Grammer of the Tibetan Language

The language of Tibet, though there have been several gallant attempts to plunge into the labyrinthine obscurities of its construction, still remains more or less a mystery. The difficulties confronting the student of Tibetan are considerably enhanced by the fact that in addition to the Literary Language and the Modern Colloquial, it also possesses a totally different vocabulary and keeping this in mind, both literary and colloquial Tibetan have be dealt with, the particular dialect chosen for exposition is what is known as the U ka which is now spoken in & around the centers of Tibetan civilization – Lhasa. Thus one can even find the honorific forms of speech in this grammar should one want to converse with exalted personages besides the man on the street. Particular attention is focused on the important subject off pronunciation in which an endeavous has been made to ascertain, fix and express in Roman character, the subtle distinctions that lurk between the numerous phonetic values of the Tibetan consonants and vowels apart from showing what dominant consonants in a Tibetan work take particular prefixes. Sufficient care has been given to the treatment of the subject of spelling also. Based on the works of famous Tibetan grammarians, the author has tried to make it as simple as possible for the modern reader who wants to have working knowledge of the language.