China / Tibet: Section from an illuminated manuscript, c. 12th-13th century

The Tibetan alphabet 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 alphabet 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 umê (Tibetan: དབུ་མེད་; Wylie: dbu-med; 'headless'). The alphabet is very closely linked to a broad ethnic Tibetan identity. Besides Tibet, it has also been used for Tibetan languages in Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan.

The Tibetan alphabet is ancestral to the Limbu alphabet, the Lepcha alphabet, and the multilingual 'Phags-pa script.

The creation of the Tibetan alphabet is attributed to Thonmi Sambhota of the mid-7th century. Tradition holds that Thonmi Sambhota, a minister of Songtsen Gampo (569-649), was sent to India to study the art of writing, and upon his return introduced the alphabet. The form of the letters is based on an Indic alphabet of that period.

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Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

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Pictures From History

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SCRIPTS AND WRITING