Tibetan-English dictionary: With supplement (Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica series) - Hardcover

Buck, Stuart H.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 8170305373 ISBN 13: 9788170305378

Publisher: Sri Satgru Publications, 1997

Synopsis

Language: English
Pages: 860

Introduction
I. The Tibetan Language and the History of Tibetan Lexicography
A well-known Tibetan proverb declares that 'Every district has its own dialect, every lama has his own doctrine."') To this sentiment, Edward Amundsen, pioneer Tibetan linguist and member of the British Bible Society, added gloomily that even if the student persevered until he had mastered four or five of these dialects, he would still be wider-stood by only a few thousand natives. In view of the total number of Tibetan speakers (usually estimated to be about 3,000,000), the task of mastering the Tibetan spoken language, including all of its dialects, would appear to be humanly impossible. In addition to the multiplicity of dialects to be found in the colloquial language, called PAcd-skai2) in Tibetan, the student is confronted with the discouraging task of learning a whole new set of terms in order to converse in the Rie-skad3), the polite respectful speech of the educated classes. If he wishes to become completely literate, he must learn not only the immensely rich vocabulary of the Chos-skad4), the archaic written language peculiar to Tibetan Buddhist literature, but thousands of new terms as well. Since the Red Chinese conquest of Tibet, a flood of new political, administrative, industrial, and technical terms has appeared in Tibetan language newspapers and periodicals published by the Communist Party. It would be well, therefore, for the compiler of a dictionary of the Tibetan language to define at the very outset the aim and scope of his research, for it is quite impractical in a single publication to attempt to cover the entire span of the Tibetan language, both written and spoken, ancient and modern, vulgar and Bonorific.
The primary purpose of the present dictionary is

About this edition

• Publisher: Sri Satgru Publications
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 8170305373
• ISBN 13: 9788170305378
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 833