English
Ba > na_ro > bo ; b \ da, bo* ; sa, ka-ta, ka ; Ka\ da, Ka* : Bcj’-ka’, Language of Tibet. § 22 , —Transliteration. \ For the system adopted in this work of transliterating Tibetan words into Romanized Equivalents see § 2. The best method, no doubt, is the one that was adopted at the Vienna Congress of Orientalists, and which may be found exemplified in Rai Sarat Chandia Das Bahadur’s Tibetan-Knglish Dictionary. By that system each letter in a Tibetan word is transliterated, but a line is drawn under every letter that is not pronounced, or it is distin¬ guished by special type from the letters that are pronounced. It is not adopted in this work, as it is really only necessary for purposes of scientific precision. § 2H. —Use of the Tibetan Dictionary. The following appears to he the way in which the words in a Tibetan Dictionary ( T'sid-ftzcT) are arranged. 1 —According to the order of the 'TJ’or Ka-li, or Consonantal n. Series of the. 'Tj'P* Ka-K a, regarded p.s Initials, or as thev are sometimes called. Root letters , with the inherent vowel- sound of W A, The first thing, therefore, that the student has to do, when he wants to look up a word, is to ascertain what its Initial letter is. Then the words under each consonant, beginning for instance with *n" Ka, are arranged thus :— 56 TIBETAN GRAMMAR. 2. —The simple consonant, e.g. 3. —The simple consonant with subjuncts like ’a. tea-iur , or fV Sha-lop- K' a — e.g. La-wa, Woollen Blanket. 4 -—The simple consonant with affixes, single and double, for the order of which as amongst themselves, see § 16. Then the same with subjuncts. o. Next, according to the foregoing order as regards their conso¬ nants, words qualified by the vowel-signs ^ zhyab-kyu „ Qeng-bu, and ro , in that order. —Simple consonant qualified by yorta, alone. 7. Ya-td words in all orders down to 5, inclusive. 8. —Simple consonant qualified by Ra-td alone. Ra~ta words in all orders down to 5, inclusive. 1°-—Simple consonant qualified by Harta alone. Ha-td words in all orders down to 5, inclusive. 12.—Simple consonant qualified by la^td alone. 1^’ La-td words in all orders down to 5, inclusive. Foreign or other special words formed with the Reversed letters. x 15. —Words with the Prefixes R]* f ^ *!’, and in that sequence, and each sequence arranged according to the fore¬ going orders. 16. —Consonant qualified by Ra-0o. 17- _ Rdrtjo words according to foregoing orders, 18- —Consonant qualified by La-po. 1®- La-0o words according to foregoing orders, 20.—Consonant qualified by 8a~po. “1* 8a-po words according to foregoing orders. 22. No words with &T La, as an Initial, and having any Super¬ posed letter like or need be looked for under Of La, They will only be found under the head of tne Super¬ posed lettei. TIBETAN GRAMMAR, 57 Words in OJ* Iai, however, are found with qualifying vowel-signs, and such words may be looked for under Oj* La. N.B ,—Csoma de Koros’s Dictionary is differently arranged. § 24.—Indicative and Differentiating Particles. Used both in Literary Tibetan and in the Colloquial, and mav have any of the following meanings, namely: The. All, Both, Togetker , Th e very , Just , Exactly , etc. Ex.:— Th e Spring ; The Summer ; WT The Autumn; The Winter. Sometimes, in this connection, F is seen instead of FT | Both , The two together; All three , The three together . In this connection 5* sometimes replaces 'V 1 VT The very , That very ; j ns t so; ^* r TpCj^- (as a reply) Yes , exactly, precisely, to be sure. Sometimes its sole use is to differentiate between words that resemble each other, e.g. FF Confidence; but Hood of a snake; ^•cr To shoiv , To teach ; but Autumn. F, when used, is generally found attached to words ending in TT ^ y ^ j 51 and also in and in vowels. F K'a. When this particle is used, it is generally found attached to Literary words ending in <3j*, ^ and and to Colloquial words ending in C* or j Ex. FF (properly VT ) Appetite ; (properly ) Number , Enumeration. Also sometimes used instead of r Tj’ as above explained, p* also indicates the top, upper surface, or front of anything 68 TIBETAN GRAMMAR. inanimate. Ex. *— p* or p ,c I|?p* bid ; SFF Ridge, or Summit of a ^ p* T op, or head of a mountain, or pass ; ^t[|'p’ Head of cliff. 'T &a. Used after vowels, or after C, ST f C\\ and Op It is used as a Differentiating Particle with many roots. Ex. To disappear ; but Branch ^ 5^C* Plain or Steppe j but Painted Scroll; p Husband ; but p'p" A man , as distin¬ guished from an effeminate person. * Oh a. Apart from its meanings as a word by itself, this Particle is often seen added to roots. Ex. : — (Literary), or ^*<5* (Collo¬ quial). Echo j <?> Conversation ; Negotiations. Pa. Used after ^ ( ^ ( <3j' ( 51’ ( 34’ expresses ownership, or possession, or the connection subsisting between a person and some thing, action, employment, place, etc. Ex. :— p3T A house, but gsrcr A married man, or householder * A horse , but r Horseman ; <§* Water , but Water-carrier ; Arrow, but A tiile °f Cupid as holder of five arrows; 'Tl’p* The Tibetan Alphabet, but ’Tj’p £J’ A child learning its letters ; Lhassa, but ^S’34*£T An inhabitant of Lhassa. hen added to all Cardinal Numbers except One, it forms the Ordinal Numbers. Thus, *7^34’ Two. but Second 3. It is used also in connection with other ennmerational expres¬ sions. Ex. SJSTS-Cr the OJ-oq* or consonantal series of 30 rx TIBETAN GRAMMAR. 59 4.— letters ; A two-year-old boy ; Measuring a cubit. It is the sign of the Infinitive Mood, the Verbal Substantive, and the Participle. Ex. r— fp^* (Lit.) and (Coll.) To preach . The or A preaching r Preaching , Preached . He went to India to preach : (The) preaching to the deaf is useless ; A preaching man must be sincere : The truth was preached a long time ago. The last example shows that CJ* added to a root, and helped out by the auxiliary To be, goes to form the Perfect Indicative Tense. 5.^1* is also used to distinguish the different meanings of ho¬ monymous roots. Ex. : — dp Marrow , but ff|C£J* Foot. In the Colloquial it is often used instead of the supinal particle £]*** (much used in Literary Tibetan). Ex. :— He has gone to bri'ttg the box . This is Literary. Colloquially it would be, C'S^'CT (Literary) Remembering that I was not rich, or Remembering myself not to be rich. Colloquially, H Po. Indicates an agent. It is then sometimes, e.g. when annexed to the Infinitive, preceded by £J’ />a. Thus, SJ^TCJ’^r A or the hearer. (>. — It also expresses the idea of the Definite or Indefinite Article 60 TIBETAH' GRAMMAR. in connection with Noun Substantives. Ex. IjenTp An or the eye ; cgoj-q* A or the ^ A or <Ac /rce> Qr of wood : OJSI'q* A or the road ; SK’q'* The poor . Used with numerals it also performs the functions of the Definite Article, or of the word aforesaid. Ex.:— The three to- gether. *T P‘o. An affixed or prefixed particle, signifying Mate, or paternal,. Ex. g‘5J* Cock-bird ; g*2f Male fox ; sf*Tp|Ej|- Bull Yak ; BfpT Dog. ^ GT Wa. 1 he form assumed by q* when the root to which it is annexed ends in a vowel, or in C , f or In many noun-substan> tives, however, its place is taken by q\ Ex.^*q’ An oriental ; q Valley ; ?gq*q* A provincial or ruetic ; q^*q* A f ron . tiers-nmn. q* Bo t or Wo. I'he form assumed by annexed ends in a vowel, or in q' when the root to which it is or <=v Ex.tg’q 1 A river ; ZJSJ'Q* or l|*q* Thumb ; qqe^q* Brave. Ma. An immovable particle after various roots of substantives. Ex. . ^ SJ Sun ; g|*r Monk ; Milk. Sometimes, though not always, it indicates the Feminine Gender. Ex. :_ A mare. ** M °* Affixed or P re fixed to noun roots, it generally indicates the Feminine Gender. Ex. g’sf or *rjj* Bitch. But not always. Ex. Xiq’ST Music ; g"5f Top-point. Attached to adjectives, it does not always indicate gender. Ex. Great; 5|*prsf Good. fine. TIBETAN GRAMMAR. fil i* Tsa. A differentiating particle. Ex..— A steep declivity t but VF** A staircase. Tee. A point, top, or edge. Also, however, an affix of Chines.- origin. Ex. Polish, lustre, brilliant to a point or degree , dazzling; WTg' A duck ; A brass coin ; * fz'y' Tibetan name of Confucius. Ni. c* Nga, &e. E* Nge. T Ku, F K‘u 3' &u. C* Ngu. 5' Nu. a* "nC Hu, Hu. Isu, Q/ , u w Yu. See § 27, 2, on the Definite Article. I I. Indicate the Definite or Indefinite Article, but are not much > met Ex. :— ^ C,' The or an egg ; The or i a Hon , m C The deep, 1 I ft Definite or indefinite and diminutive particles. Appa- | rently a re-duplication in ^ (ihyab-kyu) of the final j letter of the root. Ex.:— A or the mite - §^'3 A or the child ; £ WT5 A or the youth. But not always. Ex.:— *1*0,’ A or the man- nikin ; a or the tittle drop . J $ 25 . -The Cases and their Signs. (N.B.— The student is advised to glance at the paragraphs and con¬ jugations relating to the verb To Be. See post.) The various relations in which a Tibetan Noun and Pronoun may stand to some other word in the sentence are nearly all expressed hv 62 TIBETAN GRAMMAR, means of divers monosyllabic primitive particles, and words compounded therewith, which perform the same functions as are performed by English Prepositions, but which, save for sundry Vocative Signs, are all Post¬ positional. These relations or cases are as follow ; — I.—The Nominative Case. Except in connection with Intransitive Verbs (Active ; Neuter or Inactive ; and Inceptive, i.e.