The Elements of the Hu 胡Languages in Chinese Transcription in Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā

支婁迦讖所譯《道行般若經》音譯之胡語軌跡

魏伶珈(Wei Ling-chia)

《東亞觀念史集刊》 11期 (2016/12) Pp. 425-427+429-451

https://doi.org/10.29425/JHIEA.201612_(11).0009

摘要

Scholars have presented different theories about how Buddhism spread to China and which routes were followed since its birth. In order to reinforce the linguistic evidence that Central Asian languages and non- Sanskrit languages played a role of medium in the sutra translation, this paper focuses on the Chinese transcribed words in the translation of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā, translated by Lokakṣema. The comparison and correspondence between the Chinese transcribed words and the sounds in Tocharian, Gāndhārī and Middle Indic highly suggest that the Chinese version of the sutra was not translated directly from Sanskrit to Chinese; the linguistic evidence proves the existence of Central Asian languages and non-Sanskrit languages in the process of translating the Buddhist sutra into Chinese. The tradition of oral transmission in Buddhism offered a precious opportunity for Central Asian monks to dictate and recite the Buddhist sutras in their local languages; the Chinese transcribed words in the sutra translation are concrete and valid proof that certain Central Asian languages, such as Tocharian, Sogdian, Bactrian, and other non- Sanskrit languages, such as Gāndhārī and Middle Indic, were mediums and may actually be the source languages for Buddhist sutra translation into Chinese.

關鍵字

Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā ； sutra translation ； Central Asian languages ； Lokakṣema ； Chinese transcription

並列摘要

佛教經由哪一條路徑傳播至中國，學者分別提出不同理論，卻也莫衷一是。為了提出更強而有力的語言學證據，來證明在佛經翻譯中中亞語言與非梵語所扮演的關鍵性角色，本文藉由支婁迦讖（支讖）所譯的《道行般若經》中的音譯字深入探討。將吐火羅語、鞬陀羅語、中期印度語這些字詞的發音與中文音譯比較，發現佛經翻譯中這些音譯詞，並非直接從梵語音譯得來；相反的，中亞語言與非梵語等語言卻留下了其語音的痕跡。佛經傳播中一直以來的口語相傳的傳統，使得中亞佛僧可能就以自己本地語言／母語，來口述並複誦解釋佛經。更進一步來說，佛經翻譯中的中文音譯詞，更是堅實地證明了中亞語言，如吐火羅語、粟特語、大夏語，以及一些非梵語，如鞬陀羅語、中期印度語為佛經翻譯過程中的重要媒介，更甚或是有可能就是佛經原文所使用的語言。

並列關鍵字

《道行般若經》 ； 佛經翻譯 ； 中亞語言 ； 支婁迦讖 ； 中文音譯

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