Publications: Tibetan Grammar, References, and Translated Texts
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Titles in Print
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A number of examples of how to translate Tibetan text are available on our free texts pages.
Full Descriptions of Titles in Print
Standard Tibetan Grammar, Volume I, The Thirty Verses of Minister Thumi By Tony Duff 700+ pages, 6.5" X 9" (larger book size), US$120, PDF and paper available ISBN: Tibetan grammar texts: seven included.
This is Lotsawa Tony's magnum opus. He started writing it in the late 1990's and has been letting
it mature since. He has been in no hurry to publish it because he intends it to be the standard
reference for Tibetan grammar for the foreseeable future. The complete work is envisaged as a series
of volumes. For the other volumes, see below.
Although there are a number of books available on Tibetan grammar, all of them come from a Western
approach and not one of them shows the actual meaning of Tibetan grammar as understood by Tibetans. This
book corrects that completely. It offers commentary and background written by a Westerner who has studied
Tibetan grammar in Tibetan classes in a purely Tibetan milieu and couples that with authentic translations
of several of the most important Tibetan grammar texts.
The first volume begins with extensive historical background, far more than seen in any other Western publication,
and includes selections from various Tibetan history texts not to mention the fruits of the author's own, considerable
research during the many years that he has lived in Nepal.
The first volume continues with a major exposition of the lineages of grammar and what is needed for the study of Tibetan
grammar. Again, none of this information has been seen to date in Western publications.
The first volume continues with a history of the three language revisions. This completes the prefatory sub-volumes.
Next, the first of Thumi's defining grammar texts is presented. This is the first authoritative translation of the text. The
root text is followed by hundreds of pages of explanation of the text, all written by the author. This explanation includes
a wealth of detail of how Tibetan grammar actually works and how it relates to English grammar in the process.
Included within the author's extensive commentaries is a very long chapter on pronunciation. This is one subject that is still
not being taught properly even in major programs around the world. The reason is simply that very few Westerners have understood
all the details involved in Tibetan pronunciation. The author not only includes those details but uses extensive quotations from
the Tibetan sources to show how it does work. The first translation ever of a Tibetan text onvpronunciation is included
in the book.
Several key Tibetan grammar texts are presented as supports for the explanations given:
The Root of Grammar, “The Thirty Verses” by Thumi Sambhota
“The Great Living Tree”, The Essence of Thonmi’s Fine Explanation The Thirty by Yangchen Drubpay Dorje
“The Fine Explanation Great Living Tree”, The Clarifier of the Meaning of The Essence of “The Thirty” by Yangchen Drubpay Dorje
“Supreme Expert Situ’s Words”, A Thorough Explanation of the Grammar Shastras of the Language of the Snowy Land, The Thirty and Application of Gender Signs by Ngulchu Dharmabhadra (PART I about the Thirty Verses only)
The Essence of the Elegant “Thorough Explanation”, The Literal Aspect of the Snowy Land’s Grammar Shastras, “The Thirty” and “Application of Gender Signs by Khenpo Ngedon Jamyang (PART I about the Thirty Verses only)
“A Beautiful String of Pearls to Adorn the Necks of the Wise”, A Thorough Explanation of the Specific Texts The Thirty and Application of Gender Signs of the Shastras that Authentically Set Forth the Signs of the Snowy Land by Situ Chokyi Jungney (Section on vowel definitions only)
A New Bud of the Story Of How The Production Places, Producers, And Efforts of Tibetan Letters Are Identified by Yangchen Drubpay Dorje (a text on the Tibetan system of pronunciation)
If you would like to purchase the book, please use the link at the foot of the page to send us an e-mail.
Standard Tibetan Grammar, Volume II, The Application of Gender Signs By Tony Duff 200+ pages, 6.5" X 9" (larger book size), US$85, PDF and paper available ISBN: Tibetan grammar texts: four included.
This is the second volume of Lotsawa Tony's magnum opus. He started writing it in the late 1990's and has been
letting it mature since. He has been in no hurry to publish it because he intends it to be the standard
reference for Tibetan grammar for the foreseeable future.
This second book is part of a series of volumes. For the other volumes, see above below.
Although there are a number of books available on Tibetan grammar, all of them come from a Western
approach and not one of them shows the actual meaning of Tibetan grammar as understood by Tibetans. This
book corrects that completely. It offers commentary and background written by a Westerner who has studied
Tibetan grammar in Tibetan classes in a purely Tibetan milieu and couples that with authentic translations
of several of the most important Tibetan grammar texts.
The second volume focusses on Thumi Sambhota's second, extant grammar text. This text concerns the specific issue
of what is called "letter gender". The text defines letter gender then shows its various effects. The text is
extremely difficult to understand, so difficult that many well-educated Tibetans do not study all of it. To make
it accessible the book starts with an overview of the whole text which goes into sufficient detail that the text
can be understood fairly easily. The book then continues with in-depth commentaries on the effects of letter gender,
going through the points that are found in text itself. There are several main effects that must be dealt with,
including pronunciation, verb theory, and phrase linker theory. This book has a very extensive explanation of verb
theory and especially, a complete explanation of the Tibetan system of transitive verbs with the special self-and-other
feature. All of this is explained clearly so that anyone will be able to understand it. This is the first time
that a clear explanation of such has appeared in English.
Several key Tibetan grammar texts are presented as supports for the explanations given:
Grammar, “The Application of Gender Signs” by Thumi Sambhota
“Supreme Expert Situ’s Words”, A Thorough Explanation of the Grammar Shastras of the Language of the Snowy Land, The Thirty and Application of Gender Signs by Ngulchu Dharmabhadra (PART II about the Application of Gender Signs only)
The Essence of the Elegant “Thorough Explanation”, The Literal Aspect of the Snowy Land’s Grammar Shastras, “The Thirty” and “Application of Gender Signs by Khenpo Ngedon Jamyang (PART II about the Application of Gender Signs only)
“The Golden Key of Knowledge”, a Commentary to “A Mirror that Reveals the Difficult Points of Application of Gender Signs” by Yangchen Drubpay Dorje
If you would like to purchase the book, please use the link at the foot of the page to send us an e-mail.
Beginner's Level Tibetan Grammar Texts, The Great Living Tree Grammar and its Fine Explanation by Yangchen Drubpay Dorje
By Tony Duff 100 pages, 5.5" X 8.5", US$25, PDF and paper available ISBN: Tibetan texts: included.
This book contains a pair of Tibetan grammar texts that are always used together. They are the beginner's level
grammar text that has been used for teaching Tibetan grammar to Tibetans both inside and outside of Tibet for
over 150 years. The first text is a very short text that was written for ease of memorization. The second
text gives some explanation of it so that it can be more clearly understood. The pair of texts only cover
Thumi Sambhota's first grammar text, The Thirty Verses; they do not cover the other text
called Application of Gender Signs.
A really thorough explanation of everything contained in these two texts can be found in Standard
Tibetan Grammar: Volume I, The Thirty Verses of Minister Thumi which is also available on this page. These
texts are included in that book, so if you prefer to purchase that instead, you will not need to purchase this
book. We have published this separately for those who would like to have a simple Tibetan grammar text
without all of the extra explanations.
Download Tibetan texts in TibetD format: not available now.
The following texts are included:
“The Great Living Tree”, The Essence of Thonmi’s Fine Explanation The Thirty
“The Fine Explanation Great Living Tree”, The Clarifier of the Meaning of The Essence of “The Thirty”
Situ's Words, A Medium Level Tibetan Grammar By Tony Duff 150 pages, 5.5" X 8.5", US$55, PDF and paper available ISBN: Tibetan text: included.
Situ Chokyi Jungnay wrote a large commentary to Tibetan grammar that became a standard amongst learned Tibetans. However,
it is very complicated and not easy to understand. Ngulchu Dharmabhadra was a master grammarian who followed Situ Chokyi
Jungnay's approach to grammar and who saw that a text with the meaning of Situ's great grammar commentary but without all
the difficult argument was needed. Therefore, he wrote the text here and called it "Situ's Words". It is an excellent text
for those who want something more than a beginner's text but who do not need all the complexities that come in large tomes
on Tibetan grammar. After Ngulchu Dharmabhadra had completed this work, he told his nephew cum student that there was
a need for a beginner's level Tibetan grammar text that ordinary Tibetans could easily learn from, and told him to write
the text. The result was the "Great Living Tree" pair of texts mentioned just above.
This text has good explanations and there are extensive footnotes by the translator. However, if you want an even more thorough
explanation of the subjects in the text, you should purchase the Standard Tibetan Grammars mentioned above. You would need
to purchase both of them to get this complete text because the first volume of the Standard Tibetan Grammars contains only
the first half of Situ's words (the part that explains Thumi's Thirty Verses) and the second volume of the
Standard Tibetan Grammars contains only the second half of Situ's words (the part that explains Thumi's Application
of Gender Signs).
This text is included in those two Standard Grammars so, if you are going to purchase both of them, there is no need to purchase
this text. We have published this separately for those who would like to have a complete, medium-level Tibetan grammar text without
the expense of both of the above volumes with all of the extra material they provide.
Download Tibetan text in TibetD format: not available now.
The following texts are included:
“Supreme Expert Situ’s Words”, A Thorough Explanation of the Grammar Shastras of the Language of the Snowy Land, The Thirty and Application of Gender Signs by Ngulchu Dharmabhadra
Essence of the Elegant Thorough Explanation, A Medium Level Grammar By Tony Duff 180 pages, 5.5" X 8.5", US$55, PDF and paper available ISBN: Tibetan text: included.
Situ Chokyi Jungnay wrote a large commentary to Tibetan grammar that became a standard amongst learned Tibetans. However,
it is very complicated and not easy to understand. Ngulchu Dharmabhadra wrote a commentary that followed Situ's Great Commentary
but without all the extra argument. His book, Situ's Words, became a standard reference within Tibetan grammar. Some time
later, one of the Khenpos at Karmapa's seat in Tibet, Khenpo Ngedon Jamyang, decided to write a similar text. His text has a little
more detail in it than Situ's Words, which is why we translated it. However, it was not as popular as Situ's Words.
Like Situ's Words, this is an excellent text for those who want something more than a beginner's text but who do not need all
the complexities that come in large tomes on Tibetan grammar. We would recommend purchasing Situ's Words first and then
purchasing this after, if you wanted a little more.
This text has good explanations and there are extensive footnotes by the translator. However, if you want an even more thorough
explanation of the subjects in the text, you should purchase the Standard Tibetan Grammars mentioned above. You would need
to purchase both of them to get this complete text because the first volume of the Standard Tibetan Grammars contains only
the first half of Situ's words (the part that explains Thumi's Thirty Verses) and the second volume of the
Standard Tibetan Grammars contains only the second half of Situ's words (the part that explains Thumi's Application
of Gender Signs).
This text is included in those two Standard Grammars so, if you are going to purchase both of them, there is no need to purchase
this text. We have published this separately for those who would like to have a complete, medium-level Tibetan grammar text without
the expense of both of the above volumes with all of the extra material they provide.
Download Tibetan text in TibetD format: not available now.
The following texts are included:
The Essence of the Elegant “Thorough Explanation”, The Literal Aspect of the Snowy Land’s Grammar Shastras, “The Thirty” and “Application of Gender Signs by Khenpo Ngedon Jamyang
Situ Chokyi Jungnay wrote a large commentary to Tibetan grammar that became a standard amongst learned Tibetans. However,
it is very complicated and not easy to understand. Ngulchu Dharmabhadra was a master grammarian who followed Situ Chokyi
Jungnay's approach to grammar and who saw that a text with the meaning of Situ's great grammar commentary but without all
the difficult argument was needed. Therefore, he wrote the text here and called it "Situ's Words". It is an excellent text
for those who want something more than a beginner's text but who do not need all the complexities that come in large tomes
on Tibetan grammar. After Ngulchu Dharmabhadra had completed this work, he told his nephew cum student that there was
a need for a beginner's level Tibetan grammar text that ordinary Tibetans could easily learn from, and told him to write
the text. The result was the "Great Living Tree" pair of texts mentioned just above.
Situ Chokyi Jungnay wrote a large commentary to Tibetan grammar that became a standard amongst learned Tibetans. However,
it is very complicated and not easy to understand. Ngulchu Dharmabhadra wrote a commentary that followed Situ's Great Commentary
but without all the extra argument. His book, Situ's Words, became a standard reference within Tibetan grammar. Some time
later, one of the Khenpos at Karmapa's seat in Tibet, Khenpo Ngedon Jamyang, decided to write a similar text. His text has a little
more detail in it than Situ's Words, which is why we translated it. However, it was not as popular as Situ's Words.
Like Situ's Words, this is an excellent text for those who want something more than a beginner's text but who do not need all
the complexities that come in large tomes on Tibetan grammar. We would recommend purchasing Situ's Words first and then
purchasing this after, if you wanted a little more.
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