Tibetan dictionary will be in 13 volumes
Print Edition
CHINA plans to publish its first encyclopedic dictionary of the Tibetan language beginning in late 2015, according to the China Ethnic Publishing House.
The dictionary’s 13 volumes will cover technology, medicine, phonology, Buddhism, Nyaya philosophy, rhetoric, phraseology, prosody, drama, astrology, Tibetan literature, Bon belief and Tibetan culture, said Gyangkar, an editor at the publisher’s.
The first three volumes will be published by the end of this year and the remaining 15 are expected by 2018, Gyangkar said.
With an investment of about 10 million yuan (US$1.6 million) from the Chinese government, compilation of the dictionary began in 2006 and involved the work of more than 10 Tibetan language experts from Beijing and China’s vast Tibetan-speaking regions.
The dictionary will have about 150,000 entries, three times that of the Tibetan-Chinese dictionary published in 1985, the most comprehensive Tibetan-language reference book to date.
It will include 9,000 new words and 60,000 technical terms.
WeChat, the instant messaging tool, will be called “trinqiong” in the dictionary. “Broadband” will be “tayang” and “robot”will be “trimen,” said Gyangkar.
Qoizha, deputy head of the Tibet regional compilation and translation bureau, said: “Language is a mirror of the times. New words reflect the rapid development in Tibet in terms of politics, economy, culture and education.”
Trinley Qoizha, 78, one of the compilers, was happy that his dream of witnessing the birth of a new Tibetan dictionary in his lifetime would come true.
“The new dictionary must be very heavy,” he said. “I’m afraid it is too heavy for me.”
Tibetan is one of the most ancient languages in China, dating back to the 7th century. It is currently used by about 8 million people in China's Tibetan region and the neighboring countries of India, Nepal and Bhutan.
“The dictionary is getting thicker, more professional and encyclopedic, which is strong proof of Tibet’s cultural development,” said Wangchug, 69, a Tibetan language translator.
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