Central Tibetan
Central Tibetan language, also known as Dbus Tibetan, Ü Tibetan or Ü-Tsang Tibetan, is the most widely spoken Tibetic language and the basis of Standard Tibetan.
Dbus is the Wylie spelling of the name in Tibetan script, དབུས་, whereas Ü is the pronunciation of the same in Lhasa dialect, [wy˧˥˧ʔ] (or [y˧˥˧ʔ]). All of these names are frequently applied specifically to the prestige dialect of Lhasa.
Varieties
- Dbus and Gtsang
There are many mutually intelligible Central Tibetan languages besides that of Lhasa, with particular diversity along the border and in Nepal:
- Limi (Limirong), Mugum, Dolpo (Dolkha), Mustang (Lowa, Lokä), Humla, Nubri, Lhomi, Dhrogpai Gola, Walungchung Gola (Walungge/Halungge), Tseku
- Basum (most divergent, possibly a separate language)
Ethnologue reports that Walungge is highly intelligible with Thudam.
Glottolog reports these South-Western Tibetic languages as forming a separate subgroup of languages within Central Tibetan languages, but that Thudam is not a distinct variety. On the opposite, Glottolog does not classify Basum within Central Tibetan but leaves it unclassified within Tibetic languages.
Tournadre (2013) classifies Tseku with Khams.
Central Tibetan has 70% lexical similarity with Amdo Tibetan and 80% lexical similarity with Khams Tibetan.
Qu & Jing (2017), a comparative survey of Central Tibetan lects, documents the Lhasa, Shigatse, Gar, Sherpa, Basum, Gertse, and Nagqu varieties.
Ngari Tibetan
Ngari Tibetan, more specifically Stöd Ngari (as opposed to the language of pre-1842 Lower Ngari that is now an independent language), is the endonym for a topolect spoken around Ngari Prefecture, T.A.R. Traditionally, it's considered a divergent variety of Dbusgtsang but not Dbusgtsang proper, however, some Western Khams Tibetan varieties such as Gêrzê Tibetan and Nagqu Tibetan are now considered part of the Ngari Tibetan areal group as well. In Indian-administrated Tibet since the 1846 British invasion of Spiti, a related topolect is now known under exonym "Lahuli and Spiti".
Consonants
- འ isn't commonly transliterated to Roman, in the Wade–Giles system ' is used.
Vowels
ཨ（◌）
Pronunciation
一"ai, ain, oi, oin" is also written to "ä, än, ö, ön".