The First Tibetan Language and Linguistics Forum

1. THE FORUM AND ITS BACKGROUND

The First Tibetan Language and Linguistics Forum¹ (“Bod kyi skad yig bgro gleng tshogs vdu skabs dang po” in Tibetan,² “Shoujie Zangyu YuyanxueYantaohui 首届藏语语言学研讨会” in Chinese) was held in Nankai University, Tianjin, China during August 27–28, 2016. The Forum was hosted by the School of Literature, Nankai University (Nankai Daxue Wenxueyuan 南开大学文学院) and co-organized by the Nankai University Sino-Tibetan Languages Research Center (Nankai Daxue Hanzangyu Yanjiu Zhongxin 南开大学汉藏语研究中心), Ancient Tibetan Texts Research Society of Qinghai (Qinghai Zangwen Guji Yanjiuhui 青海藏文古籍研究会), and Shanghai Normal University Tibetology Research Center (Shanghai Shifan Daxue Zangxue Yanjiu Zhongxin上海师范大学藏学研究中心). It is also the first project covered by the Memorandum of Understanding for Educational and Academic Collaboration, signed on June 8, 2016, between Nankai University and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage of the USA. Representing their respective institutes, Prof. Yeshes Vodgsal Atshogs (Yixi Weisa Acuo 意西微萨·阿错), Dr. Mary S. Linn, Researcher Padma Lhungrub (Wanma Lengzhi 完玛冷智) and Prof. Wang Shuang-Cheng 王双成, took the lead in organizing the Forum. The Forum opening was presided over by Prof. Yeshes Vodgsal Atshogs and remarked by Prof. Chen Hong 陈洪,³ Dr. Mary S. Linn,⁴ Prof. Shen Li-Yan 沈立岩,⁵ and Prof. Shi Feng 石锋.⁶ Prof. Zeng Xiao-Yu 曾晓渝⁷ awarded the appointment letters to instructors of the Workshop held along with the Forum. Thirty scholars from eighteen domestic and foreign universities and institutes attended the Forum.⁸ They submitted a total of twenty-six full text papers or abstracts (ten in Tibetan, fourteen in Chinese and two in English), of which twenty-four were presented on site. The Forum used three languages, including Tibetan, Chinese and English. Translation was done for English, but not for the other two languages.

It was the first time that a special forum on Tibetan language study was held in mainland China. It is well known that Tibetan is a very old but vibrant language, and plays an indispensable role in Sino-Tibetan languages study because of its early written records dating back to 7th century, rich historical documents, sophisticated alphabetic writing system conceived as a reflection of the phonological features during the age when Tibetan characters were created, and various dialects. (Hu 2002:3) Meanwhile, research on it has never been cut off since the creation of Tibetan orthography over one thousand years ago. Throughout history, Tibetan native scholars borrowed and developed a set of theories and methods from the ancient grammarian tradition of India to study their own language (mainly written language), leaving a large number of great grammar books, such as Lung Ston Pa Rtsa Ba Sum Cu Pa, or, Sum Cu Pa (The fundamental thirty stanzas),⁹. Lung Ston Pa Rtags kyi Vjug Pa, or Rtags kyi Vjug pa (The combination of letters),¹⁰ Smra Bavi Sgo Mtshon Cha Lta Bu, or Smra Sgo Mtshon Cha (The weapon-like introduction to speech),¹¹ and Si Tu Vgrel Chen¹² (A thorough commentary on Sum Cu Pa and Rtags kyi Vjug Pa). Unfortunately, many of these are unknown in today’s linguistics circle because of the language barrier. Beginning in the 20th century (especially the latter half), under the influence of modern linguistic theories and methods, Tibetan language research has undergone fundamental changes, such as the extension in range of research materials from written language to spoken dialects, and the reformation of research technology, methodology and purpose. (Denwood 1999, 289–356;¹³ Hu 2002, 112–162; Qu 2004, Wanma Lenzhi et al 2012). The research enterprise has also made plentiful achievements. However, this new trend is still at an initial stage in the homeland of the Tibetan language. Studies using the traditional Tibetan grammatical framework remain to be the mainstream; the influence of modern linguistics is still limited. We believe that an essential reason for this situation is the difference between academic paradigms, along with two other important reasons: the gap between academic languages and the lack of relevant university courses. Therefore, the Forum aims to provide a platform for scholars who are from different academic...