1891.] F. B. Shawe —Tibetan Orthography and ^Pronunciation. 
make suck distinctions perceptible at least to the eye, whilst they were 
then, and have since usually remained, imperceptible to the ear. At 
the same time it must he remarked, that neuter and active verbs are 
otherwise almost always distinguished by the use of two of the three 
forms of the guttural, palatal, etc., letters, e. g., O don-pa , act. 
■v ^ 
“ to cause to come forth;” Q tf on-pa , neut. “ to come out.” Tt 
seems therefore probable that such distinctions were originally inherent 
in the language. 
Turning to the second class, homophones from different or dis¬ 
similar roots, we find some verbs here also, e. g., 0 byin-pa “ to 
CS 
draw out ” and If 3 )" 1 '!' sbyin-pa “ to give,” both pronounced alike in 
most dialects as * jin-pa,* whilst they are derived from totally different 
"V 
roots, the neuter form of jbyin-pa being jbyun-ba. Further ^’’^T rmo-ba 
"\r 
“to plough,” IT^T smo-ba “to say,” both pronounced *mo-wa ;* f^S’ r d' 
h?ad-pa“ to approach,” V o Wad-pa “ to stumble,” both pronounced 
at-pa* or *k’ci-pa.* Very striking are byed-pa “ to do,” 
rjed-pa “to forget,” QliV^F 0 byed-pa “to open;” all three are quite 
distinct in etymology, but the pronunciation of all is usually identical, 
viz. * jet-pa* or * je-pa* The greater number of homophones of this 
class are, however, found amongst the substantives. So Itan “ bale 
of goods,” stans “ gesture,” both usually pronounced *tan ;* ^3' 
rte-u “ foal,” ^-3' ste-n “ small adze,” both pronounced *teu ;* 
btsa “ rust,” 3f f rtswa “ grass,” rtsa “ root,” all pronounced *tsa* 
Also: yan “again,” yyan “happiness,” both pronounced 
* yan; * y a r “ upwards,” S§X 7 dbyar “ summer,” both pronounced 
* yar ; * lun “precept,” o]^ 7 hlun “river,” ^j^ 7 rluh “wind,” 
Tduns “ cultivated land,” all usually pronounced *lun ;* QJ^F log 
“back” (adv.), glog “lightning,” logs “side,” o]^’^ 7 Tdog-pa 
“to read,” ^^1 *F rlog-pa “ to destroy,” Sl^T^F slog-pa “to turn,” all 
pronounced *loJc* or *lo ;* nam “ when?” ^^i 7 y nam “heaven” 
mams (sign of the plural), all pronounced *nam* In all these 
cases it can hardly be maintained, that there was any absolute necessity 
for introducing a different spelling for the same sounds, as the cont ent 
would clearly show which signification was intended. 
Still more important are a few homophones, which may be used in 
addressing superiors or signify something common, according to the man¬ 
ner of spelling. Such is, e. g., <&*T cag “ dry fodder, grain ” and 
J. i. 2 
