Tibetan language question

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jet.urgyen
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Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2017 12:29 am

Tibetan language question

Post by jet.urgyen »

Hello,

i'm in the way of learning tibetan, but i don't know wich tibetan. so i would like to ask a few questions, if you can answer please do so. i will try to point from what considerations i'm trying to ask:
  • Today there is no standard, there are dialects that have until some point a common corpse of language
  • Language did change in the course of time, let's say since 8th century until today, what is being speaked as tibetan is not the same tibetan as before
  • We don't know exactly how old-dharma-related-tibetan language was (there was no tech to preserve the sound)
  • So the texts are the same, the language is not
i took a course on the basics and Lhasa dialect, and have being told too that there is the hipothesis that the Ladhaki language is the less changed tibetan language over time. what have you heard on this?

and also ¿is it true that ladhaki is spelled in the same way as sanskrit using the tibetan alphabet?

thank you very much, cheers!
true dharma is inexpressible.

The bodhisattva nourishes from bodhicitta, through whatever method the Buddha has given him. Oh joy.
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practitioner
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Re: Tibetan language question

Post by practitioner »

It depends on your goals, as I’m sure you know that colloquial Tibetan is very different from classical Tibetan.

If your goal is to read Dharma texts, classical is what you should learn. If your goal is to converse with a Tibetan (ie work as a translator) then start with colloquial. I have heard differing advice as to whether it is better to learn your teachers dialect or just learning Lhasa dialect as many Tibetans can understand Lhasa dialect regardless of where they are from.
One should do nothing other than benefit sentient beings either directly or indirectly - Shantideva
jet.urgyen
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Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2017 12:29 am

Re: Tibetan language question

Post by jet.urgyen »

practitioner wrote: Tue Jul 17, 2018 12:51 am It depends on your goals, as I’m sure you know that colloquial Tibetan is very different from classical Tibetan.

If your goal is to read Dharma texts, classical is what you should learn. If your goal is to converse with a Tibetan (ie work as a translator) then start with colloquial. I have heard differing advice as to whether it is better to learn your teachers dialect or just learning Lhasa dialect as many Tibetans can understand Lhasa dialect regardless of where they are from.
my goal is, for example, to correctly practice an 8th century sadhana wich contains invocations in tibetan language, etc.

in this regard, to be honest i don't know how valid a dialect is against my long time used fake tibetan pronunciation. So i'm considering just be ridicule and use the phonetics as the ancient lang is supoused to be :shrug:
true dharma is inexpressible.

The bodhisattva nourishes from bodhicitta, through whatever method the Buddha has given him. Oh joy.
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Caoimhghín
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Location: Whitby, Ontario

Re: Tibetan language question

Post by Caoimhghín »

javier.espinoza.t wrote: Tue Jul 17, 2018 4:47 pm
practitioner wrote: Tue Jul 17, 2018 12:51 am It depends on your goals, as I’m sure you know that colloquial Tibetan is very different from classical Tibetan.

If your goal is to read Dharma texts, classical is what you should learn. If your goal is to converse with a Tibetan (ie work as a translator) then start with colloquial. I have heard differing advice as to whether it is better to learn your teachers dialect or just learning Lhasa dialect as many Tibetans can understand Lhasa dialect regardless of where they are from.
my goal is, for example, to correctly practice an 8th century sadhana wich contains invocations in tibetan language, etc.

in this regard, to be honest i don't know how valid a dialect is against my long time used fake tibetan pronunciation. So i'm considering just be ridicule and use the phonetics as the ancient lang is supoused to be :shrug:
If you want to speak "classical" Tibetan, get ready for some crazy consonant clusters!
Then, the monks uttered this gāthā:

These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?

The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
shankara
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Re: Tibetan language question

Post by shankara »

So there are a lot of videos out there of people reciting Tibetan prayers, but not so many of people reading them very clearly so that others can copy the pronunciation. Of course it's possible to get pretty close just by reading, nonetheless it would be good to hear someone else just to make sure one is pronouncing correctly.

Wouldn't it be cool if someone who spoke Tibetan made a youtube channel about properly reciting the prayers? Or does such a thing already exist and I am ignorant of it?
White Sakura
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Re: Tibetan language question

Post by White Sakura »

shankara wrote: Tue Jul 14, 2020 8:16 am
Wouldn't it be cool if someone who spoke Tibetan made a youtube channel about properly reciting the prayers? Or does such a thing already exist and I am ignorant of it?
Here is the refuge prayer:
shankara
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Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2018 6:35 pm

Re: Tibetan language question

Post by shankara »

White Sakura wrote: Tue Jul 14, 2020 5:27 pm
shankara wrote: Tue Jul 14, 2020 8:16 am
Wouldn't it be cool if someone who spoke Tibetan made a youtube channel about properly reciting the prayers? Or does such a thing already exist and I am ignorant of it?
Here is the refuge prayer:
Thanks, that's useful, actually was just listening to the Gyalwang Drukpa reciting exactly the same prayer. But there are tons of prayers where the only audio is people singing super-bass Tibetan style so it's not really possible to get the pronunciation.
White Sakura
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Re: Tibetan language question

Post by White Sakura »

shankara wrote: Tue Jul 14, 2020 5:34 pm
Thanks, that's useful, actually was just listening to the Gyalwang Drukpa reciting exactly the same prayer. But there are tons of prayers where the only audio is people singing super-bass Tibetan style so it's not really possible to get the pronunciation.
If you look at the channel, you see he seems to live with a western women. So he has some advice how to do the videos for us. Maybe we can also write in the comments what other prayers we need in Tibetan.
shankara
Posts: 83
Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2018 6:35 pm

Re: Tibetan language question

Post by shankara »

White Sakura wrote: Tue Jul 14, 2020 6:48 pm
shankara wrote: Tue Jul 14, 2020 5:34 pm
Thanks, that's useful, actually was just listening to the Gyalwang Drukpa reciting exactly the same prayer. But there are tons of prayers where the only audio is people singing super-bass Tibetan style so it's not really possible to get the pronunciation.
If you look at the channel, you see he seems to live with a western women. So he has some advice how to do the videos for us. Maybe we can also write in the comments what other prayers we need in Tibetan.
That's a good idea.
shankara
Posts: 83
Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2018 6:35 pm

Re: Tibetan language question

Post by shankara »

Here is the Gyalwang Drukpa reciting a number of prayers, might be helpful to anyone looking for the pronunciation:
http://drukpa.com/freebies/voice-interv ... ngs-chants
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