Want to know how to say ‘happy birthday’ in Tibetan? You’re in the right place.
It’s always nice to wish someone a happy birthday on their special day but why not do it in a language that means something to them.
As well as wishing your loved one a happy birthday in Tibetan, why not also sing the Tibetan version of the happy birthday song!
Read on to learn more about this.
Table of Contents
How To Say ‘Happy Birthday’ In Tibetan
To wish someone a happy birthday in Tibetan, you can say:
| English | Tibetan | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Happy birthday | སྐྱེས་སྐར་ལ་བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས། | Ke-kar-la- ta-shi-de-lek |
This phrase means something along the lines of ‘happy birthday’.
This is also often shortened to just ‘Tashi delek!’.
It’s worth noting that traditionally many Tibetans don’t celebrate their birthdays and in fact, many Tibetan people don’t even know their exact date of birth.
With Western influence, today more people in Tibet do celebrate birthdays so you can use these phrases.
Tibetan Birthday Wishes & Phrases
Alternatively, you can also use some of these phrases:
| English | Tibetan | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Congratulations | བཀྲ་ཤིསབདེ་ལེགས | Tashi delek |
| Have a nice day | ཉིན་མོ་བདེ་ལེགས། | Nyinmo delek |
‘Tashi delek’ is a Tibetan expression used to greet, congratulate and also wish people good luck!
If you’re speaking to someone special then you’ll want to know how to say I love you in Tibetan.
How To Sing Happy Birthday In Tibetan
If you want to go the extra mile for your loved one or friend, try singing the happy birthday song in Tibetan. You’ll be happy to know it’s the same tune as the English version, they just sing it in Tibetan.
Check out the video below to hear the Tibetan birthday song. I’ve listed the lyrics below so you can sing along.
Here’s the lyrics so you can sing along:
“Khe ki kaykar la tashi delek!
Khe ki kaykar la tashi delek!
Khe ki kaykar la tashi delek!
Khe ki kaykar la tashi delek!”
This translates to:
“Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!”
Tibetan Birthday Traditions
Birthday traditions can be very important to many people on their birthdays. To make your loved one feel extra special you can also try some of these Tibetan birthday traditions.
Birthdays
As mentioned before, Tibetan people traditionally don’t celebrate birthdays and most Tibetan people don’t even know what their birthday is as it’s not relevant to them.
More recently however, due to foreign influences, birthday culture has made its way to Tibet and now more and more people are celebrating birthdays.
Gift Giving
If you’re giving a Tibetan person a gift for their birthday then it’s useful to know these Tibetan gift giving tips.
In Tibet, gifts are usually unwrapped and will be both given and accepted with both hands. Refusing a gift is considered very rude.
Day of Birth
Interestingly in Tibet, on the day that you are born you are already considered one year old!
This is an interesting concept that is very different to what many people know, however there are a few other Asian cultures that also do this.
Dalai Lama
As Tibet is largely a Buddhist region, an important figure in Tibetan culture is the Dalai Lama (the highest spiritual leader of Tibet).
Whilst many people in Tibet don’t celebrate their own birthday, they do celebrate the birthday of the Dalai Lama which is 6th July.
On this day, people will often offer prayers and gifts to the Dalai Lama.
Thanks for reading this post on how to say ‘happy birthday’ in Tibetan.
It’s a great idea to make the effort to learn how to say this in someone’s native language or a language that means something to them.
Your loved one or friend will be so impressed!
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