How to Read Tibetan Central Tibetan (Low Literary) Edition How to Read Tibetan: Central Tibetan (Low Literary) Edition © CAF, 2004 Contents Table of Contents Part One: The Building Blocks Page Chapter One: How to Use This Book 1 Chapter Two: Jesus and His World: Names of People, Places, and Things 5 2.1 Names of People 6 2.2 Names of Places 7 2.3 Names of Things 8 2.4 Singular and Plural Nouns 8 2.5 Honorific Nouns 9 2.6 Noun Phrases 10 2.7 Summary 11 Chapter Three: Words That Add Spice 13 3.1 Pronouns 13 3.2 Relative & Interrogative Pronouns 14 3.3 Adverbs 15 3.3.1 Adverbial Pronouns 16 3.3.2 Adverbials 17 3.3.2.1 The Adverbial Particles $A-|R-/?, and $A-%%-/?, 17 3.3.2.2 Using the Agentive Particles GA?, $A?, IA?, to Make Adverbials 17 3.3.2.3 Using =-.R/- Particles to Make Adverbials 17 3.4 Adjectives 18 3.4.1 Verbal Adjectives 18 3.4.2 Adjectives with w/, 18 3.5. Postpositions 19 3.6. Summary 19 Chapter Four: Action Words 21 4.1 'Being' Verbs: ;A/, <J., ;R., :.$ 21 4.2 'Action' Verbs 22 4.3 Subjects and Objects 22 4.4 Transitive and Intransitive Verbs 23 4.5 Voluntary and Involuntary Verbs 25 4.6 Verb Roots 27 4.7 Compound Verbs 28 i Contents Chapter Four: Action Words (continued) Page 4.8 Helper Verbs: ,2, .$R?, 30 4.9 Honorific and Humilific Verbs 30 4.10 Summary 32 Chapter Five: Talking About Time 35 5.1 Showing the Tense by Verb Root 35 5.2 Showing the Tense by Helper Words 36 5.3 Showing the Tense by Context 37 5.4 Showing the Past Tense in Written Tibetan 37 5.4.1 Past stem alone 37 5.4.2 Past root + 0<-L?, 38 5.4.3 Intransitive verbs + 0<-I<, / 2<-I<, 38 5.4.4 Past root + 0-;A/, 38 5.4.5 Past root + L%-, / ?R%-, 38 5.5 Showing the Present Tense in Written Tibetan 38 5.5.1 Present Root 38 5.5.2 Present root + 0<-LJ., 39 5.5.3 Present root + $A-;R., $A-:.$ 39 5.5.4 Present root + 28A/, 39 5.6 Showing the Future Tense in Written Tibetan 39 5.6.1 Future root + sentence terminator 39 5.6.2 Present root + 0<-L, 40 5.6.3 Present root + 0<-:I<, 40 5.6.4 Present root + 0-;A/, 40 5.6.5 Present root + o-;A/, 40 5.7 Aspect 41 5.7.1 Perfect tense 41 5.7.2 The Helper Word MR%-, 41 5.7.3 The Helper Words 5<-, 9A/, 41 5.8 Imperatives 41 5.8.1 Imperative Root Alone 42 5.8.2 Imperative Root + Command Particles &A$-, 8A$-, >A$-, 42 5.8.3 Imperative Root + the particle .%-, 42 ii Contents Chapter Five: Talking About Time (continued) Page 5.8.4 Negative Imperatives 43 5.8.5 Request Forms with $?R=, and <R$?-$/%-, 43 5.8.6 Optative Forms 43 5.8.6.1 The 'May It Happen' Form: 0<-I<-&A$ 43 5.8.6.2 'Prayer' Form: >R$ 44 5.9 Negatives of Compound Verbs 44 5.9.1 Present Tense Negatives 44 5.9.2 Past Tense Negatives 44 5.10 Summary 45 Chapter Six: Just in Case 47 6.1 What's a Case? 47 6.2 The Cases and Their Particles 50 6.2.1 The Nominative Case or 3A%-43, 50 6.2.2 The Objective Case or =?-?-L-2, 51 6.2.3 The Agentive Case: LJ.-1 52 6.2.4 The Dative Case: .$R?-(J.-!R/-0, 54 6.2.5 The Originative Case: :L%-#%?, 55 6.2.6 The Connective Case: :VJ=-1 55 6.2.7 The Locative Case: $/?-$8A-!R/-0, 56 6.2.7.1 Location 56 6.2.7.2 Time 57 6.2.7.3 Possession 57 6.2.8 Vocatives: :2R.-1 57 6.3 Twenty One Case Particles 57 6.4 Cases with Example Sentences 58 6.5 Summary 60 Chapter Seven: Life Among the Particles 63 7.1 Dependent Particles 63 7.1.1 The Sentence Terminators: $R %R-, and Their Relatives 63 7.1.2 The Question Particles: $3, %3, and Their Relatives 64 7.1.3 The Concessive Connectives: G%-, ;%-, :%-, 64 iii Contents Chapter Seven: Life Among the Particles (continued) Page 7.1.4 The Gerundive Particles: +J, !J, .J, 65 7.1.5 The Alternative Particles: $3, %3, etc. 65 7.1.6 The Imperative and Singular Particles: &A$ 8A$ >A$ 66 7.1.7 The Quotation Particles: 8J?, &J?, >J?, 67 7.1.8 The Connective Particles: &A%-, 8A%-, >A%-, 68 7.1.9 The 'Doer' Particles: 0, 0R, 2, 2R, 3, 3R, 68 7.2 Independent Particles 69 7.2.1 The Subject Marker Particle /A, 69 7.2.2 The Sequential Particle /?, 70 7.2.3 The Use of =- To Join Sentences 70 7.2.4 The Demonstrative Particle .J, 71 7.2.5 The 'Who, What, Which' Particles or ,A-1 71 7.2.6 The Negative Particles or .$$-1 72 7.2.7 Rhetorical Particles 72 7.2.7.1 The Conditional Clause Marker /, 73 7.2.7.2 The Logical Markers: KA<, (J.-., 0?, 3-9., 3-$+R$?, 73 7.2.8 Introducers: :R/-G%-, .J-/?, .J-.?, .J-3-,$-+, .J-v<, =/-., 74 7.2.9 The Reflexive Particle *A., 75 7.2.10 Separation Suffix .%-#-V=, 75 7.3 Use of the Tsheg and the Shad 75 7.4 Summary 75 Chapter Eight: Time, Cause, and Other Constructions 77 8.1 Permission Constructions 77 8.1.1 Using the Verb :)$ 77 8.1.2 Using the Noun (R$-3(/, 77 8.2 'Because' Constructions: !2?, and 4%-, 78 8.3 Time Constructions 78 8.3.1 As soon as: 3-,$ and 43-IA?, 78 iv Contents Chapter Eight: Time, Cause, and Other Constructions (continued) Page 8.3.2 Never: /3-;%-, 78 8.3.3 Still, Even Now: .-.%-, 79 8.3.4 About to: P2?, 79 8.3.5 When: .?, and {2?, 79 8.3.6 From then on: .J-/?-29%-, 79 8.4 List Particles 80 8.4.1 The 'Open' List Particle ?R$?, 80 8.4.2 The 'Closed' List Particle 2&?, 80 8.5 Uses of the Particle <%-, 80 8.5.1 As a Pronoun 80 8.5.2 As an Intensifier 81 8.5.3 Meaning 'Just' or 'Only' 81 8.6 The 'Way of Doing' Particle !%?-, 81 8.7 Summary 81 Chapter Nine: Getting Ready to Read 83 9.1 Why I Can't Read Tibetan 83 9.2 How to Approach a Text 84 9.2.1 Get Acquainted 84 9.2.2 Identify Key Words 84 9.2.3 Watch the Punctuation 84 9.2.3.1 Verse Numbers 84 9.2.3.2 Quotation Marks 84 9.2.3.3 Foreign Word Markers 85 9.2.4 Check the Shads 85 9.2.5 Look for Particles and Give Them a Break 85 9.2.6 Put the Meanings Together 86 9.3 Summary: How to Approach a Tibetan Text 88 9.4 Exercise 88 v Contents Part Two: Jesus Christ Has Power to Save Us Page Chapter Ten: The Beginning of the Gospel: Title and Mark 1.1 91 Chapter Eleven: Jesus Brings Good News: Mark 1.14-15 97 Chapter Twelve: Jesus Has Power to Drive Out Evil Spirits: Mark 1.21-28 107 Chapter Thirteen: Jesus Has Power to Heal the Sick: Mark 1.32-34 133 Chapter Fourteen: Jesus Has Power to Forgive Sins: Mark 2.1-12 137 Chapter Fifteen: Jesus Has Power to Control the Storm: Mark 4.35-41 151 Chapter Sixteen: Jesus Has Power to Raise the Dead to Life: Mark 5.21-24, 35-42 159 Chapter Seventeen: Jesus Teaches About the Evil That is Within Man: Mark 7.14-23 171 Chapter Eighteeen: Jesus is the Son of God: Mark 9.2-8 181 Chapter Nineteen: Jesus Teaches What is Most Important: Mark 12.28-31 189 Chapter Twenty: Jesus Was Betrayed: Mark 14.10-11, 44-46 195 Chapter Twenty One: Jesus Was Sentenced to Death: Mark 15.6-15 201 Chapter Twenty Two: Jesus Was Crucified: Mark 15.25-26, 33-39 211 Chapter Twenty Three: Jesus Was Buried: Mark 15.42-46 221 Chapter Twenty Four: Jesus is Alive: Mark 16.1-7 227 Chapter Twenty Five: Good News for Everyone: Mark 16.15-16, 19-20 233 Chapter Twenty Six: More Good News 239 Part Three: Resources Appendix 1: Foreign Nouns and Loan Words 241 Appendix 2: Table of Action Verbs 243 Appendix 3: Helpful Books 249 vi Contents vii Chapter One: How to Use This Book 1. How to Use This Book This book was originally written for expatriate students learning Tibetan at a university in China. The students were especially interested in how to read the Tibetan Bible and how to share its truths with others. Their need suggested a textbook that would be a kind of guided tour of a Biblical book, pointing out the fundamentals of Tibetan grammar and introducing the specialized 'key' terms that are used to describe the Christian faith. The book you are holding in your hands is an attempt create such a 'learn as you go' textbook. Part One covers the basic building blocks of the language and how they are put together. Part Two applies this knowledge in an easy, step-by-step fashion to the text Jesus Christ Has Power to Save Us, a simplified life of Christ taken directly from a new translation of the Gospel of Mark.