After my first experience at a Tibetan restaurant I figured I’d share some of the delicious vocabulary I plucked off the menu for today’s lovely lingo lesson. Since most of the items were names of dishes I won’t bother throwing them out there, but here’s one you can surely use in Tibet beyond meal times.
Today’s word is a Tibetan word used in Tibet:
Tashi delek – Welcome
Tibet is the type of place I’ve always heard tons of hoopla about, but never truly took the time to figure out what all the rage is about. I’ve already got a lot on my plate and I’m not talking about the veggie-style tsel thupek I had for dinner. Without going into politics I’ll pass on what I’ve found in regards to the language here and some cool notes to note on the country name itself.
According to the Wikipedia the English word for Tibet is derived from the Turkic word Töbän meaning “the heights.” The Sanskrit name for Tibet is Trivishtap and Tibetans call their homeland Bod, pronounced pö in Lhasa dialect. To learn more about the Tibetan language visit Tibet.com where you can find an audio guide, exhibition of Tibetan calligraphy, places to study and various other links. Your most extensive source for information on the web is probably going to be the Tibetan Language Institute site, which you’ll want to check out for yourself if genuinely interested in learning further.