Tibetan pinyin

The SASM/GNC/SRC romanization of Standard Tibetan,[] commonly known as Tibetan pinyin or ZWPY, is the official transcription system for the Tibetan language in China. It is based on the pronunciation used by China National Radio's Tibetan Radio, which is based on the Lhasa dialect. It has been used within China and international cartographic products as an alternative to the Wylie transliteration for writing Tibetan in the Latin script since 1982.
Tibetan pinyin is a phonetic transcription, and as such its spelling is tied to actual pronunciation. Wylie on the other hand is a transliteration system, where mechanical conversion to and from Tibetan and Latin script is possible. Within academic circles, Wylie transliteration is more commonly used.

Overview

Onsets overview

Independent onsets in the initial syllable of a word are transcribed as follows:

For more general case, see #Onsets.

Vowels and final consonant

The 17 vowels of the Lhasa dialect are represented in as follows:

IPA	Tibetan pinyin	IPA	Tibetan pinyin
	i		in
	ê		en
	ai/ä		ain/än
	a		an
	u		un
	ô		on
	o		ǒn
	ü		ün
	oi/ö		oin/ön

Ending a syllable, -r is usually not pronounced, but it lengthens the preceding vowel. In the same place, -n usually nasalises the preceding vowel. Consonants at the end of a syllable are transcribed as follows:

IPA	Tibetan pinyin
	b/•
	g/—
	r
	m
	ng

Single syllable orthography

The tone of a syllable depends mostly on its initial consonant. In this table, each initial is given in the International Phonetic Alphabet with the vowel a and a tone mark to present tone register.

Onsets

Below is a comprehensive transcription table of onsets of an initial syllable of a word. If the syllable to transcribe is not the first syllable of a word, see #Onset variation.

IPA	Wylie transliteration	Tibetan pinyin	THL
	p, sp, dp, lp	b	p
	rb, sb, sbr	b	b
	lb, ’b	b	b
	ph, ’ph	p	p
	b	p	b
	bh	bh	bh
	rm, sm, dm, smr	m	m
	m, mr	m	m
	w, db, b	w	w
	t, rt, lt, st, tw, gt, bt, brt, blt, bst, bld	d	t
	rd, sd, gd, bd, brd, bsd	d	d
	lth	d
	zl, bzl, ld, md, ’d	d	d
	th, mth, ’th	t	t
	d, dw	t	d
	rn, sn, gn, brn, bsn, mn	n	n
	n	n	n
	kl, gl, bl, rl, sl, brl, bsl	l	l
	l, lw	l	l
	lh	lh	lh
	ts, rts, sts, rtsw, stsw, gts, bts, brts, bsts	z	ts
	rdz, gdz, brdz	z	dz
	mdz, ’dz	z	dz
	tsh, tshw, mtsh, ’tsh	c	ts
	dz	c	dz
	s, sr, sw, gs, bs, bsr	s	s
	z, zw, gz, bz	s	z
	kr, rkr, lkr, skr, tr, pr, lpr, spr, dkr, dpr, bkr, bskr, bsr	zh	tr
	rgr, lgr, sgr, dgr, dbr, bsgr, rbr, lbr, sbr	zh	dr
	mgr, ’gr, ’dr, ’br	zh	dr
	khr, thr, phr, mkhr, ’khr, ’phr	ch	tr
	gr, dr, br, grw	ch	dr
	hr	sh	hr
	r, rw	r	r
	rh	rh
	ky, rky, lky, sky, dky, bky, brky, bsky	gy	ky
	rgy, lgy, sgy, dgy, bgy, brgy, bsgy	gy	gy
	mgy, ’gy	gy	gy
	khy, mkhy, ’khy	ky	khy
	gy	ky	gy
	hy	hy	hy
	c, cw, gc, bc, lc, py, lpy, spy, dpy	j	ch
	rby, lby, sby, rj, gj, brj	j	j
	lj, mj, ’j, ’by	j	j
	ch, mch, ’ch, phy, ’phy	q	ch
	j, by	q	j
	sh, shw, gsh, bsh	x	sh
	zh, zhw, gzh, bzh	x	zh
	rny, sny, gny, brny, bsny, mny, nyw, rmy, smy	ny	ny
	ny, my	ny	ny
	g.y	y	y
	y, dby	y	y
	k, rk, lk, sk, kw, dk, bk, brk, bsk	g	k
	rg, lg, sg, dg, bg, brg, bsg	g	g
	lg, mg, ’g	g	g
	kh, khw, mkh, ’kh	k	kh
	g, gw	k	g
	rng, lng, sng, dng, brng, bsng, mng	ng	ng
	ng	ng	ng
	—, db	—	—
	’	—	—
	h, hw	h	h

Rimes

Below is a comprehensive transcription table of rimes of a final syllable of a word, with IPA transcription for the Lhasa dialect. If the syllable to transcribe is not the final syllable of a word, see Coda variation.
Take "ཨ" to be the consonant.

Intersyllable influence

Onset variation

; Bare low aspirated variationk*, q*, t*, p*, x*, s*, ky*, ch* become g*, j*, d*, b*, ?*, ?*, gy*, zh* respectivelypa* and po* become wa and wo respectively

Coda variation

Sometimes there is intersyllabic influence:

Tibetan script	Tibetan pinyin	Wylie	Lhasa IPA	Explanation
[Mapam Yumtso\|]	Mapam Yumco	ma-pham g.yu-mtsho		forward shift of prefix མ
[Tradruk Temple\|]	Changzhug Gönba	khra-’brug dgon-pa		shift of the prefix འ, creating a final nasal consonant

Encoding

The IETF language tag for Tibetan pinyin is.

Examples

Tibetan Script	Wylie	Tibetan pinyin	THL	other transcriptions
	Gzhis-ka-rtse	Xigazê	Zhikatse	Shigatse, Shikatse
	Bkra-shis-lhun-po	Zhaxilhünbo	Trashilhünpo	Tashilhunpo, Tashilhümpo, etc.
	’Bras-spung	Zhaibung	Dräpung	Drebung
	Chos-kyi Rgyal-mtshan	Qoigyi Gyaicain	Chökyi Gyältshän	Choekyi Gyaltsen
	Thub-bstan Rgya-mtsho	Tubdain Gyaco	Thuptän Gyatsho	Thubten Gyatso, Thubtan Gyatso, Thupten Gyatso