# Help me decipher this Tibetan phrase

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-decipher-this-tibetan-phrase/290123>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 15, 2005, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-decipher-this-tibetan-phrase/290123 "2005-02-15T01:57:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-decipher-this-tibetan-phrase/290123/1 "2005-02-15T01:57:58Z")

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Today I got a Tibetan prayer wheel from China. I am familiar with the text of the ubiquitous mantra, “Om mani padme hung,” as it is written in Tibetan. The prayer wheel came in a box, and on top of the box are some characters. From what I can ascertain, they seem to say: “m(a).ni’i.l(a)g.'akhor”. Does anyone have any idea what this means?

Using [Omniglot](http://www.omniglot.com/writing/tibetan.htm), the letters are as indicated on the website (“tseg” refers to the dot separating syllables, “shey” refers to the long line that acts as a period):  
[m] [tseg] [n with dot underneath (in the “Extra consonants for writing Sanskrit loan words” section), and with “i” vowel diacritic] ['a with “i” vowel diacritic] [tseg] [l] [g] [tseg] ['a] [kh with “o” vowel diacritic] [r] [shey]

WRS - Thanks!