tibetan calligraphy writing aid

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Index Tibetan Calligraphy

How to write the Tibetan d b u - c a n script

Tibetan dbu-can[pron: "u-chen"] script is traditionally writtenusing a hand-made bamboo or reed pen cut at an angle. A broadsteel nibbed italic calligraphy pen may be used instead.Calligraphic pens designed for left-handed writers of Roman script

are slanted at a suitable angle for a right-handed person to usewhen writing Tibetan dbu-chanscript.

To produce the proper thickness of horizontal strokes, the width of

the pen nib should be about 1/12ththe height of the letter ka.

The pen is held between the thumb and index fingers so that, asyou write, the pen may be rotated to obtain the proper thick andthin strokes. The other fingers are drawn up into a fist, thoughsome people extend the little finger to form a surface for the handto rest on and provide greater stability. Horizontal strokes arewritten from left to right and vertical strokes from top down.

The top strokes of Tibetan letters should align with each other.This stroke is always drawn first.

In complex "stacks" all elements of the stack are usually adjusted

in size and shape. The shape and angle of subscribed gi-gu (vowelsign "u") differs dependent on the letter or combination it occurswith.

Tibetan Calligraphy http ://www.btinternet.com/%7Ec.fynn/tibetan/calligraphy/Tibetan-Call...

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There are several styles of dbu-canscript which vary slightly - thedesign of the examples I've made for this page are based on astyle from Amdo used for writing religious texts. For combinedletters only a few illustrative examples are given.

The Thirty Consonantsor "Tibetan Alphabet"

k a

k h a

g a

n g a


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ca

ch a

j a

n y a

t a


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t h a

d a

n a

p a

p h a


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b a

m a

t s a

t s h a

d z a


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w a

zh a

za

' a

y a


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r a

l a

sh a

sa

h a


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a

The four Vowel signs:

g i - g u

z h a b s - k y u

' g r e n g - b u


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n a - r o

Sub-scribed letters ( ' d o g s c a n ) :

sub-scribedy a ( y a - b t a g s )

sub-scribedr a ( r a b t a g s )

sub-scribedl a ( l a b t a g s )


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w a zu r

mgo-can

r a - m g o

l a- m g o

s a - m g o

Punctuation


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Tibetan letters for transliterating Sanskrit

x

Related Pages:

Bhutanese style dbu-canTibetan Writing Course- by Palden Oshoe & Mark

Turin, at Cornell University Language Resource CenterCalligraphie TibtainA Model of the Tibetan gzabScript - with Rules forCalligraphy - T. G. Dhonthog Rinpoche [in Tibetan]Elements of the Tibetan Writing System.

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Copyright 2004, 2005 Christopher J. Fynn

last modified: Thu, 07 Apr 2005 02:33:48 GMT

tibetan calligraphy writing aid

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