Tibetan

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Introduction

"Welcome to Tibetan at Emory", a video message by Tsepak Rigzin

Tibetan belongs to the Tibeto-Burman family of languages, a group that includes around two hundred and fifty languages spoken by about six million people in Tibet, China, Bhutan, Nepal, India, and Pakistan. Although some Tibetan dialects are nearly mutually incomprehensible, they share a literary language whose roots extend back to the importation of Buddhism from India to Tibet in the seventh century. According to Tibetan historical accounts, the king at the time sent a minister to India to develop a script for writing Tibetan for the purpose of translating a vast number of Indian Buddhist texts from Sanskrit. The script he developed was based on a variant of Devanagari, a Sanskrit alphabet, and has remained in use for printed tracts until the present day. Tibetans use many other scripts, however, including a cursive script for writing letters and an ornamental one exclusively for Sanskrit mantras.


The Tibetan Language Video Project

This package of eight short video projects of Tibetan language skits was made possible under the 2016 ECLC Student Assistantship stipends. It is based on the projects of students from 101 & 102 classes during the academic year of 2015-16. The goal of this project is to encourage and share students’ own creative work. The projects represent, however, only an aspect of their learning through fun activities.  Students’ original videos and accompanying texts were minimally edited and corrected with the assistance of Byeonghoon Lim, a rising senior student of Tibetan studies with MESAS at Emory. The project was strengthened further with additional easy exercises that are relevant to functional usage outside of the classroom. It is hoped that this short project carried out during summer 2016 will enthuse lively spirit among students who are interested in Tibetan language and studies. Thanks to MESAS Department and Emory College of Language Center for their kind consideration and support.

Tsepak Rigzin & Byeonghoon Lim
August 10th 2016
MESAS and the Tibetan Language Program

Tibetan 101 Dialogue - No. 1
Tibetan 101 Dialogue - No. 2
Tibetan 101 Dialogue - No. 3
Tibetan 101 Dialogue - No. 4
Tibetan 101 Dialogue - No. 5
Tibetan 101 Dialogue - No. 6
Tibetan 101 Dialogue - No. 7
Tibetan 101 Dialogue - No. 8

Departments & Related Programs

Tibetan Studies Program in Dharamsala, India
South Asian Studies at Emory
Emory-Tibet Partnership
Drepung Loseling Institute

Jor Lok: Tibetan Spelling and Pronunciation

Audio clips and visual images illustrate Tibetan spelling and pronunciation in the traditional Jor Lok system. Use in conjunction with classroom instruction or textbook study to master the rules of Tibetan spelling, pronunciation, and orthography.

Emory Favorites

Emory Tibet Digital Library
Jor Lok podcast on iTunes U
Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center
Nitartha International
Tibetan & Himalayan Digital Library
Voice of Tibet
Radio Free Asia - Tibetan
The Government of Tibet in Exile
Amdo Tibetan Learning Materials (eastern Tibetan dialect)
The Tibetan Language Student
Tibetan Wheel of Samsara