Classical Tibetan

Nominalizing suffixes — {{transl|xct|pa}} or {{transl|xct|ba}} and {{transl|xct|ma}} — are required by the noun or adjective that is to be singled out;

• {{transl|xct|po}} or {{transl|xct|bo}} (masculine) and {{transl|xct|mo}} (feminine) are used for distinction of gender.

The plural is denoted, when required, by adding the morpheme {{transl|xct|-rnams}}; when the collective nature of the plurality is stressed the morpheme {{transl|xct|-dag}} is instead used. These two morphemes combine readily (e.g. {{transl|xct|rnams-dag}} {{gloss|a group with several members}}, and {{transl|xct|dag-rnams}} {{gloss|several groups}}).{{sfn|Hahn|2003}}

The classical written language has ten cases.{{sfn|Hill|2012}}

• absolutive (unmarked morphologically)
• genitive ({{lang|xct|-གི}}་ {{lang|xct-Latn|-gi}}, {{lang|xct|-གྱི}}་ {{lang|xct-Latn|-gyi}}, {{lang|xct|-ཀྱི་}} {{lang|xct|-kyi}}, {{lang|xct|-འི་}} {{lang|xct-Latn|-'i}}, {{lang|xct|-ཡི་}} {{lang|xct-Latn|-yi}})
• agentive ({{lang|xct|-གིས་}} {{lang|xct-Latn|-gis}}, {{lang|xct|གྱིས་}} {{lang|xct-Latn|-gyis}}, {{lang|xct|-ཀྱིས་}} {{lang|xct-Latn|-kyis}}, {{lang|xct|-ས་}} {{lang|xct-Latn|-s}}, {{lang|xct|-ཡིས་}} {{lang|xct-Latn|-yis}})
• locative ({{lang|xct|-ན་}} {{lang|xct-Latn|-na}})
• allative ({{lang|xct|-ལ་}} {{lang|xct-Latn|-la}})
• terminative ({{lang|xct|-རུ་}} {{lang|xct-Latn|-ru}}, {{lang|xct|-སུ་}} {{lang|xct-Latn|-su}}, {{lang|xct|-ཏུ་ }} {{lang|xct-Latn|-tu}}, {{lang|xct|-དུ་}} {{lang|xct-Latn|-du}}, {{lang|xct|-ར་}} {{lang|xct-Latn|-r}})
• comitative ({{lang|xct|-དང་}} {{lang|xct-Latn|-dang}})
• ablative ({{lang|xct|-ནས་}} {{lang|xct-Latn|-nas}})
• elative ({{lang|xct|-ལས་}} {{lang|xct-Latn|-las}})
• comparative ({{lang|xct|-བས་}} {{lang|xct-Latn|-bas}})

Case markers are affixed to entire noun phrases, not to individual words (i.e. {{linktext|Gruppenflexion}}).

Traditional Tibetan grammarians do not distinguish case markers in this manner, but rather distribute these case morphemes (excluding {{lang|xct-Latn|-dang}} and {{lang|xct-Latn|-bas}}) into the eight cases of Sanskrit.

There are personal, demonstrative, interrogative and reflexive pronouns, as well as an indefinite article, which is plainly related to the numeral for "one."{{sfn|Waddell|de Lacouperie|1911|p=919}}

As an example of the pronominal system of classical Tibetan, the {{transl|xct|Milarepa rnam thar}}, exhibits the following personal pronouns.{{sfn|Hill|2007}}

The plural ({{lang|xct|ཁྱེད་}} {{transl|xct|khyed}}) can be used as a polite singular.{{sfn|Hill|2007}}

Verbs do not inflect for person or number. Morphologically there are up to four separate stem forms, which the Tibetan grammarians, influenced by Sanskrit grammatical terminology, call the "present" ({{transl|xct|lta-da}}), "past" ({{transl|xct|'das-pa}}), "future" ({{transl|xct|ma-'ongs-pa}}), and "imperative" ({{transl|xct|skul-tshigs}}), although the precise semantics of these stems is still controversial. The so-called future stem is not a true future, but conveys the sense of necessity or obligation.

The majority of Tibetan verbs fall into one of two categories, those that express implicitly or explicitly the involvement of an agent, marked in a sentence by the instrumental particle ({{transl|xct|kyis}}, etc.) and those that express an action that does not involve an agent. Tibetan grammarians refer to these categories as {{transl|xct|tha-dad-pa}} and {{transl|xct|tha-mi-dad-pa}} respectively. Although these two categories often seem to overlap with the English{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} grammatical concepts of transitive and intransitive, most modern writers on Tibetan grammar have adopted the terms "voluntary" and "involuntary", based on native Tibetan descriptions.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} Most involuntary verbs lack an imperative stem.

Many verbs exhibit stem ablaut among the four stem forms, thus {{transl|xct|a}} or {{transl|xct|e}} in the present tends to become {{transl|xct|o}} in the imperative {{transl|xct|byed}}, {{transl|xct|byas}}, {{transl|xct|bya}}, {{transl|xct|byos}} ('to do'), an {{transl|xct|e}} in the present changes to {{transl|xct|a}} in the past and future ({{transl|xct|len}}, {{transl|xct|blangs}}, {{transl|xct|blang}}, {{transl|xct|longs}} 'to take'); in some verbs a present in {{transl|xct|i}} changes to {{transl|xct|u}} in the other stems ({{transl|xct|'dzin}}, {{transl|xct|bzung}}, {{transl|xct|gzung}}, {{transl|xct|zung}} 'to take'). Additionally, the stems of verbs are also distinguished by the addition of various prefixes and suffixes, thus {{transl|xct|sgrub}} (present), {{transl|xct|bsgrubs}} (past), {{transl|xct|bsgrub}} (future), '{{transl|xct|sgrubs}} (imperative). Though the final {{transl|xct|-s}} suffix, when used, is quite regular for the past and imperative, the specific prefixes to be used with any given verb are less predictable; while there is a clear pattern of {{transl|xct|b-}} for a past stem and {{transl|xct|g-}} for a future stem, this usage is not consistent.{{sfn|Hill|2010}}

Only a limited number of verbs are capable of four changes; some cannot assume more than three, some two, and many only one. This relative deficiency is made up by the addition of auxiliaries or suffixes both in the classical language and in the modern dialects.{{sfn|Waddell|de_Lacouperie|1911|p=920}}

Verbs are negated by two prepositional particles: {{transl|xct|mi}} and {{transl|xct|ma}}. {{transl|xct|Mi}} is used with present and future stems. The particle {{transl|xct|ma}} is used with the past stem; prohibitions do not employ the imperative stem, rather the present stem is negated with {{transl|xct|ma}}. There is also a negative stative verb {{transl|xct|med}} {{gloss|there is not, there does not exist}}, the counterpart to the stative verb {{transl|xct|yod}} {{gloss|there is, there exists}}.

As with nouns, Tibetan also has a complex system of honorific and polite verbal forms. Thus, many verbs for everyday actions have a completely different form to express the superior status, whether actual or out of courtesy, of the agent of the action, thus {{transl|xct|lta}} {{gloss|see}}, hon. {{transl|xct|gzigs}}; {{transl|xct|byed}} {{gloss|do}}, hon. {{transl|xct|mdzad}}. Where a specific honorific verb stem does not exist, the same effect is brought about by compounding a standard verbal stem with an appropriate general honorific stem such as {{transl|xct|mdzad}}.

{{Portal|Asia|Languages}}

• Standard Tibetan

{{reflist}}

• {{Citation

| last = Bialek

| first = Joanna

| title = A Textbook in Classical Tibetan

| place = London

| publisher = Routledge

| year = 2022

| url = https://www.routledge.com/A-Textbook-in-Classical-Tibetan/Bialek/p/book/9781032123561

| ISBN = 9781032123561

}}

• {{EB1911 |wstitle=Tibet |display=Tibet § Language |volume=26 |pages=919–921 |first1=Lawrence Austine |last1=Waddell |author-link1=Laurence Waddell |first2=Albert Terrien |last2=de Lacouperie |author-link2=Albert Terrien de Lacouperie}}
• {{cite book |last=Beyer |first=Stephen |year=1992 |title=The Classical Tibetan language |location=New York |publisher=State University of New York}} Reprint 1993, (Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica series, 116.) Delhi: Sri Satguru.
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• {{cite journal

| last = Hill

| first = Nathan W.

| title = Personalpronomina in der Lebensbeschreibung des Mi la ras pa, Kapitel III

| journal = Zentralasiatische Studien

| pages = 277–287

| date = 2007

| volume = 36

| url = http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/5609/

}}

• {{Citation

| last = Hill

| first = Nathan W.

| title = Lexicon of Tibetan Verb Stems as Reported by the Grammatical Tradition

| place = Munich

| publisher = Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften

| series = Studia Tibetica

| year = 2010

| chapter = Brief overview of Tibetan Verb Morphology

| chapter-url = http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/11006/3/Hill_2010_verb_dictionary_excerpt.pdf

| pages = xv–xxii

}}

• {{cite journal

| last = Hill

| first = Nathan W.

| title = Tibetan -las, -nas, and -bas.

| journal = Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale

| volume = 41

| issue = 1

| pages = 3–38

| date = 2012

| url = http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/14122/

| doi =10.1163/1960602812X00014

}}

• {{cite book |first=Stephen |last=Hodge |title=An Introduction to Classical Tibetan |edition=Revised |year=1993 |publisher=Aris & Phillips |place=Warminster |isbn=0856685488 |pages=vii }}
• {{cite book |last=Schwieger |first=Peter |year=2006 |title=Handbuch zur Grammatik der klassischen tibetischen Schriftsprache |location=Halle |publisher=International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies}}
• {{cite book |last=Tournadre |first=Nicolas |year=2003 |title=Manual of Standard Tibetan (MST) |location=Ithaca, NY |publisher=Snow Lion Publications}}
• {{cite book |author=skal-bzhang 'gur-med |year=1992 |title=Le clair miroir : enseignement de la grammaire Tibetaine |translator-first=Heather |translator-last=Stoddard |translator-first2=Nicholas |translator-last2=Tournadre |location=Paris |publisher=Editions Prajna}}

{{wikibooks|Research on Tibetan Languages: A Bibliography}}

{{wikibooks|A Textbook of Classical Tibetan}}

• [http://backdoorbroadcasting.net/2014/03/tibetan-in-digital-communication/ Tibetan in Digital Communication] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140324053216/http://backdoorbroadcasting.net/2014/03/tibetan-in-digital-communication/ |date=2014-03-24 }}
• [https://tibetantranslations.com/ Translations of Tibetan texts, Tibetan language courses & publications by Erick Tsiknopoulos and the Trikāya Translation Committee.]

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