ming gzhi

base letters of words [ming tshig brjod pa kun gyi gzhi rtsar gyur pa'i yi ge ste, spyir dbyangs gsal dril ba'i yi ge 34, in particular the 30 consonants, yang sgos the 20 ming gzhi rkyang pa [IW]

root letter; A term of grammar. Name-base. This is the letter which forms the basis of a name (Tibetan word = ming). It is one of the thirty syllables either alone or with modifications. It can be modified with one or more of the following additions to produce a name: a suffix, post-suffix, prefix, super-fix, sub-joined letter, or one of the four vowels. It is the letter upon which alphabetization is carried out. It is the only letter in a name (with a few exceptions) which can have a vowel sound joined to it. There can only be one name-base per name [RY]

base/root letter of Tibetan words [IW]

root-letters, basic letter, first letter of the root of a word, root letters, entity which is the basis of name [JV]