Literary Source For Late 18th Century Spoken Tibetan

SR No.: 269594
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Ernst Steinkellner
Publisher: Ernst Steinkellner
Total Pages: 5
Language: English
Classification: Article
File Size: 482 KB

Page 3

A LITERARY SOURCE FOR LATE 18TH-CENTURY SPOKEN TIBETAN (AMDOWA)
247
between 1792 and his death in 1823. It contains a conversational sermon on the Buddhist principles with questions and answers and is written in prose.
In order to fully evaluate the possible output of a study of this text, it seems appropriate to take a look on some presuppositions that are provided by the person and educational background of the author. Since we know that he was raised in mDzod sge smad we would assume that the dialect he chose to write this piece in was his native dialect, i.e. Dzoge according to Roerich's map. 11 Whether the dialect of «Dzoge» belongs to the northern or southern group of Amdowa 12 I cannot say. Considering the fact, that Gun than not only stayed at Bla bran during his formative years but once again after about fourteen years abroad, and that he most probably wrote this text while staying at Bla bran, it is possible that his native «Dzoge»> cannot have been much different from the dialect of Bla bran («Labrang»), which is counted among the northern group by Roerich.13
Another important aspect of this material is that its author was not only a scholar of great authority but also an esteemed poet. His ability to present the spoken language in written form, i.e. to chose the appropriate orthographical means, must be considered to have been rather great.14 Finally : Since our author wrote this text fully conscious that he was writing dialect, we need not fear, that – in spite of the theoretical content of the text – his normal language behaviour as a monk-scholar corrupted too much of the dialectmaterial in the direction of the literary language of his monastic environment. The parts of the text that are Literary Tibetan are clearly distinguished, and the rest must be representative for the «Dzoge»> or/and «Labrang» dialect as spoken by an educated scholar with strong emotional bonds to the language of his people.
To sum up: with this text we have a piece of late 18th century Amdowadialect before us which, considering the cultural circumstances, could hardly have been recorded more precisely. After it has been studied, it will not only provide new grammatical and lexicographical material for the history of Amdowa, but also perceptions with regard to its phonetics, and — since the educated orthography used, transgresses the regional limits of Amdo – probably also with regard to Tibetan phonetics of the 18th century in general.
11 Loc. cit., 11. Considering his education it would not seem important whether he was a Mongol by birth (Gene Smith, loc. cit., 82) or a Tangut (B. Baradijn, cf. note 14, 211).
13 Roerich, loc. cit., 7. 18 Loc. cit., 7.
14 Another one of his experiments on languages and orthography, the Zlos gar gyi batan bcos, has been studied by Badgar B. Baradijn, Leningrad 1925 (Gespräche buddhistischer Mönche. Aus dem Russischen übersetzt von G. Bufe und W. A. Unkrig - Zeitschrift für Buddhismuskunde 8, 1, 1928, 209-242).
Acta Orient. Hung. XXXIV. 1980