Tibetan Pinyin

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Tibetan Pinyin
Chinese name
Chinese: 藏文拼音
Tibetan name
Tibetan: བོད་
ཡིག་གི་སྒྲ་སྦྱོར་

The People's Republic of China's Tibetan Pinyin is the official transcription system for the Tibetan language in mainland 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.

Contents

[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 transliteration 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, smr 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, rtsw, stsw, 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
ʈá kr, rkr, lkr, skr, tr, pr, lpr, spr, dkr, dpr, bkr, bskr, bsr zh
ʈà rgr, lgr, sgr, dgr, dbr, bsgr, rbr, lbr, sbr zh
ɳʈà mgr, ’gr, ’dr, ’br zh
ʈʰá khr, thr, phr, mkhr, ’khr, ’phr ch
ʈʰà gr, dr, br, grw ch
ʂá hr sh
rà r, rw r
cá ky, rky, lky, sky, dky, bky, brky, bsky gy
cà rgy, lgy, sgy, dgy, bgy, brgy, bsgy gy
ɲcà mgy, ’gy gy
cʰá khy, mkhy, ’khy ky
cʰà gy ky
tɕá c, cw, gc, bc, lc, py, lpy, spy, dpy j
tɕà rby, lby, sby, 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, rmy, smy 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, lg, 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

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ 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]

[edit] See also