dpr, bkr, bskr, bsr zh
ʈʂà dgr, dbr, bsgr, sbr zh
ɳʈʂà mgr, ’gr, ’dr, ’br zh
ʈʂʰá khr, thr, phr, mkhr, ’khr, ’phr ch
ʈʂʰà gr, dr, br, grw ch
ʂá hr sh
r, rw r
ky, rky, lky, sky, dky, bky, brky, bsky gy
dgy, bgy, brgy, bsgy gy
ɲcà mgy, ’gy gy
cʰá khy, mkhy, ’khy ky
cʰà gy ky
tɕá c, cw, gc, bc, lca, py, dpy j
tɕà rj, gj, brj, dby j
ɲtɕà lj, mj, ’j, ’by j
tɕʰá ch, mch, ’ch q
tɕʰà j q
tɕʰá phy, ’phy q
tɕʰà by q
ɕá sh, shw, gsh, bsh x
ɕà zh, zhw, gzh, bzh x
ɲá rny, sny, gny, brny, bsny, mny, nyw ny
ɲà ny, my ny
g.y y
y y
k, rk, lk, sk, kw, dk, bk, brk, bsk g
rg, sg, dg, bg, brg, bsg g
ŋkà lg, mg, ’g g
kʰá kh, khw, mkh, ’kh k
kʰà g, gw k
ŋá rng, lng, sng, dng, brng, bsng, mng ng
ŋà ng ng
ʔá —, db
ʔà
h, hw h

The Wylie transliteration scheme is a method for transliterating the Tibetan script using the keys on a typical English language typewriter. ...

Vowels and final consonants

The seventeen vowels of the Lhasa dialect are represented in the official transcription as follows: Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ...

IPA official IPA official
i i ĩ in
e ê en
ɛ ai/ä ɛ̃ ain/än
a a ã an
u u ũ un
o o õ on
ɔ o
y ü ün
ø oi/ö ø̃ oin/ön

Syllable-final -r is usually not spoken, but lengthens the preceding vowel. Syllable-final -n of the written forms usually nasalises the preceding vowel. This is how syllable-final consonants are transcribed:

IPA official
p b
ʔ g/—
r r
m m
ŋ ng

Examples

Wylie official Tournadre other transcriptions
gzhis-ka-rtse Xigazê Zhikatsé Shigatse, Shikatse
bkra-shis-lhun-po Zhaxilhünbo Trashilhünpo Tashilhunpo, Tashilhümpo, etc.
’bras-spung Zhaibung Drepung Drebung
chos kyi rgyal mtshan Qoigyi Gyaicain Chökyi Gyeltshen Choekyi Gyaltsen
thub bstan rgya mtsho Tubdain Gyaco Thupten Gyatsho Thubten Gyatso, Thubtan Gyatso, Thupten Gyatso

Shigatse (Tibetan: གཞིས་ཀ་རྩེ་; Wylie transliteration: Gzhis-ka-rtse; Modified Wiley: gzhi-ka-rtsa; pinyin (Tibetan): Xigazê; Chinese: 日喀则; pinyin: Rìkāzé, Zhigatse [Zhi-ga-tse], and Xigatse) is the second largest city in Tibet with a population of 80,000. ... Shigatse (Tibetan: གཞིས་ཀ་རྩེ་; Wylie transliteration: Gzhis-ka-rtse; Modified Wiley: gzhi-ka-rtse; pinyin (Tibetan): Xigazê; Chinese: 日喀则; pinyin: Rìkāzé, Zhigatse [Zhi-ga-tse], and Xigatse) is the second largest city in Tibet with a population of 80,000. ... Tashilhunpo Monastery The Thanka Wall overlooking the monastery Tashilhunpo Monastery, built in 1447, is a historic and culturally important monestary in Shigatse, Tibet. ... Drepung monastery Drepung Monastery is one of the great three Gelukpa university monasteries of Tibet. ... The 10th Panchen Lama, pictured here meeting with other political figures, lived from 1938 until 1989. ... The 13th Dalai Lama Thubten Gyatso (1876 – December 17, 1933), also spelled Thupten Gyatso, was the 13th Dalai Lama of Tibet. ...

References

  • Guójiā cèhuìjú dìmíng yánjiūsuǒ 国家测绘局地名研究所 (Institute for Place Names of the State Survey Bureau; ed.). Zhōngguó dìmínglù 中国地名录 / Gazetteer of China. (Beijing, Zhōngguó dìtú chūbǎnshè 中国地图出版社 1997); ISBN 7-5031-1718-4. Contains official spellings for place names.
  • Zàngwén pīnyīn jiàocái - Lāsàyīn 藏文拼音教材•拉萨音 / bod yig gi sgra sbyor slob deb, lha sa'i skad (Course in the transcription of Tibetan, Lhasa dialect; Běijīng 北京, Mínzú chūbǎnshè 民族出版社 1983), ISBN 7-105-02577-8. A modified version of the official transcription, with tone letters.
  • Wylie, Turrell: A Standard System of Tibetan Transcription In: Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 1959, p. 261-267.
  • David Germano, Nicolas Tournadre: THDL Simplified Phonetic Transcription of Standard Tibetan (Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library, December 12th, 2003).

See also


 

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