Melvyn C. Goldstein ESSENTIALS OF MODERN LITERARY SUE) oN vLUNY Weer cere Pern ree ad “Half of the words are read by implications.” This Tibetan saying Sena ee ee eS ery eae eee ee ed beginners to understand the logic of Tibetan grammar and syntax through ‘graded reading and narrative explanagions. The large glossary, which includes particles and is indexed by page, will serve as an invaluable reference for readers of Tibetan at all levels. The reading course includes the Tibetan alphabet and its pronunciation, as well as a wide range of See ee eee ‘communist political essays. Cassette tapes to assist students lable through Case Western Reserve aoa estes Ai “This [grammar] will make the study of writen T (ess tei FJ roreplensn than tis ee pie ro.” and inverter tenner ce) Lobsang Phuntshog Seen er a ape ral grammar of the language Sams Oa een Seen cera ern Reserve and serves as the Director of the Center for Research on Tibet. Pe eee er) as ere ine ee eT ery, and bas aug Tibetan at Case Weslern aera ee Pe eee eT Tibetan at Tribuvan University in Kathmandu, Nepal PUYOL OULSUL LOC ot Ae Beene Front photo: Two nomad girls fom Western Tibet eta Tees LorEssentials of Modern Literary TibetanEssentials of Modern Literary Tibetan ‘A Reading Course and Reference Grammar Melvyn C. Goldstein with Gelek Rimpoche and Lobsang Phuntshog Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd.By arrangement with University of California Press © 1991 by The Regents of the University of California Press Livary of Congzese Cataloging in Publication Data Colstin, Melsyn [Escenas of moder ierarya reading course and reference grammar Mele C. Goldscin with Geek Rinpoche and Lotsa Phunishog. pen Iacludes example of Titan xs with English ransaion, {Tieton language Grammar 2. Tibetan language Textbook for Foreign speakers. 3, Tibetan language Readers. 4. Tibetan language Rhetoric. , Rinpoche, Gelek I, Pauntsbog, Labsang. I Tie PissisGss 1991 $95'492421-8620 ons cw ISBN81-215-0581-X ‘Third Indian edition 2003, Als eights reserved, including those of trnsation into foreign languages ‘No pat! of this book may he reprodiced, stored in a retrieval sytem. or transmited sm any form, or by any means. electronic, mechanical. photocopying. recording oF ‘thers, without the written permission ofthe publishes Printed in India, Published by Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt, Ltd, Post Box 5715, 54 Rani Jhansi Road, ‘New Delhi 110055. Contents Preface xix Acknowledgments wi List of Abbreviations xxiii Part One 1 Lesson One a ul Introduction tothe Tibetan Language 12 Tone 3 Vowel length 14 ‘The thy writen leners 14 ‘Steps in writing Tibetan levers 142 ‘The consonants: "TE 143 ‘The consonants: #8€'9 144 ‘The consonants: 5%) 145 ‘The consonants: 48a" 146 ‘The consonants: SSC bs Vowels 16 Pronunciation drill i Structure and pronunciation of complex syllables ww ‘Complex syllables 172 Slot (sufixed leners) 1721 The suffixed leer 17.22 The suffixedleter © 1723 The suffixed enters 5 and * 1724 The suffixed eter 8 1725 The suffixed eter & 1726 The suffixed eter © 1727 The sulfixed leer *vi Contents 1728 The suffixed ener 1729 The suffiedlewer & 13 Slor-5 consonants 1s ‘The syllabic nature of the Tibetan language 19 Sentence snd verb types introduction io Linking vers and sentences un (Question formations La Vocabulary Lesson Two 2 2 The Alphabet, continued: Slott (prefixed lewers): VS 22 Slot-3 (ubfixed leers): ®, ©," 224 “The subfixed lener: 222 ‘he subfixed lener: * 223 ‘The subtixed leter: "1 23 Slot 2 (suprafixed leners): 90,90 24 Exercise: Write the pronunciation ofthe following syllables 25 ‘The pronunciation of disylabic compounds 26 Existential verbs and sentences 261 “The dativestocative case 262 ossessive constructions with the daive-locaive case 27 Linking and existential verbs used in adjectival constructions 28 [Negation of linking and existential verbs 29 Question formation with interrogative words 210 Reference section: Looking up words in the glossary and new vocabulary sections 2 Reading exercise 212 Vocabulary Lesson Three 46 ay ‘The subject of active sentences and the instrumental case 32 Plurality and singularity 321 Singularity 422 Plural words and posipositions uy Complex subject and object constructions Contents vi 331 ‘Complex subjects 332 ‘The complex object 333 ‘The active verb 34 Simple pastiense 35 Present iense 36 Usual constructions 37 Future tense 38 [Active verbs in interrogative constructions 39 ‘Sentence final marker 3.10 Readingexercise aul Vocabulary Lesson Four 6 4a (Clause constrction: introduction 42 The “5 connective 43 ‘The temporal connectives: 2% and SAE 44 Marking quotations and naming names 45 Review of the declension of pronouns 46 Readingexercise 461 ‘Tibetan text 462 Interlnear translation /pronunciation 463 ‘Translation 464 Grammatical moves 47 Vocabulary Lesson Five 8 5a Involuntary verbs and sentences $2 Location nd indirect objects in involuntary constructions 53 9 constructions 54 “Tense and temporals in existential and linking constructions 55 “Temporals in active and involuntary constructions 56 Verbalizers: object-verb compounds 51 Verbs of motion sad Active verbs 72 Involuntary verbs of motionviii Contents 58 59 5.10 su sat 5112 sua 52 sus 34 5.15 5.16 sa SATA sina S73 sana 58 Lesson Six 6 62 63 64 65 65.1 652 633 64 Hono language “The “ausal” connectives, SARK, 9S, 5, BEN), £4, SRR, SBN and IDS ‘The "when" connectives: §*, 40%, ORAM yaNay, ORLAASHE, sas, 3,865 and SABRE ‘The "gerundive" connectives: §',3, ¥ and 4 “The temporal ‘ ‘Vowel harmony, however, has many exceptions and cannot be applied by rte to alldisylabie words. Nevertheless, knowing that it exists will explain why Tibetans, sometimes pronounce words differently in isolation than when they are joined to other syllables 2.6 Existential verbs and sentences Existential vers and sentences express existence and location (there is, ‘exists, Like linking verbs, they do not indicate tense or number, and indicate person only somewhat equivocally. The three basic existential verbs are: 425,957, and 5, “The later is generally used for fist person constructions as well as for dependent clauses, ‘but eam also be used with thd person subjects, The other two are normally used only for thin person constructions ‘There are also several subtle differences between these verbs that should be " ligh and low ere reer to the relative height ofthe tongue20-% Lesson Two mentioned, even though they willbe translated the same. “The O57 verb is generally used when one has first-hand knowledge, but, and this is important, it also conveys "specificity." Specificity refers ro that fact that 957 is used swith respect to knowledge deriving from a specifi situation or sate in contrast 10 ‘general, usual, or commonly known situations or states. For these, the 8525 form is ‘used. Let us suppose that you ae standing ina parking lot and want 0 say that chee are 8 lovof cars there, You would have to use the 5 verb since iis a specific statement hased on first-hand knowledge. However, cars in America, you would normally use the S53; form since this is general statement of a commonly known fact. you wanted to convey that there ae lots of CConsequerty, while 55 doesnot imply firsthand knowledge, itis wrong think of tas always connotng less cern than 95%. In fac, in certain contexts, #6 25) expresses more ensinty than 9%, e.g if someone sai "He is good,” using the BS £35; form when an actor came on the sere it would imply thatthe actor probably is famous and that itis ener sid hat he is good. Orit could mean thatthe speaker hes had previous experience with he actor (or person) and therefore can state that he s good 954 was used, it would generally mean that based on seeing the actor the speaker feels eis good Thus, wile 95% implies first-hand knowledge, the more basic ferences between these two existential verbs rests on information about specific or particular uation or state versus information oF knowledge regarding a commonly accepted or generally known situation o ate, We wil seein later sections that when these existential verbs ae used as auxllary verbs, these basi distinctions wil cay over, However it shouldbe noted that writen Tibetan is nota highly standardized language and exceptions to almost all rules occur, particularly when the authors ae nt native Lae dialect speakers and are using distinetons and forms typical of their dialect. “Te simplest existential consrutions consist fa subject and an existential ver “These sentences express the existence ofthe subject. For example: a. SeT RRR nmi yz2re® [or yore] yabore® isthe reading pronunci spoken pronunciation] and yobre® isthe soldier exis? / ? jst wil be used in the intslinar translation for all three existential verbs LassonTwo -¥ “Tere are soldiers. ‘Not hat tis sennence hasbeen translated as plural despite the fat that here is so plural marker, This typi of Tibetan syntax, When no marker of “singular” eee itis assumed thatthe sentence constuction s plural Ifone wanted to convey he vreau "Tere soldier” normally he sbjet (soldier) woud be modifies hy the snort “one” The existential verb, however, woul nt change. b. Avgontqtgezy Tabdraa [lobdrawa] chi? yadree sedent one exist “Thee is a (ne) sade Plural numbers are also used o modify the subject. e. REREAT pia sim ds titan three exist "There are thre Tibetans. a. Mass shin i dub youth wo exis “There are 10 youths, “he with inking verbs on way fo construct questions is by means of question rls placed afer the verb. After S625 ether the panicle (mre caltoui oF 5H (amore Hierary)isused, Andafer 29%, ether SW or isused «RETEST pba sim dage tibetan thre exist / ‘Are there three Tibetans? feng pia sim dg tibetan dee exist / Ae there thee Tibetans? Seah RG UM sn3imiyarebe “Calis te colloquial pronunciation of jig. Transcriptions in brackets represent reading Pronunciations32.9 Lesson Two soldier exist 2 Are there solders? Sem beg 2554 snd yBbaedam soldier exist 2 ‘Ae there solders? 2.6.1 The dative-locative case ‘Tibetan nouns are inflected, that is to say, most of them change in form according to ther function in sentences. The different functions in Tibetan are grouped into four classes or cases, each with its own endings: nominative, dative-locative, genitive, ‘instrumental. The nominative isthe basic, or unaltered, case in that is the form that ‘occurs when the noun is used alone as inthe glossary of this book. We encountered its, the subject of linking sentences, Some inflected languages such as Russian also have an “accusative” case which denotes the direct object, but in Tibetan the direct object is left ‘unmarked (lke the nominative case), ‘The dative-locative case is used with nouns (and adjectives) to denote the recipient of something that is sent or given the indirect object), oF the locaton of some action (in, at, oF on something). thas a numberof different forms which are used in seeordance with the final letter ofthe syllable it follows. ‘Dative-locative case particles — © after any consonant or vowel (all finals) © or ¥ aftera vowel attaches tothe preceding syllable) 5 after © at a ¥ after y afer 5 © ‘The dative-locative panicles willbe glossed as "to" in the inerlinear translation In the following sentences, the dative-locatvefenetons o mark ff the place of eistence ofthe leation of something or someone. In this role it answers the question “where?” a. Bowdcwdigertg bla toqba yaret tibet to wader exis! LesonTwo 33-9 “Tere ae traders in Tibet 8. Sreqemiengs ombaa{gombsr taba sim dud tronaseryto monk thee exis “Tere are tee monks in he monastery. : Tn spoken Tibetan, al vowels Become lig inthe dative-loeativ. Thus SER is pronounced in spoken as gombaa rather than gombar, and #'& 2* below is pronounced eriaa beeen gegedy ely Severigaa [Serigael america stdent exist “There are stoent in America. a. Reqeeten eng Wea bdr] gegen sim du school teacher te exist “There are thre teachers inthe shoo es seagpriigurtg vi dee abo yaiet place that-o king exist “There are kings in that county fmm Ra, seeriga (Seria sigh yah america-o farmers exis “There ae farmers in Americ 5 Rng FENGT chant drmgba dad hangtng o nomad exist “There are nomads onthe Chantang a [lobdrawal y23ree “oindcaesingulasiy,the number one” stl ade bane ATOGS thetsathigan eh du [4 is pronounce Inde eter than his in collogial Lhasa ile. With the dative-octve, this becomes Ids] thas to terpe one exis “Thera ove temple Las, “This could ls ave been writen a 1 WNRARE TGS,BA Lesson Two Ihetsaa gan chi du (In spoken Tibetan “one is pronounced hi ot) Inass-io temple one exis “Thee is a (one) temple in Lhasa, “The number “one, therefore, has several forms: AM ocurs after, #, ** and vowels, 5 occurs afte inal *, and BY after, and. 434 i sed ater any final, Ts j wae, thetsaa yl chi dud Ihasa-to yak one exis There isa (one) yak in Lhasa kN TOGST Thutsaayid chi dud Ihasato yak one exis There i a (one) yak in Lhasa, [tshould be kept in mind that there is considerable variation wit regard tothe use of these particles and sometimes authors do not use hese variant forms conse 2.6.2 Possessive constructions with the dative-locative case “The dtve-locatve particles) ae alo commonly wed to indicate tat he subject has or possesses something a. RenRadigeriyy Kinaep yore he th to book exis He has a book. (lit, Tohim a book exist.) 6 wEwabngs plnsoba kd Phantog 10 dog exis Phumtsog has dogs Nove tat because the word dog isnot modified by the number one itis assumed to convey ine plural. a singular meaning was intended, te objet would normaly have teen modified as follows co RE WOB ATES plisobla i chi dub Phumtsog 0 dog one exisd Phong has og. Lesson Two 35-™ 4. Sag hetagasigurigy mSirmee menda yee solders-10 gun exist Soldiers have guns First person constructions usually use e. xBRTS) yaa ki chi yo Ho dog exis Thave a dog ‘We have seen tha the subject in inking sentences can be mii by demonstrative such as § ("shat"). When these are used with the subject of an existential sentence, the dtive-locative particles placed immediately after the demonstrative f qetestangg, trades ba dud ionk that book exist “That monk has (Tibetan syle) books Another common demonstrative is OF ("his") fe qehestatgngy taba dee be chi dud rmonk tht book one exist This monk has a (Tibetan sie) book Existential consinctions can be fuer expanded by ang numerals and other modifiers othe objector subject.e ae EE raw ee ‘maggu(magbo] —funfun (fugtug) ashe chiinjunfehigiug) many few several small ho Ranqeacieagg poate maggy bet mock many exisv “There a many oaks in Tibet k Regestanrannge Taba gegen Hishet dd schoolteacher several ex + Spoken pronunciation of °&% ant & are both dee.36-8 Lesson Two “Tere are several eahersin school jo rnaeegeacacNgg Ihéésan kg chun magav dub Ihase-to house small many exist, ‘Tere are many small houses in Lhasa ‘As example indicates, when two adjectives modify nun, the second modifies the noun + first mex {smal hows] [many] Demonstrative can also be used with adjectives. When this occurs, the demonsatve follows the adjective. nthe following two examples, the demonstrative also has the dtive-locative particle suixed tt k qeacactentaqeanigey trabachinjun ge gegen kisek yo'ret monk small that eacer several exist “hat small monk has several caches exist) 1 qeanceent an ay ser ang ety taba sibs [rb] des gegen gong kivek yard rmonk new that teacher od several exist “Thatnew monk has several of teachers, ‘Anon can alo be modified by two adjectives linked bythe conjunction ECan”. am, AMER ERNE ASIN Fags gamba chemo dan gyibu du thas-to monastery bg and pleasant exist Lasa has big and pleasant monasteries “To that small monk, several teachers Temporal words, ie., words conveying a ime component, are usually placed at the beginning of a sentence, Three common temporal words ar: sv eae Rae tanda getme erg now formerly, inthe past_ today a. SHIR ANBAR egg candachandanldrogba mangu yee now changtang o nomad many exis “Tere are many nomads ow o the Chanatang 0. erariyng rae ng Fé pol gba maggu dad formerly et to monastery many exis Lesson Two 37-1 Formerly thee were many monasteries in Tibet p. Rtckegeaegeqyesgy, ‘griglabraalabdraa sim dub today school-to student three exis! ‘Today there are thee students in schoo. 27 Linking and existential verbs used in adjectival consttions “The istincion between existential and linking verbs ten is lured in adjectival onstruction inthe sense hat existential verbs are used in contexts that otherwise appear toll fo linking verbs. For example, in sentence a. °§% is normally used rater than 25; although the latter can be used to convey general or comparative statements. a. RRRER 0 chimbo du he bigest Hes big Similarly, the adjective "hot" normally aks the exist er, b. anketnga hiv abo dub water this hot exist, The waters hot “Thee is no simple rule o prec this, usage generally depending onthe specie etive, For example, color adjectives sch as fund in sentence. awaystake Hnking verbs. c. ARGH ini mmo fmarmo] 8 thisa-fr sedis This ise 2.8 Nefation of inking and existe verbs Negation of inking and existential sentences s expres through he aon of shenepative pails Band, and by negative verbs suchas 2 and. In sentence aa for example, 25 becomes #35 and in b.,2§7 becomes a9 Teenagers mbaa abs ysbmaare®[ytbamaae] smonastey-tormonk exis nol “Tete are no monks othe monasery38.94 Lesson Two &. antwthagy chi dtsibo mindod water his hot no exisy “This waters not ht 25.635 in example (6) is variant of 8954 c. WRG gH aC TAG ez Ihagandze gegen mangumgibar temple thatio teacher many no exist! “That temple doesnot have many teachers, d. Ren gantiarkey gE RK, tcpdimaabo maar, giabo re took his red no white “This book isnot ed i is white a. Fqwaragy ko raba mare te monk nots He is nota monk. 5. Byacawerty hérag ima maazee you lama no is You are no lama, “The linking verb 8A" is negated by substituting the negative linking verb 8A for 5. ee gedy alibua men [nin] ‘stent not Tam not student Possessive constructions ae negate similarly eaRe3q aa tedomek 10 book no-exst, {do not have books 2.9 Question formation with imerrogative words ‘Some of the main interrogatives you will encounter i lierary Tibetan are presented below. The interrogatves that typically are used in the spoken language are marked by an asterisk Lesion Two 39. * what kana) 5656 how much kagdeam) 3 what i) 47 how much, how az what* (kare) -many* (kadzeé) ay fromwnere*ckaned) S45 how muchfany (kade68) Orareor Q. agegeerneg ge gag eget 10.8, eguaAegeR BG CG 11.Q quRquartanaqeeceriigir sexy ILA, quRgwerdiagaqucedia aa, 1.Q. dazje pls gamba maggulmanbol y2bredamn Aorje tibet to monastery many exist "/ Dorje are there many monasteries in Tiber? 2A. gomba dag thigan maqgu [maybo] y2bret monastery and temple many exist! ‘There are many monasteries ad temples. 3.Q. kérag taba yimbed you monk is / ‘Are you a monk? 4.8. yin ga taba yin iy i monk if Yes, Lam a monk. 5.Q. gombakgnet red monastery from-where isf What monastery (are you) from? 6A. gadregbunne yin Lesson Two 43-°% 1 drepung from if 1am from Drepung (monastery). [Prepositions like ne (or) ae slurred in normal speech and pronounced mid-one so sre ‘wtten without atone marker. Note 0 that in not misused for It person in 6.1 7.Q. deur ni kabsa do drepung asfor where exist [As for Drepang, where iit [located]? B.A, drezbunthetsaa dud deepung hast exis Drepong is in Las 9.Q. dregbunls tra dag lama kaze? yee These entposion pluie tbe words and phrases they fll Fr example, when these ae joined to the demonstratives “this” and "that" 8% and 8) the meaning “these” and “thos conveyed a sagaR aaa NGURG yl dind26} daa chi sezbore’ Sok this pl -by tiger one killed pas compl “Tese (the) yaks killed a (oe) ae. Note again hat the instrumental parle follows the puralizer. b raraebseasBeeNe zy i hist iy chi stbbared tiger sever by yak oe killed past compl Sever tiger killed (one) yak co HeSBTRNRERRE RY ‘rapa chi ki tep fil Agbbareé :monk one by book two boveht pat com ‘A monk bough 0 books. Other examples are: ag. Reqeante qawedsy lube mayb sh sebbaced student many-by meat ate past compl Many sens ate me «Hamam sguNeas, mb sn shetraa igSbare’- she-by eed Tots bought past compl ‘She bought ts of sed f. ewadegnbagepnery ‘nééma nagbill ki sim Aboree fomnerlynorbuby dog three bought past compl Fomerly, Norbu bought tree doe 2 There is also one less common pluralizer that is used afterall nouns: 5%. Lesson Three S1-"? Sentence fillusates how temporal won such as BS normaly occur atthe very begining of Tibetan sentences and causes g. PeRCwageqsesueeee dy Kéésa hin chiki shi dgdzam setbored esterday farmer one by meat ile ate past compl ‘Afarmer ata litle meat yesterday 3.3 Complex subject and object constructions 33.1 Complex subjects ‘The subjects of active sentences can be modified by demonstatves, pluralizers including numbers), and adjectives. Using the symbols "+" (mandatory presence) and ">" (optional) we can express the format of the subject of active sentences asa formula: + noun > determinative > pluralizer/singularize + instrumental, “This produces the following possibilities: en sins saga insinit soldier by by (he) soins) Don ots sasiate sini solder +thisby by this solier Bin spl ins. sendaeeer m3 nim ki solsier +p. by by (he) soins Ace det. +p. sandahaande simi nm ki solder +h pl + by bythe hese) soldiers52-9 Lesson Three “The subject canbe expanded further by the ation of an ajeetive, Adjectives follow he nun or noun pease they meily but occur Beore he terminaives, plratzes and instrumentals Tn erms ofthe formu: +n > aj > det > pl +s, For example: sas hen de soldier god this plural by by these good soldiers a. sending Seca 25) _m3ami yago [yagbo] dendz0d sitibareé soldier good his rl by made past compl ‘These good solders made Ge). b Reengetenaman eae ty shighs fibotsO8 luis chi Adare famer por pl-by sheep one bought past compl “The por farmers bought a sheep ce. afuggei guacho gage soba bo nim ki haga ci sabre worker poor pl-by temple one made past comp “Te poor workers made bil ample g. aburqucuntwngensese area 25 ‘soba siaba dil willgao tsigma sodbare’ Svoker new this-by machine all made past compl ‘This new worker made al he machines e. Baader se ekg Iu cheb dsb sheep big-by eras te past compl/ “The big sheep ate grass. f wTaReaBgNgRTENR ERG ‘daa chémbo chi ki ki chi sééboree ger big one by dog one killed pas compl ‘A one) bg ge killed og. g Sbubg aware sy ‘soba chi ki dambareé worker one by ent ast compl ‘Aworker seni Lesson Taree 33-9 3.32 The complex object ‘The object slot of active sentences canbe similarly expanded by the addition of adjectives, pluralizrs, and determinatives. For example: a. EudwaguafcaqGigaiwesg sobadzdd iriigaa yago chi siBbaret worker pl-by machine good one made past compl “The workers made a good machine. b. Aewdwagqaan Gaiety shigbot63 lagia maggu shdbareé farmer pl-by too! many made past compl The farmers made many oo c. Say irganchwrayaaatequane dy Simi niki tsSlumachémbo hashed setbore® soldier p-by orange big several ae past compl ‘The soldier ate several big oranges. “The object can also he modified by two adjectives linked by the conjunctive particle Cand”). a. Say anduayy tac da Ge quan mami nimki lui giibo dag chémbo kishet sebbore® soldier pl-by sheep white and big several ate past compl “The soldiers ate several big white sheep (sheep that were both big and white) 333 The active verb ‘Verbs change their form (or stem) in diferent tenses and can have up to four stems, The veth "to kill” is an example of a4-stem verb. 1 0 ML wv present future past, imperative 3 3 en a In made literary Tibetan, some 3+ and 4-stem verbs have been collapsed into 2 stem verbs—ie., verbs with only a past and a non-past stem, In these cases the present tense stem is used for the future. The verbs introduced inthis lesson up to this point have he following stSt "© Lesson Three present fice past imperative (oon-pas) ¥ 5 a ix buy & a . sis ake afew a 5 ew plan, sow Fre) Forse) A) aN Gor tN) eat 3 "4 = 4% wal ie aA ae « send [A complete alphabetical ist of al ver stems is presented in Appendix A.] “We buys." and "They buy” all use the same stem ofthe verb "to buy.” Person, however, can Tibetan verbs themselves do not indicate gender, number or person. "I buy, bbe expressed through the modemn verb complement, although traditionally it was dentermined soley though context. ‘There are two kinds of verbal complements: 1) final complement and 2) connective complement. The former functions to complete a sentence, while the later is used to connect dependent clauses. In this section oly the final complement willbe discussed, ‘The final verbal complement isthe vehicle through which tense and person are ‘conveyed. For example, the third person narrative past tense complement is ©25 and the frst person past complement is “A. However, these forms derive from spoken Lhasa, ‘Tibetan and do not appear in clasical Tibetan or in the many contemporary works that ‘use the more literary modern genre. In these only the main verb is used (e.g., 5 rather than 5°25). In this more classical style, context conveys person while context and the verb stem determines tense. This textbook will use a variety ofaltemative verb ‘complements including the neo-classical tle 34 Simple past tense Al of the active verb examples presented in the above sections of this lesson illustrate the simple or narrative pas tense. Ths lene expresses an ation completed in the past. These constructions consist ofthe past stem of an active verb and the simple past complement (the linking verb anda panicle 8). Together they express the simple past tense, second and third person, a SRG (He, she. they, you) killed (i). stibaree b. Fees] (He, she, the you) boueht (i. Lesson Three 55-** bared e. E85) (te, se, they, you) made Gi. saared Person is conveyed through the verb complement. For example, by substituting te inking verb && for, the verb complement changes fom thi person o frst person. a expat, (oh sbayin (by ate pas comp (ate Go, “These rules, however, ae not hard and fas, and the reader wll sometimes encounter the #35 complement used with first person subjects, €.g., ©) 28934) I should be noted that sometimes 25 i used in place of 2, This change is governed by the final Teter of the preceding verb and does nt afect the meaning: © isused with final 7,588, and is used with fina: ©), and vowels Thus, AYS5E'TRG ("sang a song") but F288 RG (“ate meat"). Second person pst tense constructions, as indicated above, use the same complements a8 third person For example ayecteqaq’qause’5 Youkilleda yak In adition to the ©25 (tind person) pat complement, another commonly used simple past complement consis ofthe verb (which means “went” when uted sone) used directly with the pst ene stem ofan ative verb ava sya 88 ug ot sto siger by shep one ate past compl A tigen) ate a sheep. Finally, as indicated above, classical Tibetan does not use the #5), and 435) complements at ll. The pat tense tem ofthe verb suices. Thus, sentence above sould be writen: 84839935 84 35 Pre ent tense Present tense constructions are formed by joining the present (or non-past) form ‘of ative verbs to one of the present tense verbal complements listed below. These