Notes on the Tocharian A Lexicon

Abstract

This paper offers detailed philological investigations of Toch. A śᵤkär, kār*, sākät and yusār based on parallel texts in Sanskrit, Chinese and Old Uyghur. By uncovering several cases of loan translations, the following results have been achieved: Toch. A śᵤkär probably means “power” (= Skt. bala-, OUygh. küč, Chin. lì “id.”); Toch. A kār* means “path, ground”; Toch. A sākät means “assembled, arrived” (= Skt. saṃnipatita- “id.”); Toch. A yusār means “rainy season” (= Skt. varṣa- “id.”, OUygh. yay “summer”). The present study is inspired by and in part responds to the Dictionary and Thesaurus of Tocharian A in 2023. A preliminary list of problematic entries is provided as addendum, including Toch. A āral*, A cwal, A karṇe, A tursko or “trusko”, A pᵤkäl, A porant*, A prakte, A miṣi, A ymatu, A lokalok, A Vacramukhe, A śu and A ṣoṣ.