Tibetan Pinyin
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The People's Republic of China's Tibetan Pinyin (Chinese: 藏文拼音; pinyin: Zàngwén Pīnyīn; Tibetan: བོད་ཡིག་གི་སྒྲ་སྦྱོར་) 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.
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[edit] 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 |
|---|---|---|
| pá | p, sp, dp, lp | b |
| pà | rb, sb, db, sbr | b |
| mpà | lb, ’b | b |
| pʰá | ph, ’ph | p |
| pʰà | b | p |
| má | rm, sm, dm | m |
| mà | m, mr | m |
| wà | w, db | w |
| tá | t, rt, lt, st, tw, gt, bt, brt, blt, bst, bld | d |
| ntá | lth | d |
| tà | rd, sd, gd, bd, brd, bsd | d |
| ntà | zl, bzl, ld, md, ’d | d |
| tʰá | th, mth, ’th | t |
| tʰà | d, dw | t |
| ná | rn, sn, gn, brn, bsn, mn | n |
| nà | n | n |
| lá | kl, gl, bl, rl, sl, brl, bsl | l |
| là | 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 |
| sá | s, sr, sw, gs, bs, bsr | s |
| sà | 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 |
| rà | r, rw | r |
| cá | ky, rky, lky, sky, dky, bky, brky, bsky | gy |
| cà | 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 |
| já | g.y | y |
| jà | y | y |
| ká | k, rk, lk, sk, kw, dk, bk, brk, bsk | g |
| kà | 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 | ’ | — |
| há | h, hw | h |
[edit] 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 | i | ĩ | in |
| e | ê | ẽ | 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 | Tibetan Pinyin |
|---|---|
| p | b |
| ʔ | g/— |
| r | r |
| m | m |
| ŋ | ng |
[edit] 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, Dräpung[1] | 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 |
[edit] 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).
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ The THDL Simplified Phonetic Transcription of Standard Tibetan by David Germano and Nicolas Tournadre states: “When the vowel a is followed by the suffix d, n, l, or s, it is rendered as ‘e’.”[1]. The name of the monastery is spelled “Drepung”, accordingly. The THDL Tibetan Reference Grammar by Tournadre on the other hand actually uses a different system and gives examples where the monastery is spelled “Dräpung”.[2]
