The Tibetan script is an abugida of Indic origin used to write the Tibetan language as well as the Dzongkha language, Denzongkha, Ladakhi language and sometimes the Balti language. The printed form of the script is called uchen script (Tibetan: དབུ་ཅན་; Wylie: dbu-can; "with a head") while the hand-written cursive form used in everyday writing is called umé script (Tibetan: དབུ་མེད་; Wylie: dbu-med; "headless"). The script is very closely linked ...
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The Tibetan script is an abugida of Indic origin used to write the Tibetan language as well as the Dzongkha language, Denzongkha, Ladakhi language and sometimes the Balti language. The printed form of the script is called uchen script (Tibetan: དབུ་ཅན་; Wylie: dbu-can; "with a head") while the hand-written cursive form used in everyday writing is called umé script (Tibetan: དབུ་མེད་; Wylie: dbu-med; "headless"). The script is very closely linked to a broad ethnic Tibetan identity. Besides Tibet, the writing system has also been used for Tibetan languages in Bhutan and in parts of India and Nepal and even Pakistan (Chamberlain 2008). In addition, the Tibetan script has influenced the creation of other scripts, including both the Lepcha script and the ’Phags pa script .
The Tibetan script is romanized in a variety of ways. This article employs the Wylie transliteration system.
The creation of the Tibetan script is attributed to Thonmi Sambhota of the mid-7th century. Tradition holds...
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