China/Tibet: Section from an illuminated manuscript, c. 12th-13th century. The Tibetan alphabet is an abugida of Indic origin used to write the Tibetan language as well as the Dzongkha language, Denzongkha, Ladakhi language and sometimes the Balti language. The printed form of the alphabet is called uchen script (Tibetan: དབུ་ཅན་; Wylie: dbu-can; 'with a head') while the hand-written cursive form used in everyday writing is called umê (Tibetan: དབུ་མེད་; Wylie: dbu-med; 'headless'). The alphabet is very closely linked to a broad ethnic Tibetan identity.

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Size: 4200px × 4094px
Photo credit: © Pictures From History / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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