Tibetan pinyin
The SASM/GNC/SRC romanization of Tibetan,[] commonly known as Tibetan pinyin or ZWPY, is the official transcription system for the Tibetan language in the People's Republic of China for personal names and place names. It is based on pronunciation of China National Radio's Tibetan Radio pronunciation, which is the Lhasa dialect of Standard Tibetan and reflects the pronunciation except that it does not mark tone. It has been used within China as an alternative to the Wylie transliteration for writing Tibetan in the Latin script since 1982.
Tibetan pinyin is a phonetic transcription, as such its spelling is tied to actual pronunciation. Wylie on the other hand is a transliteration system, where mechanical conversion to and from Tibetan and Latin script is possible. Within academic circles, Wylie transliteration is more commonly used.
Overview
Onsets overview
Independent onsets in the initial syllable of a word are transcribed as follows:| g | k | ng | j | q | ny | d | t | n | b | p | m | z | c | w | x | s | y | r | l | h | gy | ky | hy | zh | ch | sh | lh | rh |
For more general case, see #Onsets.
Vowels and final consonant
The 17 vowels of the Lhasa dialect are represented in as follows:| IPA | Tibetan pinyin | IPA | Tibetan pinyin |
| i | in | ||
| ê | en | ||
| ai/ä | ain/än | ||
| a | an | ||
| u | un | ||
| ô | on | ||
| o | ǒn | ||
| ü | ün | ||
| oi/ö | oin/ön |
Ending a syllable, -r is usually not pronounced, but it lengthens the preceding vowel. In the same place, -n usually nasalises the preceding vowel. Consonants at the end of a syllable are transcribed as follows:
| IPA | Tibetan pinyin |
| b/• | |
| g/— | |
| r | |
| m | |
| ng |
Single syllable orthography
The tone of a syllable depends mostly on its initial consonant. In this table, each initial is given in the International Phonetic Alphabet with the vowel a and a tone mark to present tone register.Onsets
Below is a comprehensive transcription table of onsets of an initial syllable of a word. If the syllable to transcribe is not the first syllable of a word, see #Onset variation.| IPA | Wylie transliteration | Tibetan pinyin |
| p, sp, dp, lp | b | |
| rb, sb, sbr | b | |
| lb, ’b | b | |
| ph, ’ph | p | |
| b | p | |
| rm, sm, dm, smr | m | |
| m, mr | m | |
| w, db, b | w | |
| t, rt, lt, st, tw, gt, bt, brt, blt, bst, bld | d | |
| lth | d | |
| rd, sd, gd, bd, brd, bsd | d | |
| zl, bzl, ld, md, ’d | d | |
| th, mth, ’th | t | |
| d, dw | t | |
| rn, sn, gn, brn, bsn, mn | n | |
| n | n | |
| kl, gl, bl, rl, sl, brl, bsl | l | |
| l, lw | l | |
| lh | lh | |
| ts, rts, sts, rtsw, stsw, gts, bts, brts, bsts | z | |
| rdz, gdz, brdz | z | |
| mdz, ’dz | z | |
| tsh, tshw, mtsh, ’tsh | c | |
| dz | c | |
| s, sr, sw, gs, bs, bsr | s | |
| z, zw, gz, bz | s | |
| kr, rkr, lkr, skr, tr, pr, lpr, spr, dkr, dpr, bkr, bskr, bsr | zh | |
| rgr, lgr, sgr, dgr, dbr, bsgr, rbr, lbr, sbr | zh | |
| mgr, ’gr, ’dr, ’br | zh | |
| khr, thr, phr, mkhr, ’khr, ’phr | ch | |
| gr, dr, br, grw | ch | |
| hr | sh | |
| r, rw | r | |
| rh | rh | |
| ky, rky, lky, sky, dky, bky, brky, bsky | gy | |
| rgy, lgy, sgy, dgy, bgy, brgy, bsgy | gy | |
| mgy, ’gy | gy | |
| khy, mkhy, ’khy | ky | |
| gy | ky | |
| hy | hy | |
| c, cw, gc, bc, lc, py, lpy, spy, dpy | j | |
| rby, lby, sby, rj, gj, brj, dby | j | |
| lj, mj, ’j, ’by | j | |
| ch, mch, ’ch, phy, ’phy | q | |
| j, by | q | |
| sh, shw, gsh, bsh | x | |
| zh, zhw, gzh, bzh | x | |
| rny, sny, gny, brny, bsny, mny, nyw, rmy, smy | ny | |
| ny, my | ny | |
| g.y | y | |
| y | y | |
| k, rk, lk, sk, kw, dk, bk, brk, bsk | g | |
| rg, lg, sg, dg, bg, brg, bsg | g | |
| lg, mg, ’g | g | |
| kh, khw, mkh, ’kh | k | |
| g, gw | k | |
| rng, lng, sng, dng, brng, bsng, mng | ng | |
| ng | ng | |
| —, db | — | |
| ’ | — | |
| h, hw | h |
Rimes
Below is a comprehensive transcription table of rimes of a final syllable of a word, with IPA transcription for the Lhasa dialect. If the syllable to transcribe is not the final syllable of a word, see [|Coda variation].Take "ཨ" to be the consonant.
Intersyllable influence
Onset variation
; Bare low aspirated variation- k*, q*, t*, p*, x*, s*, ky*, ch* become g*, j*, d*, b*, ?*, ?*, gy*, zh* respectively
- pa* and po* become wa and wo respectively
Coda variation
; Prenasalization of next syllable
Examples
Sometimes there is intersyllablic influence:| Tibetan script | Tibetan pinyin | Wylie | Lhasa IPA | Explanation |
| Mapam Yumtso| | Mapam Yumco | ma-pham g.yu-mtsho | forward shift of prefix མ | |
| Tradruk Temple| | Changzhug Gönba | khra-’brug dgon-pa |
Examples
| Tibetan Script | Wylie | Tibetan pinyin | THL | other transcriptions |
| Gzhis-ka-rtse | Xigazê | Zhikatse | Shigatse, Shikatse | |
| Bkra-shis-lhun-po | Zhaxilhünbo | Trashilhünpo | Tashilhunpo, Tashilhümpo, etc. | |
| ’Bras-spung | Zhaibung | Dräpung | Drebung | |
| Chos-kyi Rgyal-mtshan | Qoigyi Gyaicain | Chökyi Gyältshän | Choekyi Gyaltsen | |
| Thub-bstan Rgya-mtsho | Tubdain Gyaco | Thuptän Gyatsho | Thubten Gyatso, Thubtan Gyatso, Thupten Gyatso |