A Study on the Sanskrit-Chinese Phonetic Transcriptions of the Dunhuang(敦煌) Fragment P.3861 in French Collection

The phonological rules of the Sanskrit-Chinese phonetic transcriptions of the Dunhuang(敦煌) fragment P.3861 in French collection reflect the Chinese Hexi(河西) dialect during the times when Dunhuang(敦煌) was captured by Tibetans in 8th and 9th century. The characteristics of that dialect, i. e., the distinction between the voiced and voiceless consonants being not so clear, some traces of the mmb, nnd,ηηg evolution being noticeable, the nasal ending-ηof the groups Dang(宕), Geng(梗) and Tong (通) being dropped, the vowel of the Group Dang(宕) being shifted, nasal endings -m, -n being disappeared, proves to be the same as the other fragments excavated at Dunhuang(敦煌) such as Qianziwen(千字文) and Kai Meng Yao Xun(开蒙要训). Contrasted to the phonetic rules of Sanskrit-Chinese phonetic transcription of XiXia dynasty in 12th, we can realize that Chinese dialect of XiXia was adapting to that of Dunhuang(敦煌).