Tibetan Pinyin

Encyclopedia : T : TI : TIB : Tibetan Pinyin

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The People's Republic of China's Tibetan Pinyin (}; }; ) is the official transcription system for the Tibetan language in China. Tibetan Pinyin is based on the Lhasa dialect and reflects the pronunciation very accurately, except that it doesn't mark tones. It is used inside of China as an alternative to the Wylie transliteration for writing Tibetan in the Latin alphabet.

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).

IPA	Wylie	Tibetan Pinyin
	p, sp, dp, lpa	b
	rb, sb, db, sbr	b
	lb, ’b	b
	ph, ’ph	p
	b	p
	rm, sm, dm	m
	m, mr	m
	w, db	w
	t, rt, lt, st, tw, gt, bt, brt, blt, bst, bld	d
	lth	d
	rd, sd, gd, bd, brd, bsd	d
	zl, bzl, ld, md, ’d	d
	th, mth, ’th	t
	d, dw	t
	rn, sn, gn, brn, bsn, mn	n
	n	n
	kl, gl, bl, rl, sl, brl, bsl	l
	l, lw	l
	lh	lh
	ts, rts, sts, tsw, gts, bts, brts, bsts	z
	rdz, gdz, brdz	z
	mdz, ’dz	z
	tsh, tshw, mtsh, ’tsh	c
	dz	c
	s, sr, sw, gs, bs, bsr	s
	z, zw, gz, bz	s
	kr, tr, pr, dkr, dpr, bkr, bskr, bsr	zh
	dgr, dbr, bsgr, sbr	zh
	mgr, ’gr, ’dr, ’br	zh
	khr, thr, phr, mkhr, ’khr, ’phr	ch
	gr, dr, br, grw	ch
	hr	sh
	r, rw	r
	ky, rky, lky, sky, dky, bky, brky, bsky	gy
	dgy, bgy, brgy, bsgy	gy
	mgy, ’gy	gy
	khy, mkhy, ’khy	ky
	gy	ky
	c, cw, gc, bc, lca, py, dpy	j
	rj, gj, brj, dby	j
	lj, mj, ’j, ’by	j
	ch, mch, ’ch	q
	j	q
	phy, ’phy	q
	by	q
	sh, shw, gsh, bsh	x
	zh, zhw, gzh, bzh	x
	rny, sny, gny, brny, bsny, mny, nyw	ny
	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
	lg, mg, ’g	g
	kh, khw, mkh, ’kh	k
	g, gw	k
	rng, lng, sng, dng, brng, bsng, mng	ng
	ng	ng
	—, db	—
	’	—
	h, hw	h

Vowels and final consonants

The seventeen vowels of the Lhasa dialect are represented in Tibetan Pinyin as follows:

IPA	Tibetan Pinyin	IPA	Tibetan Pinyin
	i		in
	ê		en
	ai/ä		ain/än
	a		an
	u		un
	o		on
	o
	ü		ün
	oi/ö		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	Tibetan Pinyin
	b
	g/—
	r
	m
	ng

Examples

Wylie	Tibetan Pinyin	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

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

• Tibetan language
• Tibetan alphabet
• Wylie transliteration
• Tibetan transcription (THDL)
• Hanyu Pinyin

 

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