Tibet

== Names and etymologies ==
[[File:Tibet provinces.png|thumb|Map of the approximate extent of the three provinces, Ü-Tsang, Amdo, and Kham, of the [[Tibetan Empire]] (8th century) overlaid on a map of modern borders]]
{{Main|Etymology of Tibet}}
The [[Standard Tibetan|Tibetan]] name for their land, ''Bod'' ({{Bo-textonly|བོད་}}), means 'Tibet' or '[[Tibetan Plateau]]', although it originally meant the central region around [[Lhasa (prefecture-level city)|Lhasa]], now known in Tibetan as [[Ü (region)|''Ü'']] ({{Bo-textonly|དབུས}}).{{Citation needed|reason=Please, provide a source for this statement|date=June 2017}} The [[Standard Tibetan]] pronunciation of ''Bod'' ({{IPA-bo|pʰøʔ˨˧˨|}}) is transcribed as: ''Bhö'' in [[Tournadre Phonetic Transcription]]; ''Bö'' in the [[THL Simplified Phonetic Transcription]]; and ''Poi'' in [[Tibetan pinyin]]. Some scholars believe the first written reference to ''Bod'' ('Tibet') was the ancient Bautai people recorded in the Egyptian-Greek works ''[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]'' (1st century CE) and ''[[Geographia]]'' ([[Ptolemy]], 2nd century CE),<ref>Beckwith (1987), pg. 7</ref> itself from the [[Sanskrit]] form ''Bhauṭṭa'' of the Indian geographical tradition.<ref>Étienne de la Vaissière, "The Triple System of Orography in Ptolemy's Xinjiang", ''Exegisti Monumenta: Festschrif in Honour of Nicholas Sims-Williams'', eds. Werner Sundermann, Almut Hintze & François de Blois (Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz, 2009), 532.</ref>

The modern [[Standard Chinese]] [[exonym]] for the ethnic Tibetan region is ''Zangqu'' ({{zh|s={{linktext|藏区}} |hp=Zàngqū|links=no}}), which derives by [[metonymy]] from the [[Ü-Tsang|Tsang]] region around [[Shigatse]] plus the addition of a Chinese suffix {{transliteration|zh|qū}} ({{linktext|lang=zh-Hans|区}}), which means 'area, district, region, ward'. Tibetan people, language, and culture, regardless of where they are from, are referred to as ''Zang'' ({{zh|c={{linktext|藏}} |hp=Zàng|links=no}}), although the geographical term {{transliteration|zh|Xīzàng}} is often limited to the [[Tibet Autonomous Region]]. The term ''Xīzàng'' was coined during the [[Qing dynasty]] in the reign of the [[Jiaqing Emperor]] (1796–1820) through the addition of the prefix {{transliteration|zh|xī}} ({{linktext|lang=zh|西}}, 'west') to ''Zang''.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}}

The best-known medieval Chinese name for Tibet is ''Tubo'' ({{zh|s={{linktext|吐蕃}}|links=no}}; or {{zh|hp=Tǔbō|links=no|c=|s=|t=|labels=no}}, {{linktext|lang=zh|土蕃}} or {{lang|zh|Tǔfān}}, {{linktext|lang=zh|土番}}). This name first appears [[Transliteration into Chinese characters|in Chinese characters]] as {{lang|zh-hans-CN|土番}} in the 7th century ([[Li Tai]]) and as {{lang|zh-hans-CN|吐蕃}} in the 10th century (''[[Old Book of Tang]]'', describing 608–609 emissaries from Tibetan King [[Namri Songtsen]] to [[Emperor Yang of Sui]]). In the [[Middle Chinese]] language spoken during that period, as reconstructed by [[William H. Baxter]], {{lang|zh-hans-CN|土番}} was pronounced ''thu{{Smallcaps|x}}-phjon'', and {{lang|zh-hans-CN|吐蕃}} was pronounced ''thu{{Smallcaps|x}}-pjon'' (with the ''{{Smallcaps|x}}'' representing a ''[[Four tones (Middle Chinese)|shang]]'' [[phonemic tone|tone]]).<ref name="Baxter">{{cite web|url=http://www-personal.umich.edu/~wbaxter/etymdict.html |title=An Etymological Dictionary of Common Chinese Characters |last1=Baxter |first1=William H. |date=2001-03-30 |access-date=2011-04-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110411153909/http://www-personal.umich.edu/~wbaxter/etymdict.html |archive-date=April 11, 2011 }}</ref>

Other pre-modern Chinese names for Tibet include:
* ''Wusiguo'' ({{zh|s=烏斯國|hp=Wūsīguó|links=no}}; [[cf.]] Tibetan: ''dbus'', [[Ü (region)|Ü]], {{IPA-bo|wyʔ˨˧˨|}});
* ''Wusizang'' ({{zh|s=烏斯藏|hp=wūsīzàng|links=no}}, cf. Tibetan: ''dbus-gtsang'', [[Ü-Tsang]]);
* ''Tubote'' ({{zh|s=圖伯特|hp=Túbótè|links=no}}); and
* ''Tanggute'' ({{zh|s=唐古忒|hp=Tánggǔtè|links=no}}, cf. [[Tangut people|Tangut]]).

American [[Tibetology|Tibetologist]] [[Elliot Sperling]] has argued in favor of a recent tendency by some authors writing in Chinese to revive the term ''Tubote'' ({{zh|s=图伯特|t=圖伯特|hp=Túbótè|links=no}}) for modern use in place of ''Xizang'', on the grounds that ''Tubote'' more clearly includes the entire [[Tibetan Plateau|Tibetan plateau]] rather than simply the [[Tibet Autonomous Region]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://sites.google.com/site/tibetanpoliticalreview/articles/tubotetibetandthepowerofnaming | title=Tubote, Tibet, and the Power of Naming | website=Tibetan Political Review | author=Elliot Sperling | access-date=July 31, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328133904/https://sites.google.com/site/tibetanpoliticalreview/articles/tubotetibetandthepowerofnaming | archive-date=March 28, 2016 | url-status=live | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

The English word ''Tibet'' or ''Thibet'' dates back to the 18th century.<ref>The word ''Tibet'' was used in the context of the first British mission to this country under [[George Bogle (diplomat)|George Bogle]] in 1774.

See [[Clements Markham|Markham, Clements R.]], ed. [1876] 1971. ''Narratives of the Mission of George Bogle to Tibet and the Journey of Thomas Manning to Lhasa''. New Delhi: Manjushri Publishing House.</ref> [[Historical linguistics|Historical linguists]] generally agree that "Tibet" names in European languages are [[loanword]]s from [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] {{transliteration|ar|ALA|Ṭībat}} or {{transliteration|ar|ALA|Tūbātt}} ({{lang-ar|طيبة، توبات}}; {{lang-he|טובּה, טובּת}}), itself deriving from [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] ''{{lang|trk|Töbäd}}'' (plural of {{lang|trk|töbän}}), literally 'The Heights'.<ref>Behr, Wolfgang, 1994. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20151016045150/https://books.google.com/books?id=NHN6KTAVR28C&pg=PA559&dq=t%C3%B6p%C3%BCt&lr=&hl=tr&sig=x1RLRVdRn9zBxkX84i5X45GZh84 Stephan V. Beyer 'The Classical Tibetan Language' (book review)]." Pp. 558–59 in ''Oriens'' 34, edited by R. Sellheim. Leiden: E.J. Brill. Archived from the [https://books.google.com/books?id=NHN6KTAVR28C&dq=t%C3%B6p%C3%BCt&pg=PA559 original] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164813/https://books.google.com/books?id=NHN6KTAVR28C&dq=t%C3%83%C2%B6p%C3%83%C2%BCt&pg=PA559 |date=March 26, 2023 }} on October 16, 2015.</ref>