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Unit One
Syllables, letter combinations and words
In this unit you will learn how to:
âą combine letters (single syllables)
âą recognise exceptions
âą say words of more than one syllable
The opening section dealt with the sound system, as well as the basic script. It also showed that a written Tibetan syllable, or a Tibetan word can be as simple as just one element (a consonant symbol), or two elements (a consonant symbol plus a vowel marker).
Many more Tibetan syllables, however, involve more than just one or two elements, and many words have more than one syllable. This unit focuses upon what sounds are produced when such combinations of elements and syllables occur.
⥠What to expect
Written Tibetan is at the opposite end of the scale from a language like German, where one basically pronounces every letter on the page. Instead, it is closer to French or English.
(a) The fact that a written syllable has multiple elements does not necessarily mean that it is more difficult to pronounce! Just as in English, what looks like a complex combination of letters on the page can still produce a relatively simple sound (e.g. âtongueâ, âboroughâ, âpsychoâ).
(b) Some consonants are occasionally written, but produce no sound (as in English âknightâ, âsubtleâ).
(c) Many written syllables look quite different from each other, but actually have the same sound (as in English âbowâ, âboughâ).
Just like in English, discrepancies between the way things are written and spoken are due to historical changes. These discrepancies will initially seem to be more extreme than those in English. But there is perhaps greater consistency; so once one has learnt the rules, it is easier to predict the sound of a word from its spelling.
The transliteration system is obviously there to show how things are pronounced (rather than spelt), so there are no silent letters. Each vowel represents the presence of a distinct syllable. So if there are two vowels within a word/letter combination, such as
yike, meaning âletterâ (
), it is to be read as
yi-ke (i.e. two syllables), and never as a single syllable (as in âyikes!â).
Here are some words written in a simplified transliteration form; count how many syllables each has:
| 1 ming | 4 shikatse | 7 yaya |
| 2 khyi | 5 lame | 8 áčhaáčik |
| 3 eni | 6 phökÀ | |
⥠In English, two or more separate consonants can come together to form a sound in which both can still be heard; at the beginning of a word, e.g. br in âbringâ, pl in âplateâ, sk in âskillâ, or at the end, such as ks in âtakesâ, bls in âsyllablesâ. This never happens with Tibetan consonants. A syllable can start with one consonant-sound, and may end with one, but that is the limit. Neither ng nor ts stand for combinations of two different consonant-sounds; they are both individual consonants. So when pronouncing either ng and ts, try not to make them sound like t-s or n-g.
In the two versions of the following words (written in simplified transliteration) the first has all the syllables written together, whilst the second breaks them into their separate syllables. But are all the broken-down versions correct? The section above and the earlier one, on the Sounds of Tibetan Speech, explain what sounds are possible in Tibetan, so provide all the information one needs to answ...
