Tibetic Languages - Writing Systems

Writing Systems

Most Tibetic languages are written in an Indic script, with a historically conservative orthography (see below) that helps unify the Tibetan-language area. However, some Ladakhi and Balti speakers write with the Urdu script. The Tibetan script fell out of use in Pakistani Baltistan hundreds of years ago upon the region's adoption of Islam. However, increased concern among Pakistani Baltis for the preservation of their language and traditions, especially in the face of strong Panjabi cultural influence throughout Pakistan, has fostered renewed interest in reviving the Tibetan script and using it alongside the Arabic-Persian script. Many shops in Baltistan's capital Skardu in Pakistan's "Northern Areas" region have begun supplementing signs written in the Arabic-Persian script with signs written in the Tibetan script. Baltis see this initiative not as separatist but rather as part of an attempt to preserve the cultural aspects of their region which has shared a close history with neighbors like Kashmiris and Panjabis since the arrival of Islam in the region many centuries ago.