English
This is Gya, and it i9 pronounced as some Irishmen pronounce Garden , guide, etc., i.e. Gyarden , Gyide , etc. This is Pya , but Ya-tX changes the pronunciation into that of 5* Cha. This is P ya, but Ya-tX, changes the pronunciation into that of <5* Ch'a. 3 9 This is Bya but Ya-ta’ changes the pronunciation into that of E That is to say, when is an initial, it is pronounced J *, which is practical y like -5 Oka; when not an initial, it is pronounced J , If prefixed by t)a y it is pronounced Y ,* and if further qualified by a vowel-sign, it takes the Y sound merged into the vowel-sound. Ex. *S9*' Yar, Summer ; Ying, Region , space (e.g, Heaven’s vault); T3 q T s ' ' Yud-PA, or Yu’-pa, To brandish, flourish ; Y^N-ch'b-wa, To separate . This is Mya , but Ya-ta changes the pronunciation to that of .J Nya. TIBETAN GRAMMAR. 17 y The fourteen consonants to which ^ Ra in the form ok ^ may be subjoined. ao subjoined is called or / I Ra-ta , R a-s ub joined, Letter. ! Name. Romanized Equivalent. Remarks. H Ka-ra-ta-Ta ■ T Like ?' 0 K‘a~ra-ta-T‘a fjit . . R* =3 Ga-ra-ta-Da p • • r S "N Ta-ra-ta-Ta m T •• r § T‘a-ra-ta-T‘a T* ■■ R’ 5 Da-ra-ta-Pa p •• ?' '■ ► AH palatals. •hJ Na-ra-ta-Na N ! -- p g Pa-ra-ta-Ta T ■■ r 1 1 P'a-ra-ta-T'a T‘ -. R* 3 Ba-ra-ta-Da p •• r 0 1 Ma-ra-ta-Ma M ■g Sha-ra-ta-Shra Shr s Sa-ra-ta-Sa S This is the pronunciation in Litem rv Tibetan and iri Sjkhim and Butan. Sa-ra-ta-Ta T This palatal pronunciation is the pronuncm- tion in r-e*X-KA\ Colla- Sa^ra-ta-Hra quia/ of T). Hr Pronunciation m *T|v>C'5ja]'JjC* Tsano-p X- I Ea’, Colloquial of T-^aug. t 5 i Ha- ra-ta- Hra Hr 3 18 TIBETAN GRAMMAR. § 7 _The six consonants to which Ha , in the form ^ Ha-tJ), may be subjoined. .With the exception of 3T L'd (commonly seen Lhd), which is frequently met with, these /fa-compounds are only used in trans¬ literations from Sanskrit t Pali, etc. The effect of subjoining Ha t is to lengthen and slightly aspirate the consonant. Ex. L‘a-sa, Lhasa , the Capital of Tibet. D*d (Dental) £J’ B*d. Dz'a. 2* £‘d (Palatal) £1* L a *o *9 § 8.—The six silent consonants to which OJ' La ( La-ta) IS SUBJOINED. The effect of subjoining the AT is to raise and emphasize the tone, and to make the sound more compact. 3* 3’ S’ §’ Sf A11 pronounced Of La. Pronounced Da. Examples : —La’kor, Cipher , such as o, the abbreviated 5T or 3* Lu > Serpent-demon ; gd|*CJ* LOO-pa, To read ; La’-chor, or LXd-CHOR, Clamour, noise, (Literary); gjaj'q* Len-pa, Stupid ., foolish ^ ^ L)a-wa, j \Ionth, moon ,■ La-ma, Lama ; Lung, Wind ; SFW Lob-pa, To learn, teach § *^* The sixteen consonants to which Wa-zur, in the FORM OF <j IS SUBJOINED. <! is called Wa-2ur because it is a corner of the letter IJT Wa. When scholars from Tibet first visited Lidia to study Buddhistic TIBETAN GRAMMAR. 1 U Literature, they did not realize that the Tibetan letter CT repre¬ sented both H and W (which in Sanskrit are denoted by ^ and 3 ) just as the Bengali letter ^ represents them, and that Wa was therefore unnecessary. The later scholars, however, did realize it, and since then g* Wa has not been much used in Tibetan. It still survives, however, in some words anil in the form of J \\ A-iuR, subjoined to the consonants now under notice As regards Tibetan words, the effect of subjoining ^ is merely to lengthen somewhat the sound of the vowel inherent in or quali¬ fying > the consonant. In the following examples the vowel-sound is the inherent a > which, when lengthene d, is a. Thus TJ* Ka, Oh ! 'TJ’tM' Ka-YE, Oh / Holla / K* a-ta , Cro i/‘, J!/ agpie . Da-pa, M Ott th < *J8P‘ST L AB-pA, School. *5 ^ n a-\v a 9 A jlf erf f cal pi a n t . *5 Tsa, Spunk tt tul Ct \ < {>*" Tsa, Grass t herb * < & 'p "Tsa k<a, Pasture. < *35* Ts‘ a, Salt. < ^ or (^'ST /hya, or Zhya-mo, //at , cap . 3' Za, Nettle. ^ RAj Ra-cho, Hom % sting, < < T f Ad-RAj or T f A^RA, Hartshorn. 20 TIBETAN GRAMMAR, La-Wa, A species of deer. <5 -£j* Sha, Flood , high water. < Sha-wa, Deer. < 5J' Sha-t‘o, Stag , back. •G’SI* Sha-mo, Doe, hind. IT 1 Sha-t'u*, Young deer. Wa-zur is also used to represent the sound of wa, as found in old Tibetan literature, and in Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese, and other ancient foreign languages. Ex :— Hwa, Sugared medicine like lozenges (old Tibetan). o ^ ^1-sCj ^ Ra-me-shwa-ra, Rameshivar , near Ceylon. < T‘°*u kwan, Last Emperor of China of the Tartar dynasty. “}P\ ^ Dwai- ch'in-b’a-dur, A Mongolian king of ^ Cv n Tibet. ^ ^ ‘Swa-b‘a-t‘an , Name of a town. It also represents the sound of d as found in modern Indian lan¬ guages, e.g. Bengali, in which that sound and iva seem to be inter¬ changeable. Ex. Swadesi, Shadeshi. It is even met with in conjunction with the vowel-sound Na-ro F.x. t|- nf y g- f 5?- KI> KI> swo> Nyi-ma do . Ho. ye gods , to-day is sunny f (Literary). swo, TE-RINO. Yva-zur also sometimes serves to show that possibly be mistaken for a prefix is really an initial. po * -d 1 )a'-po, A district in Tibet. a letter which might Ex. 5CsrHf tf>ANG- If the Wa-2ur had not been subjoined to the i n these words, one might have read them NoX-po, and 6 X-po. TIBETAN GRAMMAR. § 10.- — The twelve consonants on which the silent Ra-Co- Ra-Heela is placed. The effect is to raise the tonic-pitch and emphasize the sound of each consonant, except those that an regarded as masculine. As to masculine letters see ? 10. Sign with Romanized equivalent, v ' above. •ff Ka, Oa, £* J&jo, £" -/a, X t/a. Ta , Z? Da, g Xa , 5s Ba, #j* Ma, g’ Tsa. S* DzUi. It will be noticed that ’ T T Ka , 5* Ta, Tsa , have not got above them the sign for heightening the Tonic-pitch, they being masculine letters and not requiring it. ^ 11. —The ten consonants on which the silent La-CO, Ln- Head , is placed. It has the same effect as the Ra-ll* ad Sisrn $j* Ka, Ga, y Nga, 1* Chu . f* da, ^ Ta, £1* Da, IT Pa ' Ba, W B'ii In all these the CJ* is net pronounced, except in the ca>i i Ka and except also when there is a preceding syllable which ends in a vowel. In this latter case the is usually carried Imek and given the sound of n . Ex. Oon-cha. Lor/.- ; Han-ta, .Vo a . Sometimes, however, it is carried back asGJ*. but not sounded V. t it modifies the preceding vowel. i5x. m- Ta-cha’, Whip. Sometime- it even takes the sound of final h. Ex. ^3*®* Zob-ta. Wien 0 12. —The twelve consonants on which the silent 5J-T1 Sa Co So-Head , LS placed. It also has the same effect as the Ro-Head Sign Sf Ka, 5j' 0a, $ga, ^ Xya, V' Ta. *r At, W’ $a, g* p a> g* Ba. g- jt/a, Tsa, t)z'n cf TIBETAN GRAMMAR. $ 13.—|5aj*e^cT|‘g' Ngon-Ju’ Sga, The five Prefixes, i.e. silent letters, which are prefixed to clivers Initial (sometimes called Radical) letters, simple and complex, in the formation of words. Their effect is to remove the aspirate, if any, of low-toned, i.e. Feminine and Very Feminine initials, and to raise the Tonic Pitch, and make the sound more compact. Thus, take J'tJNG, the Perfect and Imperative root of 3V^G-w a. To happen y ori- ginate, arise. Here q* is a feminine letter, and therefore low-toned j f and, as an initial with ^ Ya-ta , it is slightly aspirated in qC. The addition of the prefix ’ removes the aspirate, and makes the Tonic Pitch higher, and the sound more compact. These prefixes are really a kind of Prepositive Affixes, sometimes modifying the meaning of a word, and sometimes entering into the formation of the Present, Perfect and Future Tenses of a verb. Though doubtless once upon a time actually pronounced, they are now generally silent. In the case, however, of =T1* q* and 3T I J 9 £ when the syllable in which any of them occurs is preceded by a syllable ending in a vowel-sound, the ^ q^ or 3T is often carried back in pronunciation to the vowel-sound and sounded with it. Hie prefixes and QJ are never sounded or carried back. As regards and £1 the Colloquial has a curious custom of transmuting them into the sound of A\ Fx, Me-P’a is pronounced MfeN-iVx, Gun ; >| Cr r -Mi-du’ is pronounced Is not • ^5 ^5 pA-i.)\ is pronounced Dan-Aa. similar. Also q* as a prefix, is sometimes given the sound of 3T R x . Na-z/a is pronounced Nam-SPA, clothes . No letters are ever superposed upon or subjoined to any piefix ; and, as will he seen when we come to the paragraph on System (§ 19), Prefixes, as such, are of genders different riHETAN GRAMMAR. 23 .1 vc from those of the same letters as Initials, or even as Affixes in the case of 51* which is always Very Feminine. ™ (la prefix is of Common Gender, ami it is found before the following Initials, namely, 5* Ch a , y Xya, ^' Ta, t>a, Xo. x> Tsa , Ahifft . 3 Aa, I tt t Sha, and ^4 jVr/,all of which retain their natural sounds unaffected by the save as regards I onic I itch and compactness of utterance, as already explained This prefix is found in many nouns. It also enters into t lie formation of the Present and Future Roots of certain verbs. Ex. ’ X.X-TS* ang. Inn; Tong, Present Root, and Tang, Future Root, of Tong-wa, To send , dismiss. ^ Da. This prefix is of Common Gender, and is met with before the following Initial letters, namely, ffl* Ka . w Ba, and 51 Ma , and nine other letters which are merely com¬ pounds ol tlie.se with l r a-td’, or Ra-ta\ It also enters into the formation of the Future Root of certain verbs. Kx. p 1\3 Future Root of C^gor^T Btf-WA. To offer ; Gab, Future Root of Oeb-p v . To rover.