Written Tibetan Research Articles

The origin and evolution of laterals in Proto-Naish

AbstractThis paper reconstructs Proto-Naish initials with lateral main consonants using data from three Naish languages: Lijiangba Naxi (LJ), Malimasa (MM), and Yongning Na (YN). The methodology of using conservative languages, such as Written Tibetan, Burmese, and rGyalrong, in interpreting sound correspondences is emphasized. At least five lateral initials should be reconstructed to Proto-Naish. Initial correspondences relevant to laterals are also discussed.

上古漢語聲調的起源

In this papaer, I researched on Old-Chinese tones around three mainstream theories in academia. There are "The Voiced codas and Voiceless codas hypothesis", "The Long vowels and Short vowels hypothesis" and “The codas hypothesis”.
 I believe that "The codas hypothesis" is more persuasive among the three theories. Because "The codas hypothesis" can not only explain the internal problems of Old-Chinese, but also explain the correspondence between the Sino-Tibetan languages such as Written Tibetan and Written Burmese, the loanwords of the neighboring languages such as Korean and Japanese, the translated materials such as Sanskrit-Chinese.
 So I think that the departing tone(去聲) is derived from -s in Old-Chinese. This conclusion is consistent with other scholars who advocate “The codas hypothesis”.
 On the other hand, most scholars who advocate "The codas hypothesis" believe that rising tone(上聲) is derived form -ʔ. But I think the rising tone(上聲) is derived from -q and -ɦ in Trans Himalayan(Proto-Sino-Tibetan). Because this point of view can better explain the internal and external problems of Old-Chinese. However, the codas -q and-ɦ in Trans Himalayan(Proto- Sino-Tibetan), have been merged into -q in Old Chinese.

Baima

The Baima language (/pêkê/, Chinese 白马语 báimăyŭ, ISO-639 code bqh) is a little-studied Tibeto-Burman (Bodic or Himalayish) language spoken in the southwestern part of the People’s Republic of China. Approximately 10,000 people, who traditionally reside in three counties in Sichuan Province (Pingwu 平武, Songpan 松潘 (in Written Tibetan, hereafter WT, zung chu), and Jiuzhaigou 九寨沟 (WT gzi rtsa sde dgu), and in one county in Gansu Province (Wenxian 文县), speak the Baima language (see Sichuan Sheng Minzu Yanjiusuo 1980, Zeng & Xiao 1987), see Figure 1.1 The largest concentrations of Baima speakers are in Baima Township (白马乡, Baima /tôpû/) of Pingwu County, and in Tielou Township (铁楼乡) of Wenxian County.

A functional reconstruction of the Proto-Tibetan verbal system

Author(s): Zemp, Marius | Abstract: Based on the divergent functions attested in Purik for all four stems of the maximally complex transitive Written Tibetan (WT) verb paradigms, we are able to reconstruct a Proto-Tibetan (PT)verb system in which labial-prefixed voiceless onsets triggered a focus on the initial phase of an event (i.e., its instigation), nasal-prefixed voiced onsets on its final phase (i.e., its result), and unprefixed and eventually aspirated voiceless onsets on the event as such (or the middle phase of the event). The reconstruction of this threefold phasal distinction for PT allows us to recognize the original functions of a number of other features of Tibetan verbal morphology, to wit, the “stative” -s suffix, the nominalizing -d suffix, the causative s- prefix and its “result-causative” form z-, and the “deictic” -o- replacing the stem vowel -a-. Furthermore, the most plausible and economic account for how all these features evolved in different varieties of Tibetan involves the assumption that subordinator-less concatenations were common in PT when two verbs described different facets of one and the same event.

Discovering endangered Tibetic varieties in the easternmost Tibetosphere

Dartsendo (Dar-rtse-mdo in Written Tibetan), generally known as Kangding, is a town in the easternmost Tibetosphere, located in Ganzi (dKar-mdzes) Prefecture, Sichuan, China. This town has played an important role for the tea-horse trade since the Ming Dynasty, and is inhabited by both Tibetan and Han Chinese. Under these circumstances, extensive language contact has existed for a long time. Dartsendo Tibetan is the Minyag Rabgang vernacular of Khams Tibetan, and it was once considered as a lingua franca-like variety in the Minyag Rabgang area. However, Dartsendo Tibetan is currently facing extinction. This paper will discuss: (1) the historical background and language situation in Dartsendo, (2) the current language situation of Tibetic languages spoken in the centre of the Town, and 3) the process of endangerment of the local variety. Based on these descriptions, this paper will also propose a method for identifying endangered varieties in the Tibetic languages.

Ersu

The Ersu language (/-xò/, 尔苏语ěrsūyǔ, ISO-639 codeers) is spoken by approximately 16,800 people who reside in five counties in Sichuan Province (四川省) in the People's Republic of China: (i) Ganluo (甘洛县), and (ii) Yuexi (越西县) counties of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture (凉山彝族自治州), (iii) Shimian (石棉县) and (iv) Hanyuan (汉源县) counties of Ya’an Municipality (雅安市), and (iv) Jiulong (九龙县, Written Tibetan, hereafter WTbrgyad zur) county of Ganzi (甘孜, WTdkar mdzes) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Ersu has two closely related sister languages: Lizu (/li55-zu55-hũ55/ or /ly55-zu55-hũ55/, 里汝语lǐrǔyǔor 栗苏语lìsūyǔ) and Duoxu (/do33-ɕu33-na31/, 多续语duōxùyǔor 多须语duōxūyǔ). Lizu is spoken in the neighbouring counties of (i) Muli Tibetan Autonomous County (木里藏族自治县, WTsmi li rang skyong rdzong), (ii) Mianning (冕宁县), and (iii) Jiulong; whereas Duoxu is spoken in the county of Mianning, all in Sichuan province (see the map in Figure 1).

Xumi (part 1): Lower Xumi, the variety of the lower and middle reaches of the Shuiluo river

The Xumi 旭米 language (/EPʃʉ-hĩ ketɕɐ/ ‘the language of the Shu people’) is spoken by approximately 1,800 people who reside along the banks of the Shuiluo River (水洛河) in Shuiluo Township (水洛乡) of Muli Tibetan Autonomous County (木里藏族自治县; smi li rang skyong rdzong in Written Tibetan, hereafter, WT). This county is located in the South-West of Sichuan Province (四川省) in the People's Republic of China (see Figure 1).

Xumi (part 2): Upper Xumi, the variety of the upper reaches of the Shuiluo river

This Illustration focuses on the variety of the Xumi language (旭米, /LPʂuketɕɜ/ or /EPʂu-hĩ ketɕɜ/) that is spoken in the upper reaches of the Shuiluo river (水洛河) in Shuiluo Township (水洛乡) (hereafter Upper Xumi). The township is located in Muli Tibetan Autonomous County (木里藏族自治县, smi li rang skyong rdzong in Written Tibetan, hereafter, WT), in the South-West of Sichuan Province (四川省) in the People's Republic of China.

A New Grammar of Written Tibetan

A New Grammar of Written Tibetan

The Tibetan verb: tense and nonsense

Written Tibetan (WT) is unusual among Sino-Tibetan (ST) languages in possessing a relatively complex verb morphology which contains—apart from distinctive ‘prefixes' for intransitive/transitive verb pairs, a phenomenon found elsewhere in ST—prefixes and suffixes for certain tenses as well as a morphologically significant ablaut system, none of which can be found, or at least, none of which are common in other ST languages. The simplest ways of dealing with the problem of the origin and development of this system in the light of comparative ST researches are, firstly, ignoring it, and secondly, coming up withad hoctheories about its independent development, thereby not affecting the apparently stable edifice of ST in any way.

Translucent insights: a look at Proto-Sino-Tibetan through Gordon H. Luce's Comparative word-list

The great South-East Asian linguist and epigrapher, Gordon H. Luce, devoted many decades of his long life to the decipherment and analysis of the inscriptions of Old Burma. He had long intended to draw on the unparalleled wealth of materials in his files to produce a comparative lexicon of ‘prestandard Old Burmese’ (OB). As Professor Henderson explains in her moving introduction, Luce's advancing years and failing eyesight caused A comparative word-list of Old Burmese, Chinese and Tibetan (CWL) to be less ambitious in scope or polished in format than Luce would have wished. Even so, the CWL is a mine of fascinating comparative material, not only for OB, where Luce's first-hand expertise was second to none, but also for Archaic Chinese (AC) and Written Tibetan (WT), where he had to rely for his data on Karlgren's reconstructions and Jäschke's dictionary.

‘Vocalic alternation’ in the Balti, the Lhasa, and the Sherpa verb, as a guide to alternations in Written Tibetan, and to Proto-Tibetan Reconstruction

In Sino-Tibetan (1972) P. K. Benedict has offered two different accounts of the significance, for Tibeto-Burman (TB) and Sino-Tibetan (ST) reconstruction, of the three types of ‘vocalic alternation’ in the Written Tibetan (WT) verb, a/a/o, e/a/o and o/a/o. His original account (c. 1942–3) reads: ‘Tibetan, however, shows a puzzling type of vocalic alternation in its verbs, in which stems in a regularly take o in the imperative and often either o or e in the present… The e of the present stem is possibly to be interpreted as an effect of the prefixed element’- <*a- [ə-]. Similarly, the o of the imperative stem has perhaps been conditioned by an archaic imperative suffixc -o…' (pp. 126–7). His revised version (1972) reads: ‘The Chinese vowels cannot be explained without setting up a 7-vowel system for ST … and Tibetan verb forms reflect this early system as follows:ST/TB *a = T aa (no alternation, except in the imperative)ST/TB *â = T aoST/TB *ə = T aeWe can now, by way of illustration, reconstruct TB *g-sât (T gsod-pa, Pf.bsad) …; also TB*səm “breath, voice, spirit”: T sem(s)-pa. Pf. semsbsams “think” …' (p. 126, n. 344).