The discovery and reassembly of Tangut fragments with Tibetan phonetic glosses Tang. 1075/Fr. 1-6 in the early 1910s

Abstract

<p>Tangut manuscript fragments with Tibetan phonetic glosses Fr. 1–6, preserved under the pressmark Tang. 1075 (old inventory no. 8362) in the Tangut Collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences, were discovered among the paper layers of the cover of an unknown Tangut book during the processing of finds from Khara-Khoto, which was carried out by A. I. Ivanov and Wł. L. Kotwicz between late 1909 and the early 1910s. These fragments can still be joined together in the shape of an unfolded book cover. Moreover, a detailed examination of these fragments suggests that earlier, after the fragments had been extracted, there were attempts to join them together. The Tibetan phonetic glosses (i.e. phonological transcription in Tibetan writing of the pronunciation of Tangut characters) contained in these fragments are of great importance for the study of Tangut phonology. However, since none of the fragments contains dates, it is difficult to determine the exact period of development of the Tangut and Tibetan languages to which the phonetic information reflected in the glosses corresponds. We can suggest the following indirect method for further research. We know that the approximate dimensions of the book cover from which the fragments were extracted are about 14.5 cm (width) × 23.9 cm (height) × 1.0–1.5 cm (spine thickness). Comparing these dimensions with those of other Tangut books processed in the early 1910s, it may be possible to identify the one from which the fragments were extracted. Then, if it turns out that the book itself is related to the fragments, it is not excluded that it will be possible to find any dates, names, or other evidence in the text, which will allow us to date the time of writing down the Tibetan phonetic glosses or the Tangut text of the fragments.<br></p>