Buddhist Indian Loanwords in Sogdian and the Development of Sogdian Buddhism
Buddhist Sogdian texts contain about 300 loanwords of Indian origin excluding the ones that are known also in Manichaean, secular, or Christian Sogdian texts. About sixty percent of these can easily be seen to be borrowed from Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit. A further twenty percent or so are not so easil...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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CERES / KHK Bochum
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Entangled Religions - Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Religious Contact and Transfer |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://er.ceres.rub.de/index.php/ER/article/view/9279 |
| _version_ | 1819291054124302336 |
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| author | Pavel B. Lurje |
| author_facet | Pavel B. Lurje |
| author_sort | Pavel B. Lurje |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Buddhist Sogdian texts contain about 300 loanwords of Indian origin excluding the ones that are known also in Manichaean, secular, or Christian Sogdian texts. About sixty percent of these can easily be seen to be borrowed from Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit. A further twenty percent or so are not so easily recognized as from that source because they also reflect linguistic developments within Sogdian. Another twenty percent are from a Prakrit or show the intermediation of another language, such as Parthian (probably including pwty ‘Buddha’), Tocharian, or Chinese. About one percent has unclear sources. The Indian loanwords in Manichean, Christian and secular Sogdian texts, in contrast, are in the majority from a Middle Indian source. In Buddhist Sogdian, the narrative texts like the Vessantara Jātaka feature more of the less regular loan shapes, which suggests a different path of transmission and probably an earlier date. An appendix discusses the role of Buddism in Sogdiana from finds there: personal names reflect the divinity of the Buddha; a wooden plaque with a devotional scene was recently discovered in Panjakent; a seal from Kafir-kala depicts a Turkish noblewoman rather than a Boddhisatva. A study of place names indicates the presence of Vihāras (Nawbahār, Farxār) at the gates of several main cities in and around Sogdiana. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-24T03:32:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-89866a83acc84076ac74c66eab2e848f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2363-6696 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-24T03:32:32Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | CERES / KHK Bochum |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Entangled Religions - Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Religious Contact and Transfer |
| spelling | doaj.art-89866a83acc84076ac74c66eab2e848f2022-12-21T17:17:09ZengCERES / KHK BochumEntangled Religions - Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Religious Contact and Transfer2363-66962021-11-0111610.46586/er.11.2020.9279Buddhist Indian Loanwords in Sogdian and the Development of Sogdian BuddhismPavel B. LurjeBuddhist Sogdian texts contain about 300 loanwords of Indian origin excluding the ones that are known also in Manichaean, secular, or Christian Sogdian texts. About sixty percent of these can easily be seen to be borrowed from Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit. A further twenty percent or so are not so easily recognized as from that source because they also reflect linguistic developments within Sogdian. Another twenty percent are from a Prakrit or show the intermediation of another language, such as Parthian (probably including pwty ‘Buddha’), Tocharian, or Chinese. About one percent has unclear sources. The Indian loanwords in Manichean, Christian and secular Sogdian texts, in contrast, are in the majority from a Middle Indian source. In Buddhist Sogdian, the narrative texts like the Vessantara Jātaka feature more of the less regular loan shapes, which suggests a different path of transmission and probably an earlier date. An appendix discusses the role of Buddism in Sogdiana from finds there: personal names reflect the divinity of the Buddha; a wooden plaque with a devotional scene was recently discovered in Panjakent; a seal from Kafir-kala depicts a Turkish noblewoman rather than a Boddhisatva. A study of place names indicates the presence of Vihāras (Nawbahār, Farxār) at the gates of several main cities in and around Sogdiana.https://er.ceres.rub.de/index.php/ER/article/view/9279Buddhist Sogdian textsSogdianaOld and Middle Indo-AryanMiddle IranianChinese Tripiṭakatranslation technique |
| spellingShingle | Pavel B. Lurje Buddhist Indian Loanwords in Sogdian and the Development of Sogdian Buddhism Entangled Religions - Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Religious Contact and Transfer Buddhist Sogdian texts Sogdiana Old and Middle Indo-Aryan Middle Iranian Chinese Tripiṭaka translation technique |
| title | Buddhist Indian Loanwords in Sogdian and the Development of Sogdian Buddhism |
| title_full | Buddhist Indian Loanwords in Sogdian and the Development of Sogdian Buddhism |
| title_fullStr | Buddhist Indian Loanwords in Sogdian and the Development of Sogdian Buddhism |
| title_full_unstemmed | Buddhist Indian Loanwords in Sogdian and the Development of Sogdian Buddhism |
| title_short | Buddhist Indian Loanwords in Sogdian and the Development of Sogdian Buddhism |
| title_sort | buddhist indian loanwords in sogdian and the development of sogdian buddhism |
| topic | Buddhist Sogdian texts Sogdiana Old and Middle Indo-Aryan Middle Iranian Chinese Tripiṭaka translation technique |
| url | https://er.ceres.rub.de/index.php/ER/article/view/9279 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pavelblurje buddhistindianloanwordsinsogdianandthedevelopmentofsogdianbuddhism |