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Central Tibetan
Ü-Tsang
དབུས་སྐད་, Dbus skad / Ükä དབུས་གཙང་སྐད་, Dbus-gtsang skad / Ü-tsang kä
The name of the language written in the Tibetan script
Pronunciation	[wýkɛʔ, wýʔtsáŋ kɛʔ]
Native to	India, Nepal, China (Tibet Autonomous Region)
Region	Tibet Autonomous Region
Native speakers	(1.2 million cited 1990–2014)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Tibeto-Kanauri (?) Bodish Tibetic Central Tibetan
Standard forms	Lasetian Standard Tibetan
Writing system	Tibetan script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Variously: bod – Lhasa Tibetan dre – Dolpo hut – Humla, Limi lhm – Lhomi (Shing Saapa) muk – Mugom (Mugu) kte – Nubri ola – Walungge (Gola) loy – Lowa/Loke (Mustang) tcn – Tichurong
Glottolog	tibe1272  Tibetan sout3216  South-Western Tibetic (partial match) basu1243  Basum
ELP	Walungge
	Dolpo
	Lhomi
Shingsaba is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Central Tibetan, also known as Dbus, Ü or Ü-Tsang, is the most widely spoken Tibetic language and the basis of Standard Tibetan.

Dbus and Ü are forms of the same name. Dbus is a transliteration of the name in Tibetan script, དབུས་, whereas Ü is the pronunciation of the same in Lhasa dialect, [wy˧˥˧ʔ] (or ). That is, in Tibetan, the name is spelled Dbus and pronounced Ü. All of these names are frequently applied specifically to the prestige dialect of Lhasa.

Varieties

Dbus and Gtsang

There are many mutually intelligible Central Tibetan languages besides that of Lhasa, with particular diversity along the border and in Nepal:

Limi (Limirong), Mugum, Dolpo (Dolkha), Mustang (Lowa, Lokä), Humla, Nubri, Lhomi, Dhrogpai Gola, Walungchung Gola (Walungge/Halungge), Tseku

Basum (most divergent, possibly a separate language)

Ethnologue reports that Walungge is highly intelligible with Thudam.

Glottolog reports these South-Western Tibetic languages as forming a separate subgroup of languages within Central Tibetan languages, but that Thudam is not a distinct variety. On the opposite, Glottolog does not classify Basum within Central Tibetan but leaves it unclassified within Tibetic languages.

Tournadre (2013) classifies Tseku with Khams.

Central Tibetan has 70% lexical similarity with Amdo Tibetan and 80% lexical similarity with Khams Tibetan.

Qu & Jing (2017), a comparative survey of Central Tibetan lects, documents the Lhasa, Shigatse, Gar, Sherpa, Basum, Gertse, and Nagqu varieties.

Ngari Tibetan

Ngari Tibetan, more specifically Stöd Ngari (as opposed to the language of pre-1842 Lower Ngari that is now an independent language), is the endonym for a topolect spoken around Ngari Prefecture, T.A.R. Traditionally, it's considered a divergent variety of Dbusgtsang but not Dbusgtsang proper, however, some Western Khams Tibetan varieties such as Gêrzê Tibetan and Nagqu Tibetan are now considered part of the Ngari Tibetan areal group as well. In Indian-administrated Tibet since the 1846 British invasion of Spiti, a related topolect is now known under exonym "Lahuli and Spiti".

Consonants

• འ isn't commonly transliterated to Roman, in the Wade–Giles system ' is used.

Vowels

ཨ（◌）

1. 特殊

Pronunciation

一"ai, ain, oi, oin" is also written to "ä, än, ö, ön".

Conjunct vowels

Last consonant

See also

• Lhasa Tibetan
• Amdo Tibetan
• Ladakhi language
• Balti language
• Ü-Tsang

References

1. Lhasa Tibetan at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
   Dolpo at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
   Humla, Limi at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
   Lhomi (Shing Saapa) at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
   Mugom (Mugu) at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
   Nubri at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
2. Endangered Languages Project data for Dolpo.
3. Endangered Languages Project data for Lhomi.
4. N. Tournadre (2005) "L'aire linguistique tibétaine et ses divers dialectes." Lalies, 2005, n°25, p. 7–56
5. "China". Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Nineteenth Edition. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-09-09.
6. Qu, Aitang 瞿霭堂; Jing, Song 劲松. 2017. Zangyu Weizang fangyan yanjiu 藏语卫藏方言研究. Beijing: Zhongguo Zangxue chubanshe 中国藏学出版社. ISBN 9787802534230.
7. 江荻. "西藏的语言多样性及其分类". 中国藏学 (Jun 2022).

v t e Sino-Tibetan branches
Western Himalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim)	West Himalayish Tamangic Newaric Newar Baram–Thangmi Kiranti Dhimalish Dhimal Toto Lhokpu Lepcha Greater Magaric Magaric Magar Kham Chepangic Chepang Bhujel Raji–Raute Dura–Tandrange
Eastern Himalayas (Tibet, Bhutan, Arunachal)	Bodish Tibetic East Bodish Tshangla Basum Nam? Gongduk ʼOle Tani Chamdo
Myanmar and Indo- Burmese border	Karbi Kuki-Chin Mruic Mru Hkongso Pyu Taman "Naga" Ao Angami–Pochuri Meitei Tangkhulic Zeme Sal Boro–Garo Konyak Jingpho–Luish
East and Southeast Asia	Sinitic Bai Tujia Nungish Karenic Gong Kathu Cai–Long Caijia Longjia Luren Burmo-Qiangic Qiangic Gyalrongic Ersuic Naic Lolo-Burmese Mondzish Burmish Loloish
Dubious (possible isolates) (Arunachal)	Hrusish Hruso Mijiic Kho-Bwa Puroik Miju–Meyor Songlin Greater Siangic Siangic Koro Milang Idu–Taraon
Proposed groupings	Central Tibeto-Burman Kuki-Chin–Naga Macro-Bai Mahakiranti Rung Tibeto-Burman Tibeto-Kanauri
Proto-languages	Proto-Sino-Tibetan Proto-Tibeto-Burman Proto-Loloish Proto-Karenic Proto-Min Proto-Hakka
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches.

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