English
-When the Hist of two syllables ends in QJ\ and the next syllable is wa, the latter is often pronounced as ra t but sometimes it is reduced to a mere a. Ex.— C T|<3^ —. Q (Hon.) JX~wa Sang-wa, pronounced JX-ba Sang-nGa, To meet . ivoyrr Yo-wa, pronounced Yol-a . Curtain. * -The above are samples of irregularities with which one sometimes meets , practice alone will enable the student to know when other words similarly spelt follow these Colloquial customs, and when they ought to be pronounced according to the regular rules. The following a re a few more specimens of irregular pronunciations:— Ma-nyong, pronounced Ma-nyung, Never. Who k nows ? TIBKTAN ORAM MAH. 33 {Hon.) P‘eb-pa, pronounced P‘e-pa, To arrive, depart come, jo. {Hon.) pronounced Zhypm-bi'), M attress. qaj*a^jcT]- (Hon.) Z hyS-6a*, pronounced Zhyam-Ba’, Mask. c-f 5 ^ a-Pi-pa, pronounced L'ab-ri-fa, Painter. Mon-lam, pronounced Mo-lam, Prayer. *1=^' Kyab-Son, pronounced Kyam-65n, Helper , Protector, Saviour. § The ten Consonantal Affixes, called Je-Jo* chu, each of which, when following an Initial, simple or complex, completes the formation of a syllable. *T & a > N ( J a > Na, d* ft a, SJ* Ma, * A > Ha, OJ* La, f ) a , *T Sa. Of these ^ ^ and SJ' are frequently seen with an addi¬ tional silent or Second Affix, called yqC^E|En' Yang-Jo’. They are then called Double Affixes. Another kind of Double Affixes is met with in old Tibetan books. It is very rare, but for Literary purposes the student may as well make a note of it. It consists of <3j" Na, ^ Ra nr OJ' La followed by fja t here called ‘S-5'T Da-pa’, Hard p. Thus :_ <¥V nd, rd, /,/. It is used to express the Past Tense. Kx;_ Sanp-pa, He heard. Gyurp-pa, He became. SoLP-PA, //> requested 34 TIBETAN GRAMMAR. The modern Literary practice; however, is to omit the final which may be regarded as obsolete. As to the pronunciation of the affixes *T|*^ see § 3, Tabular Statement of Vowel Modifications, and Notes thereto. The Dictionary Order of the above-mentioned ten Consonantal Finals, and of the four Double Finals in is as follows • 1. T .. <?a. 8. q$r • * r ba~sa. 2. . . $a~sa. 9. sr • a ma . 3. c .. ago,. 10. sqsr * * ma-sa. 4. * • m 11. <V * * ’a. 5. T * • f/d. 12, * # ra. fi. T • m Tl fl , 13. r • • la. 7. q* Jl* .. ha. 14. * * sa. The above, of course, is their order under each letter of the Tnq- Ka-K ( a ; that is to say, it is their order after, or in subordination to, the Alphabetical Order , if that term may be used in connection with the TP! As to the Gender of the Ten Final Affixes, see § 19. ^ Lar-Bu-wa chtt<5-chi’. The Eleven Du¬ plications in W o, of certain letters when forming the terminals of verbs. The Duplication has the effect of emphasizing, or intensi¬ fying, or solemnizing the expression of a fact. Tt is a feature of Literary Tibetan only, and is met with in nearly every sentence of the existing translation into Tibetan of the New Testament. TIBETAN GRAMMAJt. 35 t 0o t c* Ngo t S £>o. No V * o , *7 Bo, or Lr° t sr So fio. Wo , To. Examples :— Sfi-kyang k'ong-la fa0-po mo re*~ $o ; And no man laid hands on him. In the Colloquial this would be :— g^^C-p 7 flJ*C4q|*cr5j*q^Ei|'tT|- (for or SW yang k'o-la la<f-pa mo zhya0 <)a (for £hya0-pa) r$ % or &hya$ rna song. 2.—wr^ys’-g’gai'q-^'.q^nc-c;' | In the Colloquial this might be or :— Yi-sha-yi bu 0y'd-po tfa^u'id j'ung ngo : Jesse’s son was king David =Jesse begat David the king. Yt-shat bu 0ytt-po j£)a~icid yin : Jesse’s son was King David. ug V|*i*!sr jarcr^* q*Vd^**ic;* I 3.—| Colloquially r— Yisha-yt gyii-po Da-wiit ky$’- song : Jesse begat King David. K‘yd’-ts'di nang-na (o’ mi'-do : Ve have not life in yourselves. K'yd*~rang-ts'oi nattg-la (o’ me’. Colloquially ; — o K* yo’ kyi bu son-no : Thv son liveth. jr K*yo’ ret bu son-0 yi (ht \ Nga 0a-ru yo’-sa la leb mi Vub-bo : Where 1 am, ye cannot come. 36 TIBETAN GRAMMAR. Colloquially : — or | O iuccsr^'si'si^'^’ei^'gjcsv 3^1 jf Nga (fa—pa yd'-s a la yong t'ub-kyi man, or yong mi t*ub. Yang ngd de t'a~mai nyin par lang-icar j‘a-o : And I will raise him up at the last day. Colloquially :— o Tjqruqc | or ^3 C ' q^-ogp-T | Colloquially : — ( or pCJ'j 3fc*%^| s. _uq c q § gV-^g* 55T Yang ngd de nyi-ma Zhyntfshd la yar kya ’ yong. Kon-ch^o' $i l*u , -( i o-wa de la dd- par tfyur-ro : The wrath of God will abide on him. Kdn-ch*o* $i h'a-ch'd' de la (or Co la) yong-rf i-re’. Yang k'ong $i nga-la kon-ch 1 o**la nyen-kur j'O ski' che sung-so: Then said he unto me, worship God. Colloquially :-— -^q 3 C ’1 S5 ^qc-q^-g^-y | t)e-nd Co-re nga la kdn^ch'o* la mo-lam f'ob darf-rfa-rang lab- y‘ ung. De nd nutn-k' ’a na ttt zliydn zkyt Vong-war $yur-to : And there was seen another sign in heaven. TIBETAN GRAMMAR. :J7 Colloquially :— crs^’siijc'gc;’ | f De-nit natn-k' a fa yam-ts'dn zhyam-'pa chi' Cony j' unn. N .B. — is used only with the Literary Perfect root after final Of, ^ (for n|^ gft ) „ The Full stop |, or ||, will henceforth be omitted. See Writing and Punctuation S 20. I e ^ 1H.—Colloquial Duplications. As reg ards certain verbs in the Infinitive Mood, or in the Perfect tense of the Indicative Mood, i.e, verbs, the roots of which end in the final consonant % c*, car, or, or the following custom obtains in the Colloquial. Instead of pronouncing in the ordinary way the particle £J* or d" that follows the root, the speaker merely dupli¬ cates, or emphasizes with an added a sound, the final consonantal- sound. Thus, as regards the Infinitive Mood , instead of saving (Hon.) X>oc5-pa ^ang-waj the Colloquial speaker would sav T)od-u a-nanu-nga , To proclaim or publish. So, too, as regards the Perfect Indicative, instead of saying XgX i)A or i>AG-PA YIN, he would say Nga bXd-GA YIN, I proclaimed, I have proclaimed. Other Examples are : — 54GTfir ( for d* j ETj^C'd* (Hon.) SE-la (for wa) nang-wa, or NANG-NGA : To absolve. f for q ’) ( for r3 ') t Hon.) KushO kyi sE-la (for wa) Sang-nGa (for wa) yin ; the master absolved or has absolved. 38 TIBETAN GRAMMAR. ET|3-5Vrej*|arflr ( for *T) (Vulg.) Tso-wS sX-ea (for wa) nang-noa (for wa) yin ; The lord absolved or has absolved. ( for CJ* ) ei|3jC*cr {Hon.) Nor-ra (for wa) Sano-nga, To err. ( for £T) qpc-c• ( for {Hon.) KushO KYi nor-ra (for wa) Sang-nga (for wa) yin : or still better : — ( for q*) or ( for CT) Ku-^hyO-kyi t‘u nor sang-noa (for wa), or t‘u nor shor-ra (for wa) yin, The master erred , or has erred. C*r^'** (for q*) {Vulg.) NoX nor-ra (for wa) yin : 7 erred , / have erred . gc-c (for q') £T|<3p'q* {Hon.) Pong-nga (for wa) Jf ang-nga : To shun. To renounce. pc*sj$r§pc- (forq-j qj^C'C* (forCT) {Hon.) K‘ong- (it pong-nga (for wa) Sang-nga (for pa) rIC : He shunned , He has shunned. p (for q*) {Vulg.) K‘o-rE pang-nga (for pa) Rfc’ : He shunned, He has shunned. When the root ends in final the Colloquial sometimes resorts to a following instead of the Duplication as above. Ex.— q GyE-wa, To stumble. (for q*) {Hon.) GyE-ra (for wa) Sakg-nga : To st umbfe. (f,„- (for Cf) {Hon.) K‘ong ye- ha (for wa) if 1KC1-SQA (for pa) YIN : He stumbled. He has ,sht tnhlefl m TIBETAN GRAMMAR. 39 At the same time this were better phrased thus :_ for M (or KU Ca6) SHOR-ra (for wa) Rfe\ He has stumbled. (for ^*) {Vulg.) I^ga gye-ra (for wa) yin: I stumbled y I have stumbled. As regards verbs the roots of which end in *V. or or or there is no such duplicating custom. They are pronounced in the regular way. See also Jf 15, 8, as to wa changing into a after a vowel-sound. § 19.—The Tone System. Tone is a very important factor, a fairly correct tone being almost more desirable than absolutely correct grammar; and there exist certain rules on the subject which should be carefully studied. The Ka-li, or Consonantal Series of the TP' Ka-K'a, is classified by Tibetan Grammarians under six heads, having reference to the respective Genders of the several letters. These heads are :— * P‘o, Masculijie. Ma-ning, Common. Mo, Feminine. Shin-tu mo. Very Feminine. Mo-Sham, Sub-Feminine, or Barren Ts‘an Mk’, Neuter. Masculine Letters. These are pronounced with a special emphasis, fullness, compact¬ ness, and distinctness, arising from a powerful use of the vocal organs. They never undergo anv modifications in this respeot, even when (for K‘ong ku 6a6 40 TIBETAN GRAMMAR. guarded by Prefixes or Super-posed Letters, but always preserve intact their own natural sounds. Feminine and Very Feminine Letters. In pronouncing these the vocal organs are relaxed, and the phonetic body of the letter is not so much sent forth from the mouth, as suffered to emanate from it gently and gradually . These letters are Subject to phonetic modification when guarded. For instance, the addition of Prefixed or Super-posed Letters has the effect of raising the Tonic Pitch, and softening the sound. Thus, CT]CT Gang, is un¬ guarded, and therefore, to an English ear, sounds very like Kang . But G a, pronounced like the Ga in Garland , and Gang,. simi¬ larly pronounced, are guarded, in the first ‘ case by a Prefix, and in the second by a Super-posed Letter, and therefore the sound is no longer hard and compact like the k sound of unguarded **], but softer and exactly like the sound of the English hard g, and the tone is moreover raised, or brought to the Pitch-level of a Mascu¬ line Letter. Common Letters.