The Final of Northern Dialect in Tang Dynasty Reflected in Sanskrit Translation

Guangdong University Of Foreign Studies,Guangzhou,China Email:201710027@oamail.gdufs.edu.cn

[Abstract]The paper dealt mainly with the finals system which is reflected by the sanskrit-transcription of Mahāmayūrīvidyārājan,which is translated by Yi Jing(義净).I think,compared with Qieyun System,the material show us some phonetic changes of Northern Eastern dialects in the Mid Tang Dynasty.Zhizhizhi(支脂之)became the same.There are glottal stops as codas.Sandeng(三等)and Sideng(四等)have merged into single one.Only a few chongniu(重紐)still exists,and there is the phenomenon of Tantan(覃談)chongyun(重韵).There are some differences between northeastern dialect,the northwestern dialect and central region dialect in Yangsheng(陽聲)rhyme final and Sideng(四等)medials.

[Keywords]Yijing(義净);Mahā-mayūrīvidyārājan;Sanskrit-Chinese transcription;Finals;Ancient Chinese sound

Introduction

Transliterations of Yijing(义净)as the object of study,have been deeply explored by two scholars,including Weldon South Coblin and Liu Guanghe.W.South Coblin(1991)discussed the phonetic features of Yi Jing’s transliteration by materials such as“Jinguangming Jing”andMahā-mayūrīvidyārājan.He refered to Bernhard Karlgren,supplemented Li Fanggui’s research about chongniu(重纽),listed the middle Chinese and the corresponding sanskrit,but didn’t thoroughly discuss its phonetic characteristics.Liu Guanghe(1994)compared the difference ofMahā-mayūrīvidyārājantranslated by Bukong and Yijing,pointed out the characteristics of the consonants of theLuoyang(洛阳)andChang’an(长安)dialects,and made the table of consonants.At the same time,he pointed out the basic characteristics and differences between Bukong and Yijing in tail Consonant,medial andyierdengyun(一二等韵).

Yi Jing(635-713),who was born in Fan Yang,or Qi Zhou,are famous Buddhist in the Tang Dynasty.He is as well known as Xuan Zang and translated a large number of Buddhist scriptures.Yi Jing became a monk in his childhood.He went west to India to seek the Buddhist scripture,and returned to China in 659 A.D.He translated the Buddhist scriptures in Chang’an and Luoyang successively.Mahā-mayūrīvidyārājan was translated by Yi Jing during Luoyang.No matter it is Fan Yang or Qi Zhou,translation’s phonetic basis generally represents the dialect in eastern North China.

The Final System of The Northern Dialects of The Tang Dynasty

In this paper,the main object of this study is Chinese mantras in the Buddhist Scripture of Mahāmayūrīvidyārājan(Tibetan Tripitaka 985)which translated by Yijing and Sanskrit mantras in Mahā-mayūrīvidyārājan(Tibetan Tripitaka Volume 982,p.459-477).

1.Medial[-u-]and[-i-]

TheRound-mouth(合口) characters in middle ancient Chinese are usually have v in syllable, for example, the characters of guoshe (果摄) such as“埵堕莎锁”are generally translated to va,vā,the characters ofzhenshe(臻摄)such as“奔敦酸”are generally translated to un,van,“没骨”to ud.In addition,characters ofyushe(遇摄),liushe(流摄)are generally translated to u.Therefore,the medial word ofRound-mouthcharacters is supposed to be[-u-].

Also,there are no v in syllable of someRound-mouthcharacters.They are always labial sound.For example,the characters of guoshe (果摄) such as“波婆么”，the characters ofxianshe(咸摄)such as“梵乏”,the characters ofzhenshe(臻摄)such as“勃”，the characters ofshanshe(山摄)such as“搬半盘曼钵跋末”,the characters ofzhishe(止摄)such as“微”.Generally,there is a transitional[-u-]between the labial sound and the vowel spelling.So,there’s no v in syllables is really normal.

There are always j or y in syllables ofsandengyun(三等韵),such as“写迦耶也夜喏”誓曳”to je,“树”to yo,“瘐”to yu,“善缮膳演”to jan,“折”to jar,j,jal,“羊”“上”to jan,“尚”“溺药”to yag,yak,“若”to yag,yav.In addition,inzhishe(止摄),zhenshe(臻摄)andzengshe(曾摄),there are usually I insandengyun.Therefore,the mediaeval ofsandengyunshould be reconstructed as[-i-].There are no j or y in some syllables of sandengyun when the initial is velar sound(见系),palatal sound(庄章系)labial sound(帮系),such as“遮者奢社差”“世”to e.K-,c-in Sanskrit sounds like that tongue’s position is in the rear,so there is one transitional medial[-i-]in the syllable.There is only one exception“连”which is translated to raň.So there is medial[-i-]in sandengyun in ancient Chinese.

Sidengyun(四等韵)is usually translated to i,e,ia.I think that there is a medial[-i-]in sidengyun in order to explain this phenomenon.In medieval Chinese,sandengyunandsidengyunall translated to i,e,very few to ai.So sandengyun and sidengyun have merged into one.

In medieval Chinese,chongniu(重纽)should have rolling medial[-r],such as“欹”“绮”“器”,“蜜”to mrt. But most chongniu (重纽) lost its medial sound, they are the same as normalsandengyunandsidengyun,such as“乔”to gau,“憍”to kau,“密”“金”to kum,“频”to bhin,“紧”to kin,“民”to min,“必”to pit,“毕”to pil,“吉”to kis.

2.The main vowel

Characters inguoshe(果摄)andjiashe(假摄)are all translated to a,ā.Half characters in guoshe(果摄)is to a,the other half to ā.But most of characters injiashe(假摄)is to a.Characters inhanyun(寒),huanyun(桓),shanyun(山),shanyun(删) are all translated to a、ā, but most of them areyidengyun. There are only six characters oferdengyun(二等韵).The same astanyun(覃),tanyun(谈),xianyun(咸),xianyun(衔).There are only two characters oferdengyun(二等韵)in above yuns.There are no characters oferdengyun(二等韵)in xiaoshe(效摄).Characters intaiyun(泰)andhuiyun(灰)are all translated to ay,levant stress syllable of Sanskrit e is ai.The opening degree of a is less than(Shi Xiangdong,1983).So,in middle ancient Chinese vowel[a]is between a and ā.Most characters are translated to. The opening degree oferdengyunis less than a or ā, there is no such sound in Sanskrit. So characters inyidengyunare usually translated to a orSo in middle ancient Chinese,yidengyunis always reconstructed as[a],erdengyunis always reconstructed as[a].Yidengyunanderdengyunhas the different timbre,the opening degree oferdengyunis less thanyidengyun.

Characters inxiaoshe(效摄) are always translated to au, very few to o or u. O and au are separate levant stress syllable of u.Soyidengyuninxiaoshe(效摄)andxieshe(蟹摄)are usually translated to ai.The main vowel ofdangshe(宕摄)are always translated to a or,the same asshanshe(山摄),xianshe(咸摄),xiaoshe(效摄)andxieshe(蟹摄).Its yidengyun is[a],erdengyun is[a].

Characters inyushe(遇摄)are usually translated to u or ū,very few to au or o.O and au are separate levant stress syllable of u.Soyidengyuninyusheshould be u.Characters inliushe(流摄)are usually translated to u or ū.Liushehave the evolution of disyllabification from the ancient ages to the Middle Ages.But there is no ou in Sanskrit.Soyusheare usually translated to u or ū.Liushe have compound vowel,so itsyidengyunare always reconstructed as[au].The main vowel oftongshe(通摄)are usually translated to u or o，soyidengyunshould be reconstructed as[ua].

The main vowel inzhenshe(臻摄)is always translated to u or i.There is no characters inyidengyunanderdengyun.Opening mouthsandengyunis always translated to i.The rest of round-mouth characters is always translated to u.So round-mouthyidengyunare always reconstructed as rounded neutral vowel,opening mouth sandengyun are always reconstructed as central vowel.Only one character“金”inshenshe(深摄)is translated to um.Very few characters inxianshe(咸摄)such as“耽昙覃剑”also to um.I think maybe there is no um in Chinese,so monks usexiansheandshensheto translate um.Xiansheshould should be reconstructed as central vowel,shensheshould be reconstructed as central vowel.They are all close to um.Opening mouth inzengshe(曾摄)andgengshe(梗摄)is always translated to a or ā,which is same asdangshe(宕摄),its low-pitched sounds to central vowel.Zengsheandgengsheare combined together in Songdynasty(宋代).Soyidengyuninsengsheshould be reconstructed as central vowel,erdengyun ingengsheshould be reconstructed as central vowel to distinguishesdangshe.

There is no characters injiangshe(江摄),because the sound of erdengyun is really different with a or ā in Sanskrit.Contrary to it,zengshe,gengsheanddangsheall can be translated to a or ā.Characters inzhishe(止摄)are always translated to i or e.There is no difference betweenzhiyun(支),zhiyun(脂),zhiyun(之).This phenomenon is the same asFanqie(反切)in rhythmic dictionary.E is levant stress syllable of i.So the main vowel ofzhisheshould be reconstructed as i.

In middle ancient Chinese,chongyun(重韵)in yidengyun existed,such astanyun(谈)to am,tanyun(覃)to am or um.At the same time,um is always translated toqinyun(侵).Examples are quite rare,but there is a similar situation in the material of the same period.The transliteration ofsengjiapoluo(僧伽婆罗)(Liu Guanghe,2005)display such a phenomenon thattanyun(谈)andtanyun(覃)are all translated to am or um.The characters translated to um are mosttanyun(覃),only one character oftanyun(谈).Characters inqinyun(侵)are usually translated to m.The transliteration of bukong(不空)(Liu Guanghe,2002)display such a phenomenon thattanyun(覃)are translated to am or om,tanyun(谈)to am,qinyun(侵)to im or um.The transliteration ofxuanzang(玄奘)(Shi Xiangdong,1983)display such a phenomenon thattanyun(谈)andtanyun(覃)are all translated to am,they are same,qinyun(侵)to[-

].The transliteration of Bodhiruci(菩提流志)display such a phenomenon thattanyun(覃)are translated to am,um or om,tanyun(谈)to am,there is noqinyun(侵).

These phenomena show thattanyun(覃)have a smaller degree of opening mouth than thantanyun(谈).Tanyun(覃)sounds like that the lips are more round,which is close toqinyun(侵).In pre Qin Period,tanyun(谈)andtanyun(覃)both belongs toqinbu(侵部).Tanyun(覃)stands on its own since Wei Jin Dynasty when it became similar totanyun(谈).To the Song Dynasty,tanyun(谈)andtanyun(覃)become the same.So I reconstructtanyun(覃)as[-m].I thinkchongyun(重韵)means the main vowel is really different in height.The difference of yidengyun and erdengyun is the front and back of the position of the main vowel.Mostchongyun(重韵)merges together excepttanyun(谈)andtanyun(覃)such asxianyun(咸)andxianyun(衔)to am,shanyun(山)andshanyun(删)to an.It is the same as yijing.Therefore,I believe thatchongyun(重韵)is a phonetic phenomenon within the dialect,rather than a result of the overlapping of the north and South dialect phonology.Chongyun(重韵)disappears faster in the north than in the south,but there are still reservations.

3.Consonant ending

In middle ancient Chinese,entering tone rhyme endings can be divided into three categories:labial final consonant to ap,ab,av,uv,m such as“摄”to yap,so I reconstruct it as[-p];apical final consonant tosuch as“卒”to ut,so I reconstruct it as[-t];velar sound final consonant to ik,ak,og,ok,ak,ag,ah such as“索”to ah,so I reconstruct it as[-k].The place of articulation of each entering tone is the same,only methods of pronunciation is different. Besides the plosives, there are fricative, liquid, nasal and lateral sounds.In translation,the ending of the entering tone is only related to the articulation part at the back.Although the three rhyme endings are very different,but maybe some characters became into glottal stop.

There are three nasal endings:labial final consonant to am,am,um,such as“耽昙”to um,am.So I reconstruct it as m;apical final consonant tosuch as“因紧”to in,so I reconstruct it as n;velar sound final consonant tosuch as“鸯”toI reconstruct it as velar nasal sound. There are few exceptions of nasal endings.Maybe it's the reason for copying.Nasal endings is more stable than it entering tone rhyme endings.

Conclusion

Nasal endings is relatively stable.Entering tone rhyme endings maybe confused into one.Sandengyun and sidengyunare combined in eastern dialects.There is a medial i in them.There is no difference inzhiyun(支)zhiyun(脂)andzhiyun(之).There is individual retroflex medial ofchongniu(重纽).Most ofchongniu(重纽)is the same as the other ordinary words.There still arechongyun(重纽)oftanyun(覃)andtanyun(谈)in the eastern dialects.Maybe there still ischongyun(重韵)in dialect of Central Plains.

Acknowledgments

This paper is the phased achievement of National Social Science Major Fund Project.(The system of“Guangyun Jiyun”in Song Dynasty,Database Construction and the Construction of Rhyme and Book History in Song Dynasty,19ZDA255).