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阿

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: short Sanskrit a and long Sanskrit ā

Senses:

  • अ, आ. In the Siddhaṃ 悉曇 alphabet, It is the first letter, the first of the twelve vowels, the first of the forty-two syllables 四十二字. From it are supposed to be born all the other letters, and it is the first sound uttered by the human mouth. The sound a is regarded as the source from which all words are produced by virtue of its being the source of all other Sanskrit letters. It is therefore termed 'the mother of all sounds' or 'the seed of all graphs.' It has therefore numerous mystical indications, including the seven meanings of: 菩提心, 法門, 無二, 法界, 法性, 自在, and 法身. (Skt. utsaṅga) [Charles Muller; source(s): Hirakawa, JEBD, Ui, Nakamura, Soothill, Yokoi]
  • As an a-privative (negation) it symbolizes the unproduced, the impermanent, the immaterial. Thus it is translated by the words 無 or 不, both of which indicate negation. Since it occurs as the first element in many words, a signifies a variety of negative concepts: 本不生, 無常, 無去, 無來, 無住, 無本性, etc. Amongst other uses it indicates Amitâbha, from the first syllable in that name. [Charles Muller; source(s): JEBD, Ui, Nakamura]
  • In the Esoteric school, the Sanskrit sound 'a' is considered to be the source of the myriad phenomena. See 阿字. In the esoteric tradition it is said of the sound a: "When one enters into the doctrine of a or hears the word a, one is immediately enlightened as to the principle of 阿字本不生." Also: "Because of its being originally unarisen the sound a has the four functions of eliminating misfortunes, increasing benefits, overpowering opponents, and summoning spirits." In this way the word a is regarded as the ultimate form and source of all phenomena. It exemplifies the Mahāyāna doctrine that the world of change is immediately the realm of ultimate reality or, in other words, saṃsāra is identical with nirvāṇa. A is also employed to suggest the idea of the evolution of all phenomena from thusness 眞如緣起. The glyph for a has four aspects which are romanized a, ā, am, ab, which respectively, signify the vow to attain enlightenment, the religious practice directed toward that end, the attainment of enlightenment, nirvana (and skill-in-means). These have aspects of a may also signify the five directions 五方, the five elements 五大, the five kinds of perfected cognition 五智, and the five Buddhas 五佛. [Charles Muller; source(s): Ui, Nakamura, JEBD]
  • In colloquial language, the morpheme ā 阿 can be used as a prefix (Ch. jiētóu cí 接頭辭) to terms of relationship (e.g., kinship, master-disciple) and certain interrogative and personal pronouns. Frequently encountered in vernacular dialogues, this prefix usually communicates a sense of familiarity between the speaker and the addressee, but it can also occasionally be used in a derogatory manner. Common interrogative and personal pronouns include: 阿誰, 阿那, 阿那裏, 阿那個, 阿你. Common terms of relationship include: 阿婆, 阿爺, 阿孃, 阿郞, 阿師.

    References:

    Anderl, Christoph. 2004. Studies in the Language of Zu-Tang Ji. Oslo:  Unipub. vol. 2 Acta Humaniora 213.

    [Laurent Van Cutsem; source(s): ZGJ 1991, 3a–4b; ZGDJT 1a, No. 3; Anderl 2004, 125–30; Kroll 2015, 1, 98; Hanyu 2010, Vol. 7, 4432]
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    [Dictionary References]

    Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 2

    Bulgyo sajeon 545a

    Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.) 1a

    A Glossary of Zen Terms (Inagaki) 3, 7, 123

    Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary (Daitō shuppansha) 1a/1, 189a/211

    Kattō gosen (Mujaku Dōchū) 895/64

    Koga 3

    Teihon zenrin kushō (Shibayama) 1

    Japanese-English Zen Buddhist Dictionary (Yokoi) 1

    Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura) 2a, 2b

    Fo Guang Dictionary 3609

    Ding Fubao

    Buddhist Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary (Hirakawa) 1202

    Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)15b, (v.1-6)1a, (v.1-6)2c

    Bukkyō daijiten (Oda) 2-2

    Copyright provisions

    The rights to textual segments (nodes) of the DDB are owned by the author indicated in the brackets next to each segment. For rights regarding the compilation as a whole, please contact Charles Muller. Please do not reproduce without permission. And please do not copy into Wikipedia without proper citation!

    Entry created: 1997-09-15

    Updated: 2021-12-25