論西夏語□ wj• 非指涉「佛」之實體名詞

On Tangut □wj• as not Referring to the Substantial Noun “Buddha”

本文根據現有的文獻語料，說明：（一） 西夏譯經，以 □□□□□ s~a bia s~a wj• thow 對譯漢語的「三藐三佛陀」，整個是對音、而不是義譯。所以 □ wj• 不是漢語借詞，而是對音字。（二）西夏語的 □ wj•，不是指涉「佛」之實體名詞。西夏文獻用 □wj•與 □ tha 有顯然的區隔。□tha 才是語言中指涉「佛」的名詞性語彙；□wj• 僅作為對音字，是透過漢語為媒介的、梵文buddha 之對音字。

The research behind this article is based on Tangut corpora and attempts to explicate two lexical problems. (1) In the Tangut translation of Buddhist scriptures, the phrase 臉 揖 臉 孽 巴 s~a bia1 s~a wj• thow corresponds to Chinese 三藐三佛陀, with 孽 wj•1 being a transliteration, rather than a translation from Chinese. (2) The usual word for Buddha in Tangut is 菜 tha. Since 孽 wj• is a transliterated syllable in the aforementioned phrase, nowhere else in Tangut literature does it have any connection with the notion of ‘Buddha’.