A
Descriptive Grammar of Buddhist Sanskrit – The Language of the Textual
Tradition of the Mahāsāṃghika-Lokottoravādins
General Introduction •
Sound Patterns • Sandhi Patterns
Monograph No. 64 by Boris Oguibénine
This
book is the first detailed description of the phonetics of Buddhist
Sanskrit as shown in the textual tradition of the Buddhist sect known
as Mahāsāṃghika-Lokottoravādins. The texts use the language which
undoubtedly bears the marks of Middle Indian influence, mostly of Pāli.
However, as widely recognized, this language is not identical with
Pāli or any other Middle Indian dialect. F. Edgerton's pioneer grammar
of this language (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1953), which he
called "Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit” allows only a limited space to its
phonetics. The present book contains an analysis of the phonetic
evidence of all available texts of the Mahāsāṃghika-Lokottoravādins,
necessarily including data from evidence published after Edgerton's
demise.
Special emphasis is made on the fact that this language does not owe
its shape to either Middle Indian dialect, but is a language on its
own, with its own special structural constraints and features.
Particularly, to account for its mixed nature, all occurrences of sound
and their sequences are thoroughly examined with a special attention to
the alternations taking place within the texts and their layers,
probably pointing to the language habits of the speakers of different
Middle Indian dialects, which contributed to the production of the
textual tradition that stood in the midway between Hinayāna’s and
Mahāyāna’s texts.
The intricate problem of sandi patterns is also given much attention as
it is generally believed that these patterns were subject to no
constraints whatsoever.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ABBREVIATIONS; OTHER ABBREVIATIONS; INTRODUCTION; THE
TEXTUAL TRADITION OF THE MAHĀSĀṂGHIKA-LOKOTTORAVĀDINS; INVENTORY OF
SOUNDS; ORTHOGRAPHY AND LANGUAGE; WORD PHONETICS AND WORD STRUCTURE:
Initial Vowels and Diphthongs; Initial Semivowels; Word-Medial Vowels
and Diphthongs; Final Vowels and Diphthongs; Vowel Sequences; Vowels
and Semivowels Combined; Semivowels Geminated; Monophtongized
(Contracted) Sequences; Initial Consonants; Consonants and Semivowels
in Other Positions; DISTRIBUTION OF THE SOUND GROUPS: Consonant
Clusters. Sound Groups Including Semivowels; Syllable and
Syllabification; Word Final; SOUND ALTERNATIONS IN JUNCTURES (SANDHI):
EXTERNAL SANDHI: Final Oral Stops; Final –M; Final –N; Word Categories
and Sandhi; Sandhi Determined by Specific Phonetic Features;
Full-Fledged Words; Particular Cases; The so-called “hiatus-bridgers”;
BOUND EXPRESSIONS, GRAMMATICAL VARIABILITY AND SANDHI; SANDHI IN THE
COMPOUNDS; INTERNAL SANDHI; SANDHI AT SENTENCE BOUNDARY; VOWEL
GRADATIONS; INDEX LOCORUM; BIBLIOGRAPHY
ISBN 978- 0998366906
ISBN 978- 0998366913
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2016, Pages 484
Hardcover: $105.00
Paperback: $98.00
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