10 
F. B. Shawe —Tibetan Orthography and Pronunciation. [No. 1, 
p'yag “ hand/’ both pronounced *cak.* p'yag is used in numerous 
expressions of politeness, the Buddhas and saints being reverenced with 
the phrase: p'yag O t'sal-lo. The original absolute identity of these 
words can scarcely be considered probable. Still less is the identity 
probable in the case of rje “lord ” and mje “ penis,” both now 
pronounced alike, *je.* The former word is applied only to deities, 
higher lamas, and laics of a very high rank. Can we suppose that such 
a word can originally (contemporaneously with the introduction of the 
alphabet) have been liomophonous with a word having an obscene 
signification ? 
In considering the grammatical particles or post -pos itions a few 
examples will suffice. According to rule, the post-position of the in¬ 
strumental case is to be spelled Icy is after the letters d , 6, s , and gyis 
after n , m, r, l. Similarly the genitive case is indicated by Jcyi after d , b , 
s , and by gyi after n, m, r, l. The reason for these changes in the ending 
is evident. According to Tibetan pronunciation final d, b, s are essentially 
hard, and consequently occasion a hard pronunciation of the initial conso¬ 
nant of the following syllable ; n, m, r, l are soft, causing a corresponding 
softening of the following letter. At the present day qSTN'S mi-rnams- 
Jcyi “of the men,” and JTWVS'Y mi-rnams-lcyis “the men” (instrum.) 
are pronounced *mi-nam-gyi* and *mi-nam-gyis * i. e ., the elision of 
the s and consequent appearance of a soft consonant at the close of the 
previous syllable at once occasions a corresponding softening of the 
following letter. But although this is always the case in speech, it is 
practically never the case in writing. On the contrary, the accuracy 
with which these forms are written is remarkable, and a MS. in which 
they are not correctly written will show other marks of being the work 
of an unusually illiterate copyist. In close analogy, the word yah 
“ and ” becomes S5* lcyah after the letters g , d, b , 5, a change rigorously 
observed in writing, although, e. g ., an educated man unhesitatingly reads 
||l s T 3j'\rgcr zur-nas Jcyah as *zur-na yah.* Similar variable endings in 
connection with verbal forms are as regularly adhered to in writing 
as they are discarded in reading and daily speech. 
The above observations on the literary language may b e summed 
up i n the following :—Whilst many identically pronounced worcfs are 
'spelled identically, many more are spelled in a more or less widely 
differing manner in accordance with the differing significations ; and 
whilst certain rules of the language cause a modification in pronouncing 
certain syllables, the identical rule prevents the modification from 
taking place in writing. This seems to speak most st rongly in f avour 
