Ethnic relations are considered to be confrontational by nature. When it comes to the particularistic interest bound to the development or the survival of ethnic groups, conflict can manifest itself as acts of violence or take the form of administrative and legal pressure. Among different categories of ethnic conflicts the most important one is the rivarly over the identity of a given group. The easiest way to observe the consequences of such a conflict is to trace the change of linguistic identity of ethnos. The sphere of language creates a kind of microenvironment that contains symbols which are used by the group. In this way language strongly influences the formation of identity, including national identity. Ethnic language contains symbolism that is easy to recall and understand and that is used as a medium by national ideology. In defining their own ethno-national affiliation the Tibetans typically emphasize the importance of lingual identity. However, the implementation of China‟s policy toward ethnic minorities causes the change in the language structure of the TAR. What is becoming more and more noticeable is the development of a double linguistic identity and an increasingly frequent use of the Chinese language for manifesting the sense of Tibetanness.