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Index Tibetan Calligraphy

How to write the Tibetan dbu-canscript

Tibetan dbu-can[pron: "u-chen"] script is traditionally written using ahand-made bamboo or reed pen cut at an angle. A broad steel nibbed italiccalligraphy pen may be used instead. Calligraphic pens designed forleft-handed writers of Roman script are slanted at a suitable angle for aright-handed person to use when writing Tibetan dbu-chanscript.

To produce the proper thickness of horizontal strokes, the width of the pen

nib should be about 1/12ththe height of the letter ka.

The pen is held between the thumb and index fingers so that, as you write,the pen may be rotated to obtain the proper thick and thin strokes. The otherfingers are drawn up into a f ist, though some people extend the little fingerto form a surface for the hand to rest on and provide greater stability.

Horizontal strokes are written from left to right and vertical strokes from topdown.

The top strokes of Tibetan letters should align with each other. This stroke isalways drawn first.

In complex "stacks" all elements of the stack are usually adjusted in size andshape. The shape and angle of subscribed gi-gu (vowel sign "u") dif fersdependent on the letter or combination it occurs with.

There are several styles of dbu-canscript which vary slightly - the design ofthe examples I've made for this page are based on a style from Amdo usedfor writing religious texts. For combined letters only a few illustrativeexamples are given.

The Thirty Consonantsor "Tibetan Alphabet"

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ka

kha

ga

nga

ca

cha

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ja

nya

ta

tha

da

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na

pa

pha

ba

ma

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tsa

tsha

dza

wa

zha

za

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'a

ya

ra

la

sha

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sa

ha

a

The four Vowel signs:

gi-gu

zhabs-kyu

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'greng-bu

na-ro

Sub-scribed letters ('dogs can):

sub-scribedya (ya-btags)

sub-scribedra (ra btags)

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sub-scribedla (la btags)

wa zur

mgo-can

ra-mgo

la-mgo

sa-mgo

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Punctuation

Tibetan letters for transliterating Sanskrit

x

Related Pages:

Bhutanese style dbu-canTibetan Writing Course- by Palden Oshoe & Mark Turin, atCornell University Language Resource Center

Calligraphie TibtainA Model of the Tibetan gzabScript - with Rules forCalligraphy - T. G. Dhonthog Rinpoche [in Tibetan]Elements of the Tibetan Writing System.

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Copyright 2004, 2005 Christopher J. Fynn

last modified: Thu Apr 07 2005 06:33:48

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