People like me would—unnecessarily, one
might say—wonder about the etymology of yang
le shod, the Tibetan name of Pharping near Kathmandu in Nepal. It is
reported in Wangdu & Diemberger 2000: 45, n. 102, that PT 44
reads yang la shod (referring to Bischoff
& Hartmann 1971: 18,
21). So the implication or indication is that the name (etymologically) means “Spacious-and-Low.” Of course, “spacious” and “low” are relative terms. How do
we explain le then? We know that vowels tend to be
rather flexible or ambiguous (particularly when pronounced fast).
I think the Yang-le is the authentic reading, since it does occur, without the "shod," in the Sba-bzhed.*
ReplyDeleteSo then Yang-le Shod is a place below or at the side of Yang-le? I think chances are Yang-le is a local Newar name, but I can't really say that with any surety.
(*Sam van Schaik & Kazushi Iwao, Fragments of the Testament of Ba from Dunhuang, Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 128, no. 3 (2008), pp. 477-487, at p. 485.)
Dear Dan, thanks for your thought and reference. D.
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