February 16, 2012

བང་།

bang:


I am wondering about the meaning or etymology of bang in the following words:
1. bang so “tomb”
2. bang mdzod “treasury”
3. bang sgrom “chest”
4. bang rim


If we consider the following words, I have a feeling that bang means (as in Tshangs-lha) “might,” “authority,” or, “dominion,” and thus comparable to dbang.   

1. bang chen “envoy”
2. bang ’dur ba “race” (or “contest”)
3. bang ’gros pa
4. bang rgyug pa
4. bang rtsal che ba


Note also the use of bang in:


1. ’bru bang
2. rtsam bang
3. tshang bang = tshang mang {Bod rgya}





2 comments:

  1. There is this interesting old word that has the bang as second element:

    •TSHANG BANG me khang ngam thab tshang. Btsan-lha.
    •TSHANG MANG OT kitchen. = nag tshang. = me khang. Blaṅ 298.4, 516.2. Skt. mahānasa, "kitchen.". Mvy. 4487. stove, oven. me khang ngam thab tshang. Btsan-lha. = thab tshang. Lcang-skya.

    I think these two words are the same word (a Dpe-chos glossary says they are).

    The tshang bang spelling occurs in the place name Tshang-bang-sna. It was a winter residence of the Tibetan Emperor already in the year 674 CE according to the Old Tibetan Annals (http://otdo.aa.tufs.ac.jp/).

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  2. PS For that last bit, it might not be irrelevant that Zhang-zhung tshang just means 'fire' (not 'nest' as it does in Tibetan). Sorry if my last comment double-posted.

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