Uchen script

Uchen script
Script type
Heavy-line Script Alphabet Semisyllabary
CreatorThonmi Sambhota
Created7th century-8th century
LanguagesTibetan, Dzongkha
Related scripts
Parent systems
Brahmi script
  • Uchen script
Child systems
Umê script
 This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Uchen (Tibetan: དབུ་ཅན་, Wylie: dbu-can; IPA: [utɕɛ̃]; variant spellings include ucen, u-cen, u-chen, ucan, u-can, uchan, u-chan, and ucän) is the upright, block style of the Tibetan script. The name means "with a head", and is the style of the script used for printing and for formal manuscripts.

It is used to write both the Tibetan language and Dzongkha, the official language of Bhutan.

There are also a number of cursive forms of the Tibetan script, sometimes collectively referred to as umê (Tibetan: དབུ་མེད་, Wylie: dbu-med), "headless."