The New Tibetan-English Dictionary of Modern Tibetan

The New Tibetan-English Dictionary of Modern Tibetan Melvyn C. Goldstein Editor

T. N. Shelling and J. T. Surkhang Assistant Editors

WITH THE HELP OF

Pierre Robillard

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

Berkeley • Los Angeles • London

University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England ©2001 by The Regents of the University of California

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The new Tibetan-English dictionary of modern Tibetan I Melvyn C. Goldstein, editor; T. N. Shelling and J. T. Surkhang, assistant editors ; with the help of Pierre Robillard. p. cm. ISBN 0-520-20437-9 (alk. paper) 1. Tibetan language-Dictionaries-English. I. Goldstein, Melvyn C. II. Shelling, T. N. III. Surkhang, J. T. PL3637.E5 N48 2001 495'.4321-dc21

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The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ANSI!NISO Z39.48-1992 (R 1997) (Pennanence of Paper).@

Contents

Acknowledgments and Preface ............................................... vii Pronunciation ............................................................. ix Using the Dictionary .................................. .' .................... xi Grammatical Introduction .................................................. xiii Abbreviations ........................................................... xvii Tibetan-English Dictionary ................................................... 1

Acknowledgments and Preface The opening of Tibetan areas in China to the outside world and the development of numerous Tibetan communities in exile have brought Western students and researchers face-to-face with an enormous mass of Modern Tibetan official and unofficial written materials. This dictionary has been prepared to assist Westerners to read those materials. Compilation of the dictionary was made possible by grants from the International Research and Studies Program ofthe Department ofEducation (P017A30010) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (RT-21671-95), and I am grateful for their support of this project. I am also very grateful to Tashi Tsering and Ben Jiao for their careful and thoughtful assistance in defining lexical entries, to Pierre Robillard for his unstinting advice and assistance in creating and fine-tuning the Tibetan and linguistic fonts and for converting the entire dictionary into camera-ready copy. And last but certainly not least, I also want to offer thanks to Jan McDonald for her help in proofreading the final camera-ready copy and the many graduate and undergraduate students at Case Western Reserve University who worked on this project. This dictionary of modern Tibetan contains a wide range of lexical items used in political, social, economic, literary and scientific discourse. It includes the tens of thousands of new words that have been coined or have come into use since the incorporation of Tibet into the People's Republic of China in 1951, as well as new terminology used in the Tibetan exile communities in South Asia. It also contains the core lexical terminology that is used in everyday life and standard modern writing, together with a large corpus of proverbs and sayings that appear frequently in contemporary literary materials. In addition, the dictionary includes lexical items characteristic of the specialized genre called I:Jjln,·~"i·~·a:;t:IJ~·~""·, \Ji''>ln_·z:;;~~:.·~n,-a:;t!]'>l'',p:::, :!F~n_-.qz:;;·~c:,'>j·, .q'=i·~·ia-J·~'ll·~·,~w, ~-~I:Jj~·qfil\'~""·, ~-f'a·ia-J'~t:IJ·~· ~

~

~

~11.1·, ~FeJ"i·Ji·~I:Jj·.

The main novels, folktales and histories that were utilized were: t!]~t:IJ·t!]~·, 'l'l'~t:IJ~·l:lp)a-J'~"'i·; "\Sn.J·L:if3,·~a-J·J;t:,·~· .:>:,t:,·~·n:)·~'>l·Qiz:;;·Ji"· ~z:;;·il:;t:IJ ~·!!:le· ~- ~n_-~"·il:;I:Jj. ~- ~n_·~~:.·q·q~ ""·q· q~'>j· ~""· a:;c:,·~·t:IJ7a-l'~""· fiF'il)I:Jj·m""·~·~·~z:;;· ' ~z:;;· i"·"c:.·~·!:IJC3:J;q'a-J' ...., ' ....,...., ~....,,

~'

~~'

....,

'

.,;,''.;)

.:x;~:.·~~:.·.;a~:.'>l:o, t!]'>l""·q~f3,·:;"i·~·, ~t:,·~c·qz:;;a-J~·q~z:q'>l·, ~c:.·t:IJ7a-l'I:Jj'>l""'ia-J·§·.lj~·s·~"i·~n.J·~1'"\::1"\'l:l]~n,-~·a:;.qz:;;a-J'>l'~I:Jj~·. In addition to these materials, a variety of dictionaries, glossaries and word lists have also been consulted: From CHINA z:;;~·.q.lj'>l'i'>l·~·:!Jtlj~·. q.e(z:;;t!]·~~:.-~I:Jj·l:lj'>li1.1'-CJ'-CJ~I:Jj~·. China, 1957. ll:l!·~z:q·a-J·~.:x:,·i1.1a-J'-CJ.;at::.·. China, 1958. "\t:IJ'~tlJ·I:Jj~-'·q~t:IJ~·. China, 1979.

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;;·i;ir:;·$Jc:.·a-t~z:;;·. China, 1979.

i;iz:;;·~·4il\.~'"'-·~·~·~B:r:rll!z:;;·d;llJ·a-t~r:;·. China, 1983. ~c:.·z:;;~·~il\· (Ed.). ~·2:ir:;·d;'l]·a-tlz:;;·~d)·Ji·, China, 1985. z:;;ZJ·.i~·~·qf.i.·q·~;z:;;-8·. China, 1986. ,n:-~il\'~il\· and iJ\~·~-~·~z;;·.::r"l"'l·~a.rs"'-1·'-r:is

[They] prohibited foreign nationals from going to Lhasa. By adding a verbalizer this verbal noun is transformed back into a verbal construction. llj·~~·~-~rtl·~·~· ~z:q~·n-~·~~· s~· q· ~~· Foreign nationals went to Lhasa. 3.3 Summation compounds: Vb.-Vb. Summation compounds are composed of syllables each of which has a different meaning wherein the overall meaning of the new compound is the summation of the two independent ones. For example, ""~~-~~· "reform" is composed ofJ::!~~· ("to correct") and~~· ("to change"). Like the preceding compounds, these summati~n compounds function as nominals and take standard verbalizers. For example: ~:;;;·z:q~c:::z:q~.::;·q~·~·~c:.·q~~·~~·s~·q·~:;;;· ~

~

The new government did land reforms. A confusing factor in verb compounds is that sometimes the present tense of a verb is used and sometimes the past tense is used (for the same lexical item). Thus J::!~~·~.o:.· is also commonly written J::!~~·q~.o:.· using the past tense stem of the verb "to change." To assist users to deal with this problem we have tried to include the different versions of compounds, e.g., in this case both J::!~~·~~· and ""~~·q~.::;· are listed as separate entries. 3.4 Polar compounds: Vb.-Vb. Polar compounds consist of verbs with opposite meanings. The overall meaning is usually the abstract idea derived from the two syllables, although it may also be simply conjunctive with each syllable retaining its independent meaning. For example, !.l.~·~"\· breaks down into "going" and "staying" and together usually means either "movement" or "going and staying." For example: ~·~·!.l.~·~~·z:q~O)'l
xvi

disyllabic units is that of premodification (i.e., the first disyllabic compound modifies the second). When a quadrisyllabic compound is encountered each of the two disyllabic subunits should be analyzed separately before the overall meaning is determined. For example, in ~·q"'·~·~ct;~~· ("Sino-Tibetan border"), the first disyllabic unit is a conjunctive compound and means "China!fibet." The second element is a premodifying compound meaning "border" (literally, place-space between). Thus, the first disyllabic unit modifies the second explaining what kind of a border it was. 5. Active and involuntary verbs Tibetan active verbs express action done by an actor (subject) and are noted in the dictionary by the abbreviation "va." Involuntary verbs express unintentionaV non-purposive action or states and are noted in the dictionary by the abbreviation "vi." The difference between active and involuntary verbs hinges on the dichotomy of intentionaVunintentional action. The English sentence "He slept" illustrates this. Tibetan has two separate verbs meaning "to sleep." One of these, 'l!~"'''?!"!J', is active (va.) and connotes sleep resulting from the intentional act of going to sleep. The other 9~~T;;'l!· is involuntary (vi.) and connotes unintentional sleep, i.e., falling asleep without wanting or trying to do so. Another example of this difference is the notion "to boil." Tibetan has two separate verbs to convey the active (va.) and involuntary (vi.) notions of boiling: ~-q~!"!J'':J-99' (He, she) boiled the water. (va.) ~·r:l.~!"!J·.q-99· The water has boiled. (vi.) Thus, the presence of vi. before a verb such as "change" will indicate that it means "to be" or "get changed," as distinguished from the va. form which means "to actively change or modify." Active verbs may have as many as four stems and involuntary verbs may have as many as three stems (they have no imperative stem). Examples of active verbs are seen in the following table: Past Present Future lmJ2erative r:l.§:.:_· r:l.§:.:_· r:l.§:.:_· r:l.§:.:_· 1-stem ~~· ~~~· ~· 2-stem q.q· r:l,q.q· qq· r:l,':JQ' 3-stem .qm'l!~· .qril9' ffi9~· ffi9' 4-stem All verb main entries are listed in their present tense form, although all tenses are included immediately following the main entry. For example: ffi9·: p. '111]9~·; f. qm9· ; imp. ffi9~· (13:)) va. to read. 6. Verb Honorifics Almost all active and involuntary verbs have honorific forms. These are either a separate stem, e.g.,~· "to buy" (non-honorific) and t!J~9~· "to buy" (honorific), or the non-honorific past stem is made honorific by adding a honorific verb like t!Jil)C::.' "to do" (h.). For example, ~~-q~~·!r~~· "He made it" becomes ~c.·~~·.q~~-9il)c.·q· ~"\· "He (h.) made (h.) it." When verbs have honorific and non-honorific stems both will be listed in the dictionary.

Abbreviations abbr. adj. arc. bh. CCP. eh. eh. eng. ch.tib. dat.-loc. eng. eng.tib.

f. gen. h. hind. id. imp. inst. KMT. Lit. m ong. neg.

p. poet. pres. PRC IUS.

sb. skt. skt.tib. sm. sm.* sth. shun g. tib. tib.ch. tib.hind. tt. usu. va. vi.

abbreviation adjective archaic term Bhutanese language Chinese Communist Party Chinese (language) Chinese and English language Chinese and Tibetan language dative-locative case English language English and Tibetan language future tense genitive case hororific Hindi language idiom imperative tense instrumental case Koumintang (party) literally Mongolian language negative particle past tense poetic metaphor present tense People's Republic of China Russian somebody Sanskrit Sanskrit and Tibetan same as same as (but indicates this is a non-standard spelling) something the genre of government Tibetan Tibetan language Tibetan and Chinese language Tibetan and Hindi languge traditional Tibetan society usually active verb involuntary/inactive verb signifies the main lexical entry signifies the start of an example

Addendum and Errata to

The New Tibetan-English Dictionary of Modern Tibetan* (February 1, 2002)

*This Addendum will be updated approximately every two months.

qq^-c$- // 1. sm. q^c-Øen-. 2. a kind of spindle (with an x-shaped top) for spinning thread; va.—ex(e.

Nœc( -l^- // shung. the daily inspection round made late at night by government officials at the Tsuglakhang and Ramoche Temples in Lhasa. They shout out very loudly asking the

Tsuglakhang's sweepers if they are at their post ; va.—v*]- to respond "yes" to this call

( -l^- inspection. (by the sweepers); va.—zeC-( to go to make the Nœc

w„e-[}-# w-d- // bloody (for suppression, oppression) ¶ nC#[-el^r-e#n-Âf-Nø(]-„(f-Nœ(c-dX*[-fw]-h·c-„e-[}#w-dz#-[}e-e](]-dXn-a-c*[-

The government suppressed the demonstrators in a

violent/bloodily manner (with bloodshed).

„e-[}-# dC-( d- // sm. „e-[}-# w-d-. w*-d;r- // 2. lucky, fortunate. page 1

ee(-‰X-^ h·c-‰X-^ f*[-a- // 2. having no feelings/ opinions about sth. e(-xr-nC[# -u$n- // the post-1978 relaxation policy regarding classifying people as class enemies.

eC-# el(e- // a slice cut by a knife. eCr^ -c#v-c#v- // sm. eCr^ -b-[([-a(-. eCr( -Nå-#≈ // mayor. eC-˚ v(e- // ex-monk, monk who has lost his celibacy. eC-˚ enc- // new monk. E√[-gf- // sm. o(e-gf-. [e^]-v$[- // winter fertilizer. fe(-pe-zd$[- // 2. va. to find one's own way of subsisting/ living. fe(-zp%f-‰Xe- // va. to hide one's head under the bedding/ blanket. ‰X-q(- // leather flap hanging down from saddle on which thighs rest. ‰X-fe(-”^r- // va. a term used in Kham to convey fighting/ revolting against the Chinese [Lit. hit the Chinese on the head]. page 2

‰X-^ Nø[( - // upper part of the stomach. ‰X-^ f-v$e- // vi. to have intestines come out (due to a wound). N´e^ -c- // a person bent over from deformity. tdt(n-y*]-d;(-eC-˚ // the "Big Machinery (Repair) Factory" in Lhasa. V†en-;c- // an iron ladle used for measuring tsamba in tt. yCORRECTION:

yr-sdn- to yr-sd- .

CORRECTION:

yr-zdCn- // rice used to make yr-.

yr-fv- // a blanket used to cover fermenting chang to keep it warm. y$-h-z[*fn- // va. to dip a religious image (h-h-) hanging on a sting into a stream as a form of religious practice (the water carries the prayer).

uu-ŒXr-Nåen-ŒXr- // a diet of plain tsamba and black tea. u-s(en- // 1. salary in tea. 2. a position in the tt. army in charge of salary distributions in tea. page 3

zu#e-Ø*]-cd-vn-y(n-a-[}e- // a religious person is better than the best lay person. ii*-d-Vøn( -dtn- // sm. Nœ-^ i*-zw(c-dtn-. oØ-z[*[- // chasing/ galloping after sb. on horseback; va.—eo(r-. Vø-Ø(en-h·en-y$r- // person in charge of looking after and supervising class enemies (who were supposed to be reforming their thoughts).

Nø]( -Ìf- // tsamba lent to peasants in fall. Nød( n-V“]- // 2. person who cuts coprses in sky burials. pfp(r-f-z[([-a- // sm. Vø-Nørn-r]-a-. [[-x([-f#- // all the people living in a rural area as opposed to just those who received a share of land at the time of land division/ decollectivization.

[c-y-lv-r(- // the lv-r(- in charge of signal flags in the tt. army. [c-l(- // yogurt made from buttermilk.

page 4

[}e^ -dt$-„v-x(v- // release from tax obligations to one's lord when one passes the age of sixty.

[}r^ -Nœ-≈ n*c- // monk and lay officials (of tt. government). e[^r-c#v- // a wooden log. f[*v-bv- // bandolier (of bullets). z[^c-f- // a kind of flannel like f(-v-zdXr# -. 2. sm. ]c-eo(r-. z[*fn-[frn-ve-z∑*c- // a certificate that people over 18 receive to indicate they are eligible to vote. CORRECTION:

z[}-# Ì[-l^-n- // information desk.

z[}]* -zyc- // sm. Øe-ac-. ”(-b#r- // abbr. stone mason and carpenter. ”(-b#r-Nå-#≈ a- // abbr. the association of stone masons and carpenters (in tt.). V“r-r#-V“r# -r#- // 2. hesitating/ not making a decision about doing sth. ¶ w(-]r-[^-v(e-[r-„(f-v-zeC-( ei#n-pe-f-y([-dc-V“r-r#-V“#r-r#-dXn-]n-dN“[-dle

He couldn't decide whether to go home or go

to the market and was (staying) hesitating.

V“r# -we- // an army unit in tt. comprised of 25 soldiers. page 5

N“e^ -yr- // the "consoling" beer brought to the household of someone who has died. ]]e-h-”v- // vi. to have ink bleed (when written on paper). aae-ae-a$e-a$e-dX[* -f-dt$e- // not letting people raise their heads, suppressing people. ae-g°-dX[* -xn-f*[-a- // to be under someone's thumb/power. aen-'^e- // scraps of leather. Nå[(≈ -a-N√e( - // vi. to behave wrongly, to behave opposite of what is asked or is correct. ss-el#n- // 2. house and land (inheritable) ¶ s-f-eC(r-Ë*n-sC^e-e^-[*n-s-el#n-‰X^]-zj‹]-dX*[f-p%d-a-c*[After the parents died, the child was not able to continue to hold (inherit) on to the land and house.

s$-f*[- // sleeveless (dress). s$-x([- // dress with sleeves. s(-lv- // male plasterer. sX-# ve-]r-zdCv* - // member of an organization having secret relations with outsiders. CORRECTION: replace

sX-# ve-]r-c$v- with sX-# [eC-]r-c$v-. page 6

dCORRECTION:

dc-f#-y([- // sm. dc-f-y([-ac-.

CORRECTION:

dc-f*[- // sm. dc-f-y([-ac-.

dXe^ -dle-a-z[}-a(- // saying or doing sth. that is appropriate or that exactly fits the situation. [d$en-y$- // water given to a person at the time of death. [dXc-v$[- // manure used on fields in summer. [dXc-v$[-N´r-v-[e^]-v$[- // doing sth. that has no benefit, a useless act [Lit. putting winter manure on top of summer manure].

zdCe( -sXe^ - // abbr. 1. a rich nomad. 2. the class of rich nomads. ffc-s(en- // 1. salary in butter. 2. a position in the tt. army in charge of salary distributions in butter.

f#-n*c-ze(-a- // name of the Tashilhunpo government official in Lhasa who is in charge of the Tashilhunpo serfs/ subjects living in Lhasa.

f#e-cn- // a blindfold; va.—ex(e; vi.—e(]. f#e-f#-[e(n-Vøe-w^r-Vø-e#-f*[- // not taking care of sb. ¶ sC-^ e^-[*-h·n-cr-e#-s-f-›n-zw(en-v-f#e-f#[e(n-Vøe-w^r-Vø-e#-f*[-a-c*[-

Those children do not take care of their old parents.

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f#e-f#-[e(n-Vøe-w^r-Vø-f#-[e(n- // no hope of getting sth. ¶ d;(-a-h·-›n-x(v-dXn-Ë*n-d;(-eC-˚ [*c-f#ef#-[e(n-Vøe-w^r-f#-[e(n-a-c*[-

After the workers retired they had no hope of getting anything

from their factory.

f(-lv- // female plasterer. [fe-E√- // salary/ wage paid to a soldier (by the tt. government or by a military estate holder to the person hired to serve as tax soldier from that estate). CORRECTION:

[fe-d[e- // family that holds a military estate for which a tax soldier

must be provided.

f*-f[z-c#r-f[z- // rifle. [fe-[(]-dqe-z[(f-,$-x(]-Vµ]-wr- // military control commission. [frn-u- // tea given to servants. [fc-zp(f- // be/ get dizzy or light-headed; vi.—‰Xe. Ïn-a- // person who is injured/ wounded. ggK-q^-b- // sm. q^-b-. g$e-o- // sm. Øe-h$en-. egr-zeCf- // river bank. page 8

Ì-cn- // burlap/ hemp bag, gunny sack. hh-b*v- // thermos flask. h·r-y*-d- // (class of) large-scale traders. h·r-zdCr# -d- // (class of) middle-level traders. h·r-y$r-d- // (class of) small/ petty traders. kk-w-p#en-hen- // mending the cracks and drain pipes on a roof; va.—dX[* -. lldn-w(rn- // part of the class/ category of servant. CORRECTION:

lv-[a(]- // plasterer.

l*[-a-l*[-a- // the stronger, the more capable, the braver ¶ b(e-w-ei#n-W#-f#-l*[-a-l*[-a-[*-h·-zj‹rc*n-dor-n(r- The stronger and braver from both groups fought each other.

l(e-z[^c- // mashed potatoes. l(c-zR(en-zp*d- // sm. l(c-z[}[^ -zp*d-. l(v-zuen- // va. to put down/ quell an uprising or disturbance. page 9

el^r-f*[-c#r-v$en- // anarchism. ;;#-v#r-N´f-dben- // 1. inferior planks used for packing. 2. packing crate/ box. ;(-b*- // a type of cream. ;(r-„v- // 2. sm. zdf-h·r-. e;#-bv- // a necklace of e;#-. d;z-wr- // restaurant. xx([-a(-f*[-a(c-dor- [c-d-sXc^ -w^c-dor- // doing sth. that acts to destroy sth. one has [Lit. destroying what one has, making buttermilk into whey].

ccr-l*]- // loyalty or love toward one's own group, country, etc. vve-h·[- // estimating the weight of sth. by holding it in one's hand; va.—dX[* -. ve-h·[-p#e-a(- // sb. who is expert at estimating the weight of sth. by holding it in one's hand; va.—dX*[-.

vf-y$r- // small road/ path. page 10

v$r-‰Xe^ n- // sm. vf-zeC(-‰X^en-. v(-fu$e-x#e-h[- // final exam. N√d( -[W#v-x#e-h[- // midterm exam. bb-ŒXr-f // a piece/ section of meat equal to 1/27th of a sheep carcass (in tt.). br-[qCe( - // churning whole milk to make butter (i.e., using whole milk without first removing yogurt); va.—‰Xe.

b#-‰Xc^ -f#-Nœeç -az#-c$-we- // suicide unit/ group. eb#]-Ë*z-# vn-fw]- // sm. [fXv-dz#-vn-fw]-. nn-e]n-W#-f*-f[z- // giving a party or meal to a friend or relative when they visit or pass through the area where one lives [Lit. a gun shot from the local area]; va.—‰Xe.

ne-ne-v- // quietly, secretly. n(e-dben- // sawing planks; va.—‰Xe. nC[# -u$n-e(-xr- // sm. e(-xr-nC[# -u$n-. nC[# -u$n-Vµe^ -eo(r- // sm. e(-xr-nC[# -u$n-. page 11

nC-( f(- // sm. nC-^ f(mVµe^ -eo(r-nC[# -u$n- // sm. e(-xr-nC[# -u$n-.

page 12