Where does “喇嘛” come from?
喇嘛 (Chinese) comes from Classical Mongolian ᠯᠠᠮᠠ, from Classical Mongolian ᠯᠠᠮᠠ, from Tibetan བླ་མ, from Tibetan མ, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan ma — no, not, negative, not have, none.
喇嘛 (Chinese): lama
Ancestry of “喇嘛”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Classical Mongolian | ᠯᠠᠮᠠ | — |
| 2 | Classical Mongolian | ᠯᠠᠮᠠ | — |
| 3 | Tibetan | བླ་མ | lama - an accomplished spiritual teacher, guru |
| 4 | Tibetan | མ | mother; goddess; negates the following verb in... |
| 5 | Proto-Sino-Tibetan | ma | no, not, negative, not have, none |