The following overview of ACIP standards for simplified Tibetan and Sanskrit pronunciation has been drawn from a document prepared by the Asian Classics Institute of New York and included in the ACIP database at R0060. It is important to recognize that these standards have been created primarily to assure some kind of consistency in how the names of persons and similar items are represented in ACIP materials, such as the ACIP Master Catalog. Reference is made primarily to preparing materials for English speakers, since this is the Western language selected for the Project’s materials.

A great many systems have been attempted to represent Tibetan pronunciation especially, and it is not our goal to impose such a standard, but rather simply to explain the Project’s own in-house standards. We also admit here quite frankly that we have not yet had sufficient resources to go back and bring all our previous cataloging and other materials into strict conformance with the guidelines given here, but hope to do so as ACIP’s work continues.

General Comments on the Concept
of Simplified Pronunciation

• The goal of simplified pronunciation is to allow a normal, uninitiated English speaker to make the sound which most closely approximates the original word, without the use of special marks which are not utilized in normal written English. Here, "normal written English" is defined as the English found in everyday books, magazines, and newspapers read by the general English-speaking population, and not technical works restricted to specialists.

• It is important to distinguish pronunciation from transliteration. The sole object of a pronunciation system is to approximate a sound most closely. A transliteration system, in contrast, must represent every written symbol used in the original word. As such, the present document refers to ACIP standards for simplified pronunciation of Tibetan and Sanskrit, and not to the romanization or transliteration of these languages. The Project’s standards for transliteration are presented elsewhere in two separate documents entitled "ACIP Tibetan Input Code Standards" and "ACIP Sanskrit Input Code Standards."

For normal English-speaking audiences, the use of Sanskrit transliteration for pronunciation is unnecessary and often misleading; it causes, for example, many uninitiated readers to mispronounce words such as shunyata (mispronounced as sunyata due to ignorance of the diacritic’s function) or bodhichitta (pronounced bodhikitta due to misunderstanding of the single c used in transcription for a non-aspirated palatal). Virtually no Westerner, specialist or not, pronounces the short and long Sanskrit vowels differently from each other, so the use of macrons in simplified pronunciation is meaningless.

The transliteration is thus converted to pronunciation following the rules outlined in the chart below. We should note though that technical transliteration is, of course, appropriate in glossaries (in conjunction with pronunciation), and in bibliographies, which are intended primarily for the specialist.

Summary Chart of Simplified Tibetan
and Sanskrit Pronunciation

The following practical guide for simplified Tibetan and Sanskrit pronunciation is presented in Tibetan alphabetical order. The letters are organized in their common native groupings, to aid in locating them. Tibetan letters are given in ACIP input code, within curly braces.

Consonants

{K} = k

example kawa for {KA BA}

{KH} = k

example Tsongkapa for {TZONG KHA PA}

{G} as a main letter, except in a prenasal, subsequent syllable = g

example gawa for {DGA’ BA}

{G} as main letter, in a prenasal, subsequent syllable = ng

example renga for {RE ÔGA’}

{G} as suffix letter = k

example Gelukpa for {DGE LUGS PA}

{GH} = gh

example Maghada for {MA GHA DA}

{NG} except as ambiguous beginning letter of a subsequent syllable = -ng

examples nga for {NGA} and lang for {BLANG}

{NG} as ambiguous beginning letter of a subsequent syllable = -ng

example ka-ngel for {DKA’ NGAL}

{C} = ch

example chungse for {CUNG ZAD}

{CH} = ch

example chu for {CHOS}

{J} except in a prenasal, subsequent syllable = j

example jarin for {JA RIN}

{J} in a prenasal, subsequent syllable = nj

example tanjuk for {MTHA’ MJUG}

{NY} except as ambiguous beginning letter in a multisyllabic word = ny

example nyelwa for {DMYAL BA}

{NY} as ambiguous beginning letter in a multisyllabic word = -ny

example cha-nyam for {CHA MNYAM}

(Sanskrit retroflex series:)

{t} = t

example tikchen for {t’IK CHEN}

{th} = t

example kota for {KO thA}

{d} = d

example damaru for {dA MA RU}

{dh} = dh

example uttarashadha for {AUTTA RA shA dhA}

{n} = n

example panchen for {PAn CHEN}; note here that
the a is not e due only to convention

{T} = t

example ten for {GTAN}

{TH} = t

example tarpa for {THAR PA}

{D} as main letter, except in a prenasal, subsequent syllable = d

example den for {GDAN}

{D} as main letter, in a prenasal, subsequent syllable = nd

example Ganden for {DGA’ LDAN}

{DH} = dh

example sindhura for {SINDHU RA}

{N} = n

examples ne for {GNAS} or len for {LAN}

{P} = p

example pawo for {DPA’ BO}

{PH} = p

example pentok for {PHAN THOGS}

{B} as main letter, except in a prenasal, subsequent syllable = b

example bardo for {BAR DO}

{B} as main letter, in a prenasal, subsequent syllable = mb

example chumbep for {CHU ÔBEBS}

{B} as suffix letter = p

example raptu tsawa for {RAB TU TSA BA}

{BH} = bh

example Sambhota for {SAM BHO tA}

{M} = m

examples menpa for {DMAN PA} or rimpa for {RIM PA}

{TZ} except as ambiguous beginning letter in a multisyllabic word = ts

example tsukpu for {GTZUG PHUD}

{TZ} as ambiguous beginning letter in a multisyllabic word = -ts

(this is so rare as to be a nearly unnecessary distinction, since almost no Tibetan syllable ever ends in a t sound)

{TS} except as ambiguous beginning letter in a multisyllabic word = ts

example Tsarchen for {TSAR CHEN}

{TS} as ambiguous beginning letter in a multisyllabic word = -ts

(equally rare)

{DZ} as main letter, except in a prenasal, subsequent syllable = dz

example dze for {RDZAS}

{DZ} as main letter, in a prenasal, subsequent syllable = ndz

example sandzin for {GZA’ ÔDZIN}

{W} = w

example wa for {WA}

{ZH} = sh

example shenpa for {ZHEN PA}

{Z} = s

example sampa for {ZAM PA}

{‘} as main letter = vowel alone (see vowels below)

example oma for {‘O MA}

{‘} as suffix letter in a dipthong = subsequent vowel alone, except when {I}

example yinpao for {YIN PA’O}

{‘} as suffix letter followed by genitive additive = y

example lamay tuk for {BLA MA’I THUGS}

{Y} = y

example yarwa for {G-YAR BA}

{R} = r

examples rimpa for {RIM PA} and tsarwa for {TSAR BA}

{L} = l

examples lelo for {LE LO} and selwa for {GSAL BA}

{SH} = sh

example shepa for {BSHAD PA}

{S} = s

example sipa for {SRID PA}

{H} = h

example hla for {LHA}

{A} = vowel alone (see next)

Vowels

{A} except before umlauting suffix letter = a

example rangwang for {RANG DBANG}

{A} before umlauting suffix letter = e

example lenpa for {LAN PA}

{I} = i

example yi for {YID}

{U} = u

example lu for {LUS}

{E} = e

example leppa for {SLEB PA}

{O} except before umlauting suffix letter = o

example gongpa for {DGONGS PA}

{O} before umlauting suffix letter = u

example sunam for {BSOD NAMS}

Note: "umlauting" suffix letters are defined as: {DA} {NA} {RA} {LA} {SA}.