Einige Beobachtungen zur Übersetzungstechnik der altuigurischen Maitrisimit

Öz

Based on the materials scholars have examined so far, it can be stated that the Old Uyghur Maitrisimit nom bitig is apparently a rather faithful translation of the Tocharian A Maitreyasamitināṭaka. However, there are some significant discrepancies between the two versions. Both versions of this highly important text dedicated to the visionary biography of the future Buddha Maitreya provide an ideal starting point for comparative Tocharian-Old Uyghur studies. The two languages involved belong to two different language families and thus have divergent typological properties. Although shorter translations from Middle Iranian languages into Old Uyghur are known, the Old Uyghur Maitrisimit nom bitig is without any doubt the most important translation from an Indo-European language into a Turkic one in the period before the turn of the first millennium CE. The article discusses some peculiarities of this Old Uyghur translation.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Maitrisimit
• Maitreyasamitināṭaka
• Old Uyghur
• Turfan studies
• translation technique
• Uyghur Buddhism

Eski Uygurca Maitrisimit'in Çeviri Tekniği Üzerine Bazı Gözlemler

Abstract

Based on the materials scholars have examined so far, it can be stated that the Old Uyghur Maitrisimit nom bitig is apparently a rather faithful translation of the Tocharian A Maitreyasamitināṭaka. However, there are some significant discrepancies between the two versions. Both versions of this highly important text dedicated to the visionary biography of the future Buddha Maitreya provide an ideal starting point for comparative Tocharian-Old Uyghur studies. The two languages involved belong to two different language families and thus have divergent typological properties. Although shorter translations from Middle Iranian languages into Old Uyghur are known, the Old Uyghur Maitrisimit nom bitig is without any doubt the most important translation from an Indo-European language into a Turkic one in the period before the turn of the first millennium CE. The article discusses some peculiarities of this Old Uyghur translation.

Keywords

• Maitrisimit
• Maitreyasamitināṭaka
• Old Uyghur
• Turfan studies
• translation technique
• Uyghur Buddhism

References

1. Adams, D. Q. (2013). A Dictionary of Tocharian B. Revised and Greatly Enlarged. I-II. Amsterdam-New York: Rodopi.
2. Carling, G. & Pinault, G.-J. (2023). Dictionary and Thesaurus of Tocharian A. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
3. Geng, Shimin, et al. (1988). Das Zusammentreffen mit Maitreya. Die ersten fünf Kapitel der Hami-Version der Maitrisimit. I-II. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
4. Geng, Shimin, et al. (1998). Eine buddhistische Apokalypse. Die Höllenkapitel (20-25) und die Schlußkapitel (26-27) der Hami-Handschrift der alttürkischen Maitrisimit. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag.
5. Geng, Shimin, et al. (2004). Neue Ergebnisse der Maitrisimit-Forschung (I). Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 154(2), 347-369.
6. Itkin, I. B. & Kuritsyna, A. V. (2017). Chapter XX of the “Maitreyasamiti-Nāṭaka” and its Hellish Sufferings: the Fragment THT 1308.a. Tocharian and Indo-European Studies, 18, 63-69.
7. Itkin, I. B. et al. (2017). Tocharian A Text THT 1331 and the “Höllenkapitel” of the “Maitrisimit nom bitig”: Some More Remarks. Tocharian and Indo-European Studies, 18, 71-81.
8. Ji, Xianlin, et al. (1998). Fragments of the Tocharian A Maitreyasamiti-Nāṭaka; Transliterated, Translated and Annotated. Berlin-New York: Mouton de Gruyter.

9. Kaygusuz, A. (2021). Buddhistische Bildersprache in alttürkischen Texten. Eine literaturwissenschaftliche und philologische Analyse. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
10. Kuritsyna, A. (2018). Suspended Affixation with Tocharian Adjectival Suffix A -ṣi / B -ṣṣe and its Possible Parallel in Old Uighur. Journal of Language Relationship, 16(4), 265-276.
11. Müller, F. W. K. & Sieg, E. (1916). Maitrisimit und ‚Tocharisch‘. Sitzungsberichte der Königlich Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Berlin: 395-417.
12. Nugteren, H. (2022). On the Heels of ägöčäk in the Old Turkic-Khotanese Glossary. International Journal of Old Uyghur Studies, 4(1), 21-37.
13. Peyrot, M. & Semet, A. (2016). A Comparative Study of the Beginning of the 11th Act of the Tocharian A Maitreyasamitināṭaka and the Old Uyghur Maitrisimit. Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 69(4), 355-378.
14. Pinault, G.-J. (1999). Restitution du Maitreyasamiti-Nāṭaka en tokharien A: Bilan provisoire et recherches complémentaires sur l’acte XXVI. Tocharian and Indo-European Studies, 8, 189-240.
15. Pinault, G.-J. (2003). Contacts linguistiques en Asie Centrale à la lumière des textes tokhariens. In Bretfeld, S. & Wilkens, J. (Eds.), Indien und Zentralasien. Sprach- und Kulturkontakt. Vorträge des Göttinger Symposions vom 7. bis 10. Mai 2001 (pp. 45-83). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
16. Röhrborn, K. (1980) (’1982). Syntax der alttürkischen Metapher. Materialia Turcica, 6, 1-11.
17. Röhrborn, K. (2017). Uigurisches Wörterbuch. Sprachmaterial der vorislamischen türkischen Texte aus Zentralasien – Neubearbeitung – II. Nomina – Pronomina – Partikeln. Band 2: aš – äžük. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner.
18. Sieg, E. & Siegling, W. (1921). Tocharische Sprachreste. I. Band: Die Texte. A. Transcription. Berlin und Leipzig: Walter de Gruyter & Co.
19. Tekin, Ş. (1980). Maitrisimit nom bitig. Die uigurische Übersetzung eines Werkes der buddhistischen Vaibhāṣika-Schule. I-II. Berlin: Akademie Verlag.
20. Wilkens, J. (2008). Maitrisimit und Maitreyasamitināṭaka. In Zieme, P. (Ed.), Aspects of Research into Central Asian Buddhism (pp. 407-433). Turnhout: Brepols.
21. Wilkens, J. (2023). Uigurisches Wörterbuch. Sprachmaterial der vorislamischen türkischen Texte aus Zentralasien. III. Fremdelemente. Band 2: bodivan – čigžin. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner.
22. Yakup, A. (2021). Buddhāvataṃsaka Literature in Old Uyghur. Turnhout: Brepols.
23. Zimmer, S. (1982/83). Die Funktion der tocharischen ṣi/ṣṣe-Adjektive. Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Sprachforschung, 96, 277–289.