1894] F. B. Shawe —Tibetan Orthography and Pronunciation . 
17 
illiterate. 1 Thirdly, Jaesclike lias already drawn attention to the 
fact, that the dialect of Khams and that of Baltistan are very similar. 
He says : 2 “ The prefixes and the superscribed consonants, for the most 
part, are still sounded at each extremity of the whole territory, within 
which the language is spoken, both on the western and the eastern 
frontier, alike in Khams, which borders on China, and in Balti, which 
merges into Kashmir. Moreover, in both localities the same minor 
irregularities occur, transgressions against an exact rendering of the 
pronunciation according to the letters, the same frequent transforma¬ 
tions of the tenues into the aspiratal, g and d becoming y or \,b becom¬ 
ing w, Now, about twenty degrees of longitude separate Balti from 
Khams. ” 
On reviewing the observations made as to the dialects spoken by 
various Tibetan tribes, we find that cases, where spelling and pronuncia- 
tion are closely allied, in opposition to curre nt rules of pronunciation, 
are of frequ ent occurrence. They occur, not in the language of the 
higher classes, but of the ordinary peasant, and cannot therefore be 1 
explained as the result of artificial education. They are found in least 
numbers in the central dialects, and increase] in the dialects east and 
west of Lhasa in proportion to the distance from that centre of 
Buddhism. Certainly the simplest explanation of these apparent 
vagaries is, that we have in them relics of a former universal pronuncia¬ 
tion, which has in course of time been greatly modified, sometimes out 
of all recognition. We are therefore led to precisely the same view 
as was arrived at after considering the literary language, viz., that the 
orthography as it stands represents the pronunciation current at the 
time of jits intro ductio n. 
But there is yet another piece of evidence as to the original 
pronunciation of Tibetan, which adds its weight to the arguments 
already advanced. Jaesehke has noted some most remarkable points 
of agreement between the supposed original pronunciation of Tibetan 
and the Bunan language, spoken besides Tibetan and Hindi in Lahaul. 
I give his remarks in an abbreviated translation. 3 “ According to the 
assertion of the inhabitants Bunan has had a much greater extension 
of Purig and Baltistan has not yet been thoroughly explored, but the present 
generation are quite ignoratit of the fact that their ancestors were once Buddhists. 
1 They know infinitely more about King Gesar than about Muhammad, and 
a Purig man once informed me, that Jesus Christ and Muhammad would shortly 
descend from heaven, and, proclaiming a Jihad, would prepare the world for the 
second advent of Gesar ! 
2 Dictionary, p. xii. 
3 Phonetik, p. 174 ff. 
J. I. 8 
